<p>Just wanted to say good job to W&M. UVA has been my top choice this past year, and I visited for the first time on Tuesday. I enjoyed it, but really got vibes that they were saying "We don't have to compete for you, you have to wow US because we're a privilege". Vibes such as (obviously not in these words) "We don't keep track of visits or calls since we don't care if you're interested" or "Yeah, these dorms on the lawn don't have AC and you have to walk through the snow to go to the bathroom... but that's cool since it's privilege to live here". It was all about why going there was a privilege for you, and you were not a privilege for them to have you. I was also a little deterred by the amount of Sperry and Polo combos. </p>
<p>On the other hand, today I visited W&M. I really felt like they rolled out the red carpet for us. The two girls who did the admissions talk were practically comedians, and they were super excited and warmly welcoming. And our tour guide was phenomenal as well. She was an exceptionally nice person (and walked backwards the whole time, that is some serious talent!) and gave us a grand, two hour, whole campus tour, compared to our one hour at UVA that only did about 1/3 of it. She also offered to get her Computer Science friend to come and tell us about the program since that's my interest. Overall, my vibe that was William and Mary was a lot more welcoming and friendly than UVA.</p>
<p>(NOT knocking UVA. It was my #1 choice, but now I think it's tied between W&M and UVA now)</p>
<p>I have to agree with you and give major kudos to the people at W&M. My daughter and I did a swing through Virginia in January, visiting UVa, W&M, and W&L. W&M and W&L are still very much on her list; UVa isn’t. I agree with your assessment of the info session. Having a current student as well as someone from Admissions was very helpful. Tour was fantastic, in fact one of the few we’ve been on where we actually got to see a dorm room. Our tour guide apologized that the dorm we were in wasn’t one of the fancier ones, but both of us thought it was just fine, nice in fact. (Big closets were a plus, especially for a girl!) Would be thrilled if our (current junior) daughter ended up in Williamsburg.</p>
<p>I’d have to agree with you. The really welcoming college tour was perhaps the #1 reason why I decided to choose the school. It is filled with so many interesting tibits and things that make it special: I mean, massage chairs in the library, the largest magnet in this side of the hemisphere, not to mention its history and Swem’s role as the backup to the library of congress. And the people there went really out of their way and were beyond friendly, which was perhaps why I decided to attend.</p>
<p>What did you end up doing? If you have any questions, let me know! I shall be matriculating in the fall.</p>
<p>We toured both last summer. (The were the only two schools we toured that D17 didn’t immediately reject.) I came away with the impression that WM seemed friendlier and more personal - which, if true, could be an advantage when you need a professor who knows you personally to provide an LoR. UVA, on the other hand, seemed to have more of a “lots of activity going on all the time” vibe. Definitely different flavors, not just a size difference, and anyone considering both will find them a very interesting comparison.</p>
<p>My personal impression is that if you want to enjoy 4 years of college life and then enter the real world, UVA has the edge, and if you want a more understated environment and then plan to go on to graduate school, WM has the edge. I’d give the social prestige nod to UVA and the academic prestige nod to WM. Both are superb educational bargains for anyone IS, of course.</p>