<p>I got admitted to both and am having a tough time deciding. I feel like I'm leaning towards William and Mary, but UVA is ranked higher. Plus, where I live I see UVA grad all over the place but I rarely come across William and Mary grads - better networking for UVA?</p>
<p>Anyways here are some of the things that I see as pros and cons for UVA (versus William and Mary), I'd like to get input from alumni or current students on my list. The list goes from most significant concerns to least significant. </p>
<p>Cons:
1. My percption of UVA, based on everything I've heard, is that it is a bunch of rich, pretentious, drunk kids. I asked an alumni who graduated from UVA 2 years ago whether this reputation was true or not, she said that almost all the kids in the College of Arts and Sciences fit the description. I don't really mind the kids being rich but the pretentiousness and particularly the reputation for drinking is a negative. I don't drink and don't plan on drinking.
2. Heavy pressure to conform? The UVA grad I talked to said that there's very high pressure to conform if you're in the College of Arts and Sciences, especially in terms of clothes and brands (North Face, New Balance, Nalgene, etc). I've never owned a North Face, a pair of New Balances, a Nalgene bottle, or popped my collar. If a current student could issue this I'd appreciate it.
3. William and Mary seems to have a reputation of having the more studious students.
4. Bigger school = less interaction with professors than I would have at William and Mary?</p>
<p>Pros:
1. More national prestige. The two schools seem to be on even ground when it comes to prestige in Virginia but it seems like UVA would be more prestigious outside of VA.
2. Seems like it'd be easier to maintain a higher GPA at UVA.
3. Better networking?
4. ACC sports.
5. Free admission to home games.
6. Cool orange and blue scarves and I like the Virginia sweatshirts. I like the ties too.</p>
<p>I'm sure a lot of UVA kids had to pick between William and Mary and UVA (and vice versa). If you were one of those kids could you please tell me why you picked UVA?</p>
<p>Also, I forgot to mention that I want to be History major and go on to law school afterwards.</p>
<p>Sorry to add a question but I'm also deciding between UVa and W&M.
please also talk about the pre-med too. i know they have about the same "med school acceptance rates." W&M has a harder grading.</p>
<p>Your college experience is really going to be what you make it out to be. While some groups of students may fit stereotypes, you're definitely going to find a good number of students just like yourself who don't want to have anything to do with them.</p>
<p>IMO, you need to consider what you wish to major in - where your interests lie - and which school could help you to best fulflll your goals.... Every school will have its pros and cons, as you well know. Have you visited both colleges? For many students, a visit is the deciding factor... And there are students who get accepted to both colleges and attend neither for various reasons... Perhaps you have a third choice to think about? Best of luck to you! You will make the decision that is right for you! You're in a very enviable position, considering the number of well qualified applicants out there.</p>
<p>So how did all these drunk rich kids get the grades to get into one of the most selective schools in the country? Yea, maybe a few legacies, but it ain't that big a factor. I'm sure if you wear Walmart jeans the only people who'll notice are people you don't care to know anyway. And you'll find those on any campus.</p>
<p>Um yea this has been discussed at length in about 20 other threads. Not everyone fits that stereotype but a number of people do.</p>
<p>The biggest diff btwn WM and UVA is size/location. UVA is huge and in a cityish type location, at least compared to the super small WM (again, compared to UVA). I have heard ppl outgrow WM by the end of the 4 yrs there, and wish they had come here... So if you are the kind of person who wants a big school then you should consider UVA over WM. On the other hand if you really want a small LAC then WM is proly the right choice.</p>
<p>I started a similar thread to ask abould UVA vs WM (and threw Tech residential housing in the mix) on the WM forum. My D didn't even apply to UVA because she bought into the "stereotype;" she also wanted a smaller school but applied to Tech because of the vet school; she's interested in the latter now because the residential honors program is like a small college within the bigger one, with the big school advantages. She's going to do both an overnight and the accepted students day at WM before she decides.
Seems to me that the "life of the mind" at WM fits her and maybe you too. And, while UVA is clearly a great school, I must say that my OOS friends seem to know WM's rep better.</p>
<p>Reading your list of cons, I thought you may be thinking of Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) or maybe you got them from a denizen of one of their coffee shops. I'm having fun today answering as a parent queries on today's list to students and alumni of UVA 0f which I am neither - just a parent of a first year UVA student) and I keep giving the same answer: Listen to Cavalier**.<br>
Full disclosure: I really wanted my son to go to William & Mary (which had rejected me back in 1965) but he declined it in favor of UVA because he wanted a bigger school. Make your decision on size not stereotypes.</p>
<p>Personally, I think all the people from my school going to W&M are annoying, stuck up, and snobby (most are girls). I would hate to attend college with those types of people. On the other hand, I like a lot of people from my school who are going to UVA. There are those who are preppy but most of them are light hearted and friendly (the guys anyway). Good friends of mine are going as well and I definitely think we will have a good time. You know what I've noticed? Smart girls tend to be much bigger jerks than smart guys...maybe its just my school.</p>
<p>UVa's reputation is much better than WM's overseas. There are far more UVa alumni living overseas, and lots of international students currently studying at UVa. I can assure you that they are not wearing khaki's, cashmere and pearls.</p>
<p>actually I wouldn't be surprised if they were. My friends roomate is this rich kid from Turkey and he fits perfectly into the the UVA stereotype. On another note, he ****ing paid off the cops.</p>
<p>The stereotypes aren't entirely false. Not everyone is like that but you are very likely to come upon these people. I've lived here since elementary school and I'm going to UVa next year. Don't worry, you'll be surprised at how many people don't fit in to the generalization and might have chosen UVa for the education and not the booze and the popped collars :D</p>
<p>"1. My percption of UVA, based on everything I've heard, is that it is a bunch of rich, pretentious, drunk kids. I asked an alumni who graduated from UVA 2 years ago whether this reputation was true or not, she said that almost all the kids in the College of Arts and Sciences fit the description. I don't really mind the kids being rich but the pretentiousness and particularly the reputation for drinking is a negative. I don't drink and don't plan on drinking."</p>
<p>Most folks I know at UVA aren't rich popped collar snobs. Then again, I'm from Virginia, and W&M popped collar snobs are mostly out of staters and/or boarding school folks. </p>
<p>Rather than belabor what everyone said, college is what you make it out to be. If you want to meet the popped collar frat white boys you can, if you want to meet the hippie weed smokers, you can, and if you want to meet the tech savvy and dorky Asians, you can too. It all depends on how you fit yourself into college and what you make of those experiences.</p>
<p>I also have this exact same problem. I was deferred ED at UVA so I decided to apply to William and Mary which I fell in love with. Now that I have been accepted at both it is really hard to decide. The main difference for me is that I will do engineering at UVA vs Chemistry at W & M</p>
<p>Just to reiterate, college is what you make of it...i should remember that
Here's my thing, I hated W&M. I couldn't even get out of the car. Have you ever gone to a school and known ASAP that you would not fit at this school. I knew immediately and we drove off to URichmond for a Baseball Showcase. </p>
<p>I know some cool kids at UVA who aren't popped collared metros. I can't speak about the general population though. I have a friend at W&M who describes the student body as "quirky" and "weird".</p>
<p>"Personally, I think all the people from my school going to W&M are annoying, stuck up, and snobby (most are girls)."</p>
<p>Sigmacentauri: That's exactly how most people at W&M from my high school class were like; guys who are from my high school from subsequent classes were better. But the cool part about college is that you don't have to be friends with your high school classmates, and to tell you the truth, that never gave me a negative perception about W&M to begin with.</p>
<p>compgeek: the student body at W&M has real conformity in the student body...of course you will find your cliques and such, but it is a relatively open campus. Maybe that's why it's weird, if you want to call it that way. </p>
<hr>
<p>As with UVA, I still have no idea why the popped collar white boy comes to mind....the school is more diverse than W&M in terms of student demographics! If anything, it should be vice versa.</p>
<p>My D fell in love with UVA for many reasons - not too large but large enough to pusue various interests; additionally, UVA is more into sports (as well as academics) and that is a big factor for her - just a great all-around education and atmosphere and a great value instate (or out of state for that matter).</p>