<p>"UVA Sucks" was written on a side blackboard in my philosophy classroom the whole of my 1st semester.</p>
<p>I only wonder how Thomas Jefferson would think of William and Mary if he saw it today. True, he founded UVA to be a campus truly based on academic learning, but still it's one of those what ifs.</p>
<p>UVa and W&M along with Davidson, UNC and W&L are the best schools in the South. W&M has the very strong undergrad & science programs and UVa has the established graduate schools. There should be no rivalry here. The true Southern schools need to stick together, especially since they are being challenged by the upstarts like Duke, Emory, Rice, Vanderbilt and Wake with their mostly Northern student bodies.</p>
<p>Worst.troll.ever.</p>
<p>Pedsox, I'm not posting this because I hate W&M. Actually, I'm quite fond of your school, and UVa & W&M are both extraordinary institutions IMO. But since you asked in an earlier post to Untilted, Jefferson made this comment about W&M: "We have in that state a college just well enough endowed to draw out the miserable existence to which a miserable constitution has doomed it."</p>
<p>Also, Jefferson may have not been too happy of the fact that when he was trying to establish UVa, a lot of the resistance in the state that tried to block UVA's creation came from W&M grads.</p>
<p>Jefferson was being a salesman and a politician when he made these remarks. Yes, he did not like W&M's associations with the British Crown and Oxford University but his primary motivation was ego-driven in that he wanted to shape an institution in his own image. Downing your competition and playing up your product is a classic tactic used by politicians as well as Procter & Gamble.</p>
<p>yes macsuile,</p>
<p>i'm sure you know the intention of everything everyone ever said, in the history of the universe.</p>
<p>lol maybe he just...didn't like it?</p>
<p>macsuile's comments, although partially erroneous, make a point about the culture of Southern schools. A student wanting to attend UVA or W&M may find the Southern culture more fitting than the different cultures at Duke and Emory. This is partially due to more cosmopolitan student bodies that do not appreciate or glorify the Southern customs. UVA and W&M must take a high % of instate students while Duke and Emory take less than 30% from their states, with many coming from western and northern areas. Its not just public schools that have the Southern flare that some ardently avoid and others earnestly seek in college. Washington and Lee, Vanderbilt and Davidson are fairly well known to be Southern schools and even use this branding as marketing themes. While being perceived as Southern or not is neither bad nor good in my eyes, it definitely defines a school, to a degree, and is a major factor for many prospective students.</p>
<p>oh boy...i need to comment! firstly, hopeforfuture...my d. also got into both UVA and WM.(she's about to graduate UVA as a psych major!) she talked to everyone about it, peers, those who chose one over the other, guidance counselors, teachers, parents, parents of other kids, etc. hands down, UVA came up with the more prestigious, slighty more difficult-to-get-into reponse! WM came up as equally good academically, but smaller, and too insulated for her.UVA is such an impressive public ivy, that its name will help in most fields. (the only thing i've consistently heard is that VT beats UVA on engineering.)oh, and zhongongg, i'm sure you realize WM is ALSO a state school. and perhaps you don't know that Thomas Jefferson, founder of UVA, its architect and agriculturalist, wanted his founding of UVA on his tombstone...he didn't even site his presidency on it! hope this helps, hopeforfuture!</p>
<p>P.S. doesn't UVA come in at a tie with UC Berkeley, or second to it EVERY year as best national institution??????? quite sure of that.</p>
<p>just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...</p>
<p>If you want to go to a good grad school don't go to William and Mary. You WILL get bad grades.</p>
<p>Yea, SigmaCentauri, grades are an absolute measure and are consistent across all schools, departments and classes. That's why MIT, UChicago and Swarthmore grads do so poorly in graduate school admissions.</p>
<p>[/sarcasm]</p>
<p>Haha, thanks cavalier, that makes me feel better :D</p>
<p>I guess you didn't notice MY sarcasm...although my guidance counselor who graduated from there did tell me that he wouldn't recommend going there because of the difficulty...silly.</p>
<p>Considering past posts of yours, I think you need to use the 'sarcasm' tag more than anyone else.</p>