I’m a soon-to-graduate senior international student applying to the class of 2022. I am currently inclined towards majoring in Economics and/or a politics-related course, and have been accepted at UCLA, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Rochester.
I’ve received the James Monroe Scholarship at W&M and the IBO Achievement Scholarship of $32,000 at Rochester. Being an international non-U.S. citizen, I qualify for no scholarships at UCLA.
I know these are pretty good schools for Economics, especially UCLA, but I’m still confused as to my fit. My priorities for college are - a good library system, approachable professors, good teaching quality, extensive course choices, a good debating and student-publishing scene, overall good campus recognition and good job prospects. I’m not an athlete, so sports aren’t a major concern for me.
I did fine on my SATs (1560/1600, 8 SAT Subject Tests between 720 and 800), I’m into political analysis, editorial cartooning, behavioral economics and policy debates. I’m good but not outstanding at math, and I would prefer a balance between quantitative economics and economic theory. I’d really appreciate some advice on my conundrum. Thanks!
I do not know enough Rochester’s economic/political department to comment, but between W&M and UCLA they are comparable level of schools/department. UCLA is slightly stronger, but its not worth the additional cost to go there. You will do just as well in W&M.
What is the net price, after all the scholarships for each?
I’ve just yesterday read a complaint on a different board from a parent, that it’s very hard for freshmen at W&M to get into the economics-related and best core classes because juniors and seniors have priority. I know nothing about W&M, but maybe somebody could comment.
W&M and Rochester are probably going to be more similar types of schools in size and with a relatively high percentage of students living on campus. They are also more undergraduate oriented. UCLA is much larger and urban. UCLA is going to be the best known due to size, location, and athletics, but academically these schools are probably at a fairly similar level.
I’ve lived very close to both W&M and UCLA. (I’ve never even visited Rochester.) My take is W&M is considerably more undergraduate focused than UCLA, which would correlate to “approachable professors” and “good teaching quality” in your priorities. I’m sure they all have pretty good libraries, although UCLA will certainly have more resources as it is one of the larger library systems in the U.S.
You are looking at very different regions here. Rochester is on Lake Ontario and will have lots of lake effect snow. It is a mid-sized city. UCLA is on the west side of Los Angeles, not too far from the ocean. You will have great year-round weather. LA is the 2nd largest city in the U.S. W&M is in Williamsburg, a small, very historic city in Tidewater Virginia.
One point where University of Rochester and William & Mary are different is the role played by the URMC (University of Rochester Med Center). It’s directly adjacent to the River Campus and, for many undergraduates, even for those not directly involved in medical research, it is an integral part of their college experience. D, for example, works as part of an epidemiology research team at the URMC and many of her public health classes are offered through the URMC.