I am a high school senior looking at both W&M and UVA. I’ve spent a lot of time on both of their websites, and researching the colleges, but I haven’t made the trip out to Virginia yet (Colorado native). I am a hard worker who likes to hang out with friends, and I like to have things to do too. However, I am also an extremely hard worker, and grew up in a household where academics came first. I’m don’t want a big party school, and frats/sororities aren’t my scene either. I want to study environmental science- either environmental design/urban and city planning, or environmental law. ADMISSIONS ASIDE, what separates the two? I know W&M is smaller, and UVA claims to meet 100% of demonstrated need which is hard to discount. Thoughts? (Parents- both teachers- make a combined 90-100k with a kid already in college and other medical expenses that they have to pay)
William & Mary does not promise to meet full need for OOS students, and says they typically meet about 25% of OOS students’ need in grant aid. I see no reason not to apply just to see what happens, but it’s likely that W&M will be out of your price range and very likely that it will not be a good financial choice compared to in-state options like CU-Boulder, Colorado State or Colorado School of Mines.
UVa does claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need, but it’s also very difficult to gain admission there. It has a 29% acceptance rate, but the OOS acceptance rate is lower - between 20 and 25%. Also, Virginia is known as a party school and a place with a thriving, big Greek scene. You can certainly avoid it if you want to, but if that’s not your thing, then you might feel more comfortable somewhere else. Either way, you can still certainly apply to see what happens!
I go to William & Mary. I cannot speak for UVA as I am also from out of state have never attended UVA, but I can tell you what I know about both schools. Socially speaking it sounds like you would fit in better at William & Mary. There are plenty of things to do outside of partying and people tend to be very passionate, community-oriented, and hard-working. People here I feel like are very accepting of one another and there is a strong sense of trust on campus. The Student Environmental Action Coalition is one of the largest on campus and they are very well organized. The class sizes are small, but there is still plenty of opportunities for research.
For environmental science, W&M offers two tracks: the science track and the policy track and you can also design your own major. From a quick look at the course catalog, UVA’s Environmental Science Department tends to have more specific course requirements focused specifically on science (ex:physics, hydrology, and chemistry) while W&M’s allows for more flexibility depending on your interests. W&M’s environmental science/policy major is very interdisciplinary including things like environmental sociology, environmental economics, and environmental ethics. UVA is likely going to have larger course offerings due to the fact it is a larger school, but it is also likely to have significantly larger class sizes. Most of my classes have been 35 students or less. UVA seems to also have a Bachelors of Science Architecture or a Bachelors of Urban and Environmental Planning major that W&M does not have. You can design your own major however, out of the existing classes as mentioned above.
If you are sure that urban planning/architecture is what you want to do, then UVA might be for you. If you are more interested in trying a bunch of different things and viewing things from an interdisciplinary perspective, W&M will let you do that. Do visit both if you can. I would also put it out there that the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado College seem like excellent colleges to study environmental science!
These are two very different schools. My S attends UVA and my daughter will soon be applying to W&M. A visit to each would be great, but if you can’t do that due to distance, then I would apply to both and then visit on accepted student days to make your decision.
“Also, UVa probably has more national and academic prestige.” No, UVA has more name recognition among the general population, considering it has the state name and nearly everyone has heard of the 50 states. That doesn’t mean employers won;t know W&M, not at all.
I adore UVA, but W&M is a superb school, as well.
OP, maybe time to suggest you run the Net Price Calculators (NPC, on each web site) for each, see what they might cost. Be practical.
Back in 2014, my OOS D was accepted to W&M as a Monroe Scholar, 35ACT, NMF, other good stats. W&M met 100% of her need, but that did include a Perkins Loan, of $4k on top of standard $5500 federal loan.They only meet full need for very high stats OOS. It is a wonderful school, beautiful location, but may cost too much if you do not have high stats.
My D is a senior and we recently visited both. One difference for her is that Charlottesville is a fairly small city/fairly large town with a downtown area not far from campus, while Williamsburg is a town with a very pretty (though touristy) historic area right outside the gate. There is plenty to do on campus at either place, but UVA doesn’t feel quite so much like it is away from things. (Though if you want easy access to a large city, neither is a good choice.)
Another difference for me was that both schools seem to have a lot of pride and spirit, but in different ways. At UVA, people seemed very proud of being a Wahoo and of UVA’s history. At W&M, it was more a feeling of pride in being in the specific community they have there. It seemed W&M has more of the shared feeling you’d find at a LAC of 2,400, something that is unusual for a school with 6,200 undergrads as W&M has. Of course, with UVA having more than 15,000 undergrads, it’s necessarily going to be a different vibe.
They have similarities in that they (as state schools) draw from the same areas and schools. Although they are state universities, they have a private school feel in many ways. UVA is nearly 3X larger, is part of the ACC with major athletics. UVA is more like a typical research university in feel, while W&M feels more like a liberal arts college (although it has graduate and professional programs). UVA is less of a residential school than William and Mary, which has about 75% or so of students housed on campus. UVA has some programs W&M does not have like architecture and engineering. Both have very attractive campuses.
Charlottesville is a larger (but small) city, closer to the mountains, and perhaps more of a college town. Williamsburg is closer to the ocean, and is a very pretty tourist area. Although I just said Charlottesville is the larger city proper, there probably more people in the surrounding areas to Williamsburg. Richmond and Washington, DC are not too far away from either one.
UVA has had a frat/party reputation, although I think the nature has been changing a bit. W&M is considered less social in that regard (although there is a significant Greek community), but is often described as having a tight-knit community.