UVA vs. William & Mary (help!)

I’ve been accepted to both W&M and UVA (no honors college/scholarships for either) and I’m concerned about making the right decision especially now that I might not be able to visit either campus again (I’ve relied pretty heavily on getting to go the physical campus for most of the decisions I’ve made thus far). When I first visited each campus before applying, W&M definitely clicked more for me. I preferred the smaller environment and liked the quaintness of Williamsburg. UVA and Charlottesville are beautiful, but the UVA tour felt a little snobby to me?

However, I’m worried that W&M will feel too small or won’t offer enough opportunity for me. I am typically quieter and more introverted, but before senior year I holed up and worked myself to a point of almost burnout before realizing that ultimately I enjoy going out and spending time with friends. I don’t want to feel squashed or spend four more years crushed what I’ve heard is a “stress culture” around W&M. I’m afraid that I’ll miss out on the college feel of screaming at football games or going out on the weekends at W&M.

In terms of academics, I’m interested in studying international relations, political science, or something related to national defense. I of course value academics and am looking forward to being challenged, and I feel like both schools offer rigorous coursework and opportunities to further my major/minor study. But I’m afraid being undecided with little concrete direction as to what I want to do will be detrimental at one school as opposed to the other.

Can anyone offer any insight or advice? I know that in the end it will be up to me and I’m confident that I will enjoy college no matter what, but I was relying on being able to visit both campuses again and I don’t want to feel like I missed out on something. Anything would help!

UVA is generally seen as more social than W&M. But we know kids who recently graduated W&M who LOVED it, found it as social as they wanted it to be (meaning you get out what you put in). UVA will certainly have a better sports scene with the ACC, crazy fans, etc. If that’s your thing, UVA will provide all of that and more.

Two very different feels. Although UVA is not super large, about 15k UG, it’s much bigger than W&M. So you’re really talking about the difference in feel regarding a top notch global university and essentially a larger than usual LAC (that’s the feel at W&M).

I would imagine they attract a very different type of person.

This is the BIG deal that you have spent HS getting ready for. Now you have to make this all-important decision- and that’s legit scary. But here’s the thing:

  1. you have only good choices: you will be able to find your place and get everything you want from either school

  2. which college you choose between those two will matter much, much, MUCH less than what you do during those 4 years

but mostly

  1. trust yourself! You had a better reaction to one of those places- trust that. W&M is plenty big enough, and there are ways to make it bigger (we know a couple of Model UN kids who have managed to attend events all over the world, never mind things like semester in DC, study abroad, etc).

It’s natural to want something to hold on to that says ‘this is the definite right answer to this big decision you have to make’, but what will make it the actual right answer is your choosing it, and leaning in to it. Welcome to adulting!

(& btw, congrats on the great choices!)

Our daughter is a second year at UVA. We toured both W&M and UVA when we were looking at colleges. She decided to not apply to W&M after the visit. School seemed to small and isolated and the dorms were brutal.

UVA is building more dorms now and seem to be getting their act together about housing. Daughter is having a very good experience at UVA - it is a good combo of academic achievers and school spirit.

We are OOS family and get the potentially snobby element there but our daughter has really found her group of friends.

We also thought it was big but seems to get smaller every time we go back.

One red flag on UVA is the housing which they are figuring out.

President Ryan is outstanding and their communication is very good.

UVA - great pick for us!

Based on your interests UVA seems like a no brainer - that degree is going to open up a ton of doors for you.

Based on your academic interests, my first impression was Wm. & Mary. I know some former students who were guided into "national defense’ related firms / think tanks. But they entered Wm. & Mary as designated scholars (carried a minor stipend for summer study) which gave them access to profs.

My impression is that Wm. & Mary has a lot of serious students, while Virginia–an outstanding school–has a bit of a privileged, frat vibe.

Did you consider the dual degree program between Wm. & Mary and St. Andrews in Scotland ?

Although not an issue in this thread, the University ofVirginia has outstanding law & MBA schools. If considering a professional graduate school in the future, then maybe Wm. & Mary for undergraduate school & UVA for grad school ?

I have cousins who attended UVA. And I have an old friend who worked for the restoration foundation down there in Williamsburg for many years. Both universities have fine reputations, but it sounds as if UVA may be the growing opportunity for you.

Either will be fine for your major. Both strong and benefit from proximity to DC. I’d suggest going with your impression of fit.

W&M is about 8,600 or so students, so similar in size to Princeton and Brown. It is much larger than SLACs like W&L, Davidson, etc.

Yes heard the dorms at W&M are brutal - a bit worried that isn’t going to improve with the COVID crisis impacting campuses around the country. What particularly was concerning - space, location, ac (or lack thereof), bugs? They do not have a lot of inside dorm tours or photos anywhere and we were unable to do an admitted student day or tour.

@TestRun, the dorm room we saw on the visit day was…not great. They purposely showed us a standard 1st year room- always the least impressive, b/c…seniority! But we know quite a few W&M students, and when you ask them about how they like/liked it, none of them talk about the dorms - except in terms of their friends / the things they do there.

Really truly, things like food, dorms, etc are not a reason to pick a college- you aren’t going on your ‘trip of a lifetime holiday’: you are going to university for an education. If dorms, etc are your priority go to places like OSU: there you will get to pick between have a 46" tv or a private bathroom in your suite. Using dorms as an ‘objective’ metric is really a way of avoiding owning your own gut reaction. Trust yourself. Really.

My daughter had to make the same choice. She chose W&M because she felt that it fit better with her “quirkier”, less preppy vibe. No regrets at all. It was a terrific college experience. She lived her freshman year in a beautiful dorm (that’s now an upperclassmen dorm) and then in her sorority house for 2 years, then an off-campus apartment.

@TestRun there is an online virtual tour for William & Mary here: https://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/visit/virtual-tour/

Not all Freshman dorm rooms are air conditioned but a number of them are. Common areas are air conditioned. Upper class dorms are all air conditioned I believe. You can potentially live on campus for all four years at William & Mary (like a number of Ivy League schools) and I think most alumni will say this greatly enhances their experience.

You can find dorm descriptions and videos online: https://www.wm.edu/offices/residencelife/oncampus/residencehalls/index.php