<p>so of all the schools I have been accepted to, I am leaning towards these four.</p>
<p>I can really appreciate the help of you guys.</p>
<p>I have no idea whatsoever what I want to major in, but leaning towards IR/Econ/Poli Sci ... but again, they are VERY likely to change. I plan on going to law school afterwards</p>
<p>So what do you guys think would be the best choice? If you had to make this choice what would you guys pick? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? How do they stack up in terms of prestige (not that it really matters).</p>
<p>UVA has a SWEET Law school. First off, congrats! 4 great schools!! Northwestern is really good. Here is my ranking in terms of presitige:</p>
<p>They all tie, with maybe Northwestern being a little more prestigous, but I dunno what u define as prestige so thats that. Take in other factors also like social life and stuff. I know that Tufts doesnt really have a good social scene as a school, but ur like 10 min away from Boston, and in a radius of 60 of the nations most prestigous universities. All ur schools have a pretty good balance between social scene and academics. If I were u, I would factor in things like cost and stuff. I mean if ur instate then I would choose btween UVA or W+M. Otherwise, I would go to NU for undergrad, and UVA for law or something i dunno. Visit all 4 schools, and make sure to ask these questions on the other college forums! Congrats again!</p>
<p>As someone who lives in Williamsburg, VA... don't go to W&M. I know a ton of people who go there and they are very strange. Not to mention it has little social life. UVA is much more well rounded. However, W&M is much harder to graduate from... very difficult. Highest suicide rate in Virginia. I heard they lowered the shower heads to stop the hangings.. haha Despite all of this, the town is beautiful and Colonial Williamsburg is very relaxing. If you do decide on W&M write this down, CHEESE SHOP. Best sandwiches in town and located adjacent to campus in CW. Have fun wherever you choose!</p>
<p>I wouldn't say that W&M is harder to graduate from. The atmosphere there might be one of intense academic pressure, but it's not like they fail out particularly large portions of their class. I also severely doubt that the curve classes much worse than any of their peers.</p>
<p>What kind of aid are you getting from the privates? If nothing, then go to w&m or UVA, no question. The private schools would not be worth the added cost.</p>
<p>what if cost was not an issue, and you were looking at purely the academics, social life, law school placement etc</p>
<p>of course UVA would be significantly cheaper, and W&M is out of question now... it is now between Amherst, Northwestern, Tufts and UVA</p>
<p>Also, are college visits worth it? I haven't seen any of them, and my teachers are like that college visits don't help much. If I visit them all I will be missing about a week and half of school right before the IB exams, which my teachers think is "unacceptable"</p>
<p>but screw IB Diploma, I could care less if I get it or not</p>
<p>I would recommend UVA or W&M, and donating the excess to charity. Law school placement does not depend on school. It depends on two factors: GPA and LSAT. Go to UVA or W&M, get a high GPA and do well on the LSAT.</p>
<p>...or UVA. Picking Tufts, in this situation, would just be stupid. Northwestern is about equal to UVA, and Amherst might be slightly better. But none is worth the cost.</p>
<p>Really don't know much about Tufts, so I can't speak to that school. W & M is a great school academically and my D goes there out of state - she got into many of the same schools you did - plus U of Chicago, Wash. U. and a several others (minus Tufts). Based upon her experience, I have to say that I disagree with the poster that said W & M students aren't social and are weird - from what I've seen that couldn't be farther from the truth. My D and her friends are beautiful, smart, funny, talented and have a blast at school. True, it's not filled with the bar scene like UVA, but then, there are still off campus parties galore if that's what you're looking for. There's also plenty for the non-drinking social types to do. I have to say that both D & S (he's into most of these same schools as well as others) liked W & M, UVA, Northwestern also. They had and are having a really hard time deciding on school choice as well. Honestly, I would go visit again and try to find the place that you don't want to leave. They are all great academically and since you haven't decided what your major will definitely be, choose by fit. If money was a concern, I would agree with Cav. to go instate. You'll never get these 4 years back again - go where you can have fun. You will learn at all of them.</p>
<p>W&M does have some weird kids, but everyone's really nice, and there's such a variety of people that everyone can find their niche. And our suicide rate isn't that much higher than most other colleges (I won't pretend that academics here aren't stressful, though).</p>
<p>In my opinion, college visits are extremely important and influential. I recently visited Tufts, which I was almost ready to cross off the list, and fell in love- whereas I visited what I thought was my first choice (Brown) and decided it really wasn’t so much better than Tufts that I should kill myself to get in. I HIGHLY recommend visiting - makes all the difference! good luck :)</p>