Hello. As the college search continues for myself, I am looking for some other options. I visited William and Mary and loved it. However, I must explore some other options due to the selectivity of W&M. One of the things I really liked about William and Mary was its size, being not too big and not too small. I am also looking at political science, history, or environmental science as far as majors, and I liked how W&M had strong programs in each area. I love the location, as Williamsburg is a great area that has rural aspects, but is not completely isolated. If anyone would give me some feedback on some similar colleges to look at and consider that would be great! Any range of selectivity works, and a less selective school would be good for a safety. Thank you!
Bump
Can anyone help out?
What can you afford? Miami University of Ohio immediately jumped to my mind when you described what you were looking for.
You should make the location of a school the last consideration not a primary consideration, unless travel for you is so difficult that being near a major Airport truly is a priority. This is a superficial consideration based on the assumption you will do all these great things off campus.
High school students don’t realize that most of their time will be on campus studying and socializing with other students. Rural schools often are better if you like being with a group of friends.
What did you expect to do in Williamsburg off campus? I think if you ask students that go to schools in or very close to small and large cities or towns they actually venture off campus pretty infrequently.
I can think of a few eastern schools that remind me of William & Mary a bit like Bucknell and Gettysburg. University of Vermont does as well and Burlington is a much nicer college town.
@BatesParents2019 thank you for your help. I should’ve mentioned that I would prefer to stay near my home state of Virginia, and I wouldn’t want to go further than around 6 hours away from home. When I say I would like to be in somewhat of a college town rather than a completely rural area, I mean I would like to at least have other social options off campus. I have also heard that at schools in rural areas, the only thing to do is just to get drunk on the weekends. I know this isn’t true for many schools, but it is a concern for me. Any feedback to this would be greatly appreciated as I have very much to learn about the college experience!
How much are your parents willing to pay?
perhaps as a safety schooit it is in a small city near nature. not as big as “w and m” but certainly a safety option.
http://www.ucwv.edu/majors/political_science/
UNC A, UNC W, UMW, CNU, Miami OH, UDel would all work (different levels of selectivity)
UVA is a lot bigger but your instate so you should check it out. You’ll probably like U of Richmond a lot, definitely check that out. I hate to be a buzzkill but the only things to do with those degrees (history, poli sci, enviro sci) are to teach them or go to law school. Just being realistic here. You don’t want to spend a ton of money on a worthless degree, food for thought!
MegaMetalHead: that’s lazy thinking and patently false. Actually, college graduates are hired for their skillset, not for their major. Some fields are directly vocational, like nursing, teaching, engineering. Others require building a resume with internships and skills. History majors from targets work on Wall Street. Political Science students with a couple classes in statistics work on campaigns but also in marketing and management.
Must be why many of the English majors from my school have found successful careers in tech, MegaMetalHead.
Elon, Wake Forest, Davidson come to mind
Furman,Wofford and College of Charleston
My son was attracted To William and Mary for similar reasons and is a ploy sci major as well. My DS attends CNU which he loves. We are in VA. He also applied to UMW, Richmond, Gettysburg, and American. Visited but decided not to apply to Wake Forest, Elon, and High Point. Oh, there are all kinds of things you can do with a poly sci major.
Wow that is great to hear! Thank you @vamominvabeach