UVA vs. Washington and Lee vs. William and Mary

<p>As posted in the title, these are the colleges I'm trying to decide on. Money is no issue here so don't bring that up. I'm looking at which school will give me the best options down the road in a career or what not. I'm also looking to party hard in college (also study hard of course). Where will I have the best experience?</p>

<p>Have you visited all three schools? They are unique from one another and I think you would get a feeling for fit towards one. All have active social student bodies. W&L has an overwhelming greek presence at 80%. UVa and W&M both have active greek communities at around 30% but if you choose not to participate it is much easier to ‘find your tribe’. Some would argue that the students at W&M are a bit more serious.</p>

<p>You don’t mention what you want to study so I can’t offer which school would give you the best opportunities for employment or graduate school. They are each going to have their own strengths.</p>

<p>My son was making this same decision with these same 3 schools last year. He visited all three, and they do have different “feels” and are each different from each other. For him, it came down to finding the balance between school work/social life/athletics (both attending and participating). He decided on UVA and has been extremely happy.</p>

<p>From the tone of your post, you should decide between UVA and W&L. Visit and decide what you like better - I have friends at W&L and while I can say I’d probably like it there, I have heard complaints about Lexington’s size. I think I’d prefer to be in Cville, so if Grounds starts getting a bit small there are other places to explore.</p>

<p>I have one UVA grad and one at W&L. Each loves the choice they made. Both also applied and were accepted at W&M but ultimately decided it wasn’t for them. UVA and W&L both have plenty of parties and social outlets. I too always had the impression that W&M students were more serious types but people I know from there assure me they had a good time and don’t have the same perception based on their actual experiences. All of them will get you where you want to go. It’s up to you once you get on campus and get to work.</p>

<p>They are quite different places. Different enough that you shouldn’t have a hard time figuring out which one speaks to you most.</p>