UVA vs. W&M

<p>^^ I agree with fjchowdhury. With acceptance letters for W & M having hit the mailboxes on Saturday, the outcomes were not as expected. I will say that the kids who got accepted to W & M were more like the hard working kids with good grades, average SATs who really did not stand out (no real passions or dedication to sports) and who were not in the top 5% of the class. Some were in top 5%, but MANY were not. As expected, more males than females were accepted.</p>

<p>really instate helps u a LOT. I mean alot. Like just have 1500+(old SAT) and 4.0 with some AP classes. Ur a shoo in. I've seen someone whose only EC was korean club(basically BS which like meets once a year) and did nothing but study and get into UVA. It's so numberbased and a lot of people who get in from our school weren't even that smart.</p>

<p>My D was deferred on ED by UVa and accepted RD at W&M. Most of the kids accepted by W&M from her HS (NoVa) were in the same boat -- they were deferred on ED by UVA or an Ivy. They are all excellent students. Two other excellent students from the HS were waitlisted. A third student (with a 3.1 GPA) was, not surprisingly, rejected by W&M.</p>

<p>BTW, the mailman had a big smile on his face when he delivered the mail on Saturday. He rang the doorbell, asked for my D, handed her the W&M envelope and said, "Congratulations." (He's been our mailman since she was a little kid mailing letters to Santa.) He told me that he loves to hand-deliver college acceptances and really appreciates schools like W&M, which write 'WELCOME' on the outside of the envelope.</p>

<p>1500+ on the old SAT and 4.0 UW is by no means an easy feat.. I don't think I understand you. From what I see at my (instate) school, you need to be very well rounded to get into UVA if your stats are a bit on the low/average side</p>

<p>Merblajam, your mailman sounds awesome!</p>

<p>I bet the W&M students are passionate about something, you just might not know what it is.</p>

<p>imiracle911</p>

<p>like 3% of my graduating class in HS had over a 4.0, it wasn't easy to get. And how many people nationally "just get a 1500"? Not very many. You say that UVA admissions is numbers based, which I very much agree with you. I don't agree that it's easy to get a 4.0/1500. However, I don't see how you can tell someone they shouldn't be proud that they got into one of the best state schools in the country.</p>

<p>merblajam</p>

<p>it's nice that there's people like that around who like to make other people smile =) That seemed to be the case at my northern va HS as well. It is my personal opinion that it's very slightly easier to get into W&M from northern va than UVA, but harder everywhere else.</p>

<p>The w&m/UVA debate is foolish. They're both excellent schools at the undergraduate level that don't differ much in selectivity. Sure, there are probably marginal differences, but it's probably a waste of time to try to figure out what they are. If you're instate, you will probably get into both if you are top 5% and you have 1350+. That's not too difficult to achieve.</p>

<p>I agree with cavalier -- they are both great schools and really the only difference to me is preference (size, athletics, location, etc.). I would not say one is better than the other.</p>

<p>One major difference between UVA and W&M: UVA doesn't seem to care about high SAT scores. W&M says that they pay attention to SAT scores. My D had a 1510 (770M 740V). Deferred on ED from UVA; accepted on RD at W&M. Go figure. We'll see what arrives in the mail in the next few weeks from UVA. She's done everything humanly possible to overcome the deferral. She wants UVA but now has great choices (W&M and Wellesley) if UVA doesn't accept her. Her Dad (a double Hoo) is holding on to all the requests for money UVA has sent since January 1. (He usually writes a good size check.)</p>

<p>merblajam, you can't make an assumption about the entire applicant pool based on one applicant. Your daughter may have simply gotten unlucky, or possibly there was more competition from her school to get into UVA.</p>

<p>I expect nothing from and assume nothing about Virginia's admissions process. I've looked at the stats of accepted/rejected/waitlisted students from D's HS over the past four years. There are patterns and anomalies. UVA often rejects students who then go to Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, Georgetown, Stanford, Duke, and yes, W&M. UVA also accepts students who are rejected at all those other schools. We'll see what happens at the end of this whole process. My D's road may lead to C'Ville or it may lead to Williamsburg or it may lead to Boston. The only thing I know for certain is that her Dad's money will follow her.</p>

<p>Well, that's great that yr money's going to follow yr daughter. I don't know why you find it important to keep mentioning that - do you feel it entitles you (or your daughter) to some sort of special treatment? I'm going to assume that you're not one of UVA's mega-donors, so whatever contributions you make surely won't be missed a great deal. Why did you donate in the first place? Did you think it would give your daughter a leg up in the admissions process or something? I will probably give money to UVA in the future, but I can't see my kid's admission/rejection to the University playing a big role in the donations. </p>

<p>Anyway, best of luck to your daughter - - 10 more days!</p>

<p>Class rank could have something to do with it. A high SAT score does not offset a lower than average class rank, while a higher than average class rank can indeed offset a low SAT score. It's just how UVA places emphasis on things. I don't know your daughter's class rank but I'm just saying that's a possibility. Still, it's not like she's one of those 1250 scorers with 3.4 GPAs from Nova that get deferred, so I would say her chances are still pretty good.</p>

<p>Cavalier302:</p>

<p>Point taken. I forgot my manners. I will now go permanently silent on the subject of admission to UVA. Good luck to everyone.</p>

<p>Well, looking at the people who got into W&M at my school (Northern VA), I was surprised! Unfortunately, I got rejected but someone else with about the same numbers but less EC got in. I'm really worried because UVA has been my dream school for a long time......does my rejection say anything about my adimttance to UVA?</p>

<p>debbo, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. If you're in the borderline range for both schools, you may get into one, the other, both, or neither. You may still have a good shot at UVA, so good luck.</p>

<p>debbo: You are in good company, sorry to hear about your rejection. Don't give up on UVA. W&M and UVA are totally different schools in many respects and what didn't get you into W&M, might get you into UVA.</p>

<p>what do you think the differences in how the schools are? I got into W&M and I think I may have a chance at UVA, but I dont know how I am going to decide between the two. I plan to study political science/prelaw. Any ideas?</p>

<p>^^ A poster who actually attends one of the schools may be better able to answer your questions.</p>

<p>But...my perception of the differences is as follows:</p>

<p>W/M is a lot smaller (campus & classes)
W/M is more liberal arts
UVA is bigger on sports
UVA has more prestige</p>

<p>From my personal observations after being at both schools:</p>

<p>W/M kids are more 'real' and layed-back.
UVA kids seem to have an 'air' about them. Attending a football game in high heals, nice dress, pearls and a Gucci purse doesn't seem quite real to me. UVA is a really preppy school. </p>

<p>UVA's student body, I believe is more affluent than W & M, as a whole (mostly talking about the out of staters).</p>

<p>I've been accepted to UR and I KNOW their student body is very affluent but they seem to be a little more down to earth than the kids at UVA.</p>

<p>I know I'm going to be bashed for these comments, but again, this is my own personal opinion.</p>

<p>BTW: Both are GREAT schools, I think it just boils down to personal preference.</p>

<p>Oh Roxanne. I'm so glad I got you sucked into CC. W&M has a reputation for attracting more down to earth, study-hard kids whereas UVA has a broader range but is known for its obvious harder-partying. I think you will get more variety at UVA just because of sheer numbers but like worldshopper says it all comes down to personal preference.</p>

<p>Congrats on getting in! :)</p>

<p>thanks farah. I hope you decide to go to UVA. that would be oh so much fun, not to mention it would make my decision easier</p>