<p>Hi. So I'm a senior right now, and (even though I'm not accepted yet), I'm having the infamous Virginian debate.... W&M or UVA?</p>
<p>But my main question here is for people who have graduated. Do you think going to W&M gave you the best opportunities for after school (grad school or work)? I have a relative who's a professor at Stanford, and she said that Stanford takes almost 100% of William and Mary appicants, many of them on Scholarship.</p>
<p>Would going to W&M give me the best opportunities for going to the best school for Grad school, maybe with scholarship? And about UVA, obviously it's a higher ranked school, but in terms of after undergrad opportunities, does anyone know how it really compares??</p>
<p>There are statistics out there that indicate graduates of WM have higher acceptance rates to law school and med school. I'm a graduate in law school currently and I feel like having WM on my resume certainly Helped. At the same time, I don't believe it is a simple task to determine one school is clearly better than the other in terms of graduate school and employment. This is due to the fact that it really comes down to what it is you want to do after graduation. Is a William & Mary education worth it in terms of preparing you for graduation and going on to graduate school/work? I would definitely say so. This fact is made apparent by the many graduates who are accepted to the best graduate programs and become successful in all facets of society. Would you have a better chance landing a job in Boston by graduating from UVA's business school or WM's business school? That's a tough question. When it really comes down to it, it's really about you, what you want to do, and what you are willing to do to get there. You see, whether you graduate from UVA or WM your LSAT will determine what law schools you get accepted to. If you are looking to work somewhere, both the UVA and WM names sound nice but are you the complete package that the business firm you are interviewing at is looking for? Do you have the interpersonal skills and drive that is necessary for that position? I understand where you are coming from, you want to know deep down that you are going to the school that gives you the best edge possible post-graduation. Be pro-active, decide what your goal is (doesn't have to be right away), and go after it. WM will definitely prepare you and give you the tools, but something colleges (WM and UVA included) don't advertise is that alot of your success post-graduation is determined by you personally rather than simply the name brand of the institution. To answer your question simply, the WM name will likely get you in the door but can you work the room once you enter?</p>
<p>There is no golden key to life from any school, but W&M carries a lot of prestige in academia as well as the business world. What you will be though is very well prepared to go to grad school. One friend said first yr of Duke PhD in chemistry was review. Another taught at Yale and said W&M was tougher. W&M and UVirginia are both good but very different from each other. UVirginia is higher "ranked" in USNWR but anyone who takes that seriously has problems with gullabilty and naivety'. Choose the school that makes you happy. Sports/Animal House/Mountains or Quirky/nonconformity/beach. That is the true difference. Good luck.</p>
<p>I would agree with doctorb. I had a visiting anthropology professor at WM tell me that the work we were doing (it was a 400 level class) was as good or better than the work of actual graduate students he had worked with at one of the top institutions. He said that if we entered a regular masters program somewhere after graduation that we would be bored, because we were studying theories that Masters programs don't even get to. A friend of mine had a professor at WM who had previously taught at Harvard. The professor told my friend's class that he made his course more rigorous for his WM students than he had for his Harvard students, because he said he knew that the WM students could handle it. I wouldn't say that every class at WM is supremely challenging, but the upper level classes really do a great job of preparing you for anything you would face in graduate school. From your writing ability to your analytical skills, whatever type of graduate school you are looking to go into you will be ready and confident.</p>
<p>I'm not sure it's completely up-to-date as to this year and it doesn't tell what all graduates have gone on to do, but it gives you the ability to search by major for what graduate schools people got accepted to and their scores. It is worth checking out!</p>
<p>Both W&M and UVA will prepare you very well for top graduate schools and employment. While I think W&M provides a slightly better undergraduate education, UVA is an excellent school as well. Based on numbers, there are a lot more UVA alums out there than W&M alums. That is my honest answer.</p>
<p>mcgmfc, for the reason of preserving my anonymity on here I would prefer not to disclose the name of my law school - However, I can tell you that it is a private law school in the south. It has one of the best moot court programs in the country, has one of the higher bar passage rates, the weather is warm, and the people are generally pretty friendly so I'm happy where I am at! If you have any questions about applying to law school or about law school in general, I'd be happy to answer them.</p>