<p>S3 accepted to all publics including JMU Tech and WM. Not accepted at UVA Top two are Tech and WM. Recommendations?</p>
<p>What’s his major?</p>
<p>William and Mary is awesome, but so is VT. Much depends on major/career goals.</p>
<p>Also, what does he like outside of academics…VT has big sports to watch…so some rah rah going on.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your S. Those are awesome schools!</p>
<p>W & M and Tech are very different. If your S is more of a liberal arts type or pre-med, I would say W & M. For engineering/tech stuff, well Tech. If you have a chance to re-visit both, it might be worth it.</p>
<p>lastof3, Congratulations. Great choices. I had one son who went to UVa and now one at Virginia Tech. Neither son applied to William and Mary because they wanted a bigger school,bigger sports scene. Depends on what your son is looking for. William and Mary may be a better fit if he likes a smaller school and doesn’t care that much about big time sports.So,as others have said, alot depends on academics but also what kind of social fit your son is looking for. William and Mary and Virginia Tech are both great schools but very different. Good luck with the decision.You can’t go wrong with either school.</p>
<p>congrats!!
~ W&M “admitted student day” is tomorrow 4/16 ( i think,check their website to be sure)
~ VT “hokie foucus” was last week but do go visit anytime to do more touring/asking questions etc etc
~ these 2 schools are so very different so only your son can answer the question of “fit & major & all that good stuff”
~ congrats again !!!</p>
<p>We re-visited both Virginia Tech and William & Mary last weekend. He loved both for different reasons. He was invited to apply to VT’s Honors Program and is waiting to hear back. </p>
<p>After VT, he said he really liked the social atmosphere in addition to the business school. Also one of his best friends is a freshman there and rally talked it up. He is not firm in his decision about majors, though. </p>
<p>After WM, he said he really liked both schools and was having a difficult time deciding. A friend from high school went on tours with him and he was also struggling with a similar decision (JMU vs WM). It’s really S’s decision, but as parents, we both prefer WM due to smaller classes with an emphasis on undergrad education, school notoriety throughout US, etc. He prefers the social scene/opportunities at VT, although he prefers the academics of WM, with the exception of the continual comments about the grading system and how WM professors never give A’s which could negatively impact his overall GPA. </p>
<p>Again, great opportunities either way, but a crystal ball at this point would be very helpful.</p>
<p>Lastof3- Not exactly a crystal ball, but if he thinks he could be happy at either consider the graduation rate (W&M 91% vs VT 78%). My son faced a similar decision and this was a big factor in how we felt.
Congratulations and best of luck!</p>
<p><a href=“http://voices.washingtonpost.com/college-inc/2010/12/u-va_william_and_mary_grad_rat.html[/url]”>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/college-inc/2010/12/u-va_william_and_mary_grad_rat.html</a></p>
<p>I don’t know blueiguana, for a school of Virginia Tech’s size, coming in at an almost 80% graduation rate seems pretty decent to me, esp given the sizes of the engineering and other strong major programs. </p>
<p>Deciding between the two would be tough, esp given the fact that he is interested in business. I will say I talked to a couple of kids from my d’s cc team who went to the Hokie Focus and spent time with some of the business profs while there. Pamplin must have really done a great job representing their program. One girl came home and withdrew her deposit from JMU in order to say yes to VT. My d said the other followed suit this past Friday. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and your son. Hope he finds happiness wherever he decides to go. :)</p>
<p>There’s no ‘wrong’ decision. I was just presenting another data point to consider. That’s all. All excellent schools.</p>
<p>I agree with KandKsmom. A 78% graduation rate for a large public university seems pretty decent to me too. The article posted by blueiguana says the median for all schools is actually much lower at 53%. There may be other reasons for your son to choose William and Mary over Virginia Tech, but I wouldn’t let any concerns about the graduation rate sway you if VT seems the better fit overall. The student population in general tends to be more affluent at UVa and William and Mary(and most elite privates). Higher graduation rates at privates in general do not surprise me.</p>
<p>Unless he is firmly set on engineering, W&M>>>>VT.</p>
<p>swish, You are forgetting architecture. VT has the highest ranked undergraduate architecture program in the US in some polls . Check out their Lumenhaus, winner of an international award. There are very many highly regarded programs there besides engineering. You can get a great education at either school. I saw on Col. Pr. site that William and Mary’s freshman retention rate is 96%, while VT’s is 93%-still pretty good for a large,public university. Both great schools but very different . One a larger research university, the other a very well regarded LAC type school. You can get a great education at either. And don’t forget social fit! lastof3,Good luck to your son with his decision.</p>
<p>“although he prefers the academics of WM, with the exception of the continual comments about the grading system and how WM professors never give A’s which could negatively impact his overall GPA.” </p>
<p>lastof3: Professors at W&M most definitely give out A’s. Students work very hard for them but most students work very hard anyway at W&M.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son!! And, congrats to mom & dad!!</p>
<p>My $.02, don’t worry as much about rankings and % grad rates. I don’t even look at % grad rates. I figure if my son studies he will grad in 4 years so it doesn’t matter to me what % of other people don’t graduate in 4 years. It is a non-issue. </p>
<p>To me, it comes down to big school versus small school. VT has some serious fan passion for football and sports. W&M plays football in a lower division and there is passion for the team but not VT type passion. Does that matter? For some kids it does. For some kids it significantly adds to the college experience. </p>
<p>W&M wins if he wants to play sports and not watch other kids play. That is where the small school can provide more opps than a big school but that does not sound like the case here. And that is good. It is time to focus on the brain. </p>
<p>I hope he picks VT but if he goes to W&M, I will vicariously be happy for him as well.</p>
<p>lastof3, I just noticed the struggle you said your son’s friend is having about William and Mary and JMU. If the friend is an average, sports loving regular guy in particular, it doesn’t seem to always be that easy to decide. Most people on CC would think -oh, who wouldn’t automatically pick William and Mary- William and Mary is higher ranked,more prestigious,etc. Lots of boys prefer bigger ,more sports oriented schools. We have friends (dad a William and Mary undergrad and also law school grad) whose son was accepted to both schools but chose JMU. He just felt that JMU was the school for him and had a great 4 years there. The dad was disappointed initially but supported his son’s decision. Your son should do fine at either William and Mary or Virginia Tech. He just needs to figure out where he thinks he will succeed the best and feel happiest at. Is he a big school guy or not? It is getting closer to decison time so you will know soon enough.</p>
<p>All of you have been so helpful- thank you!!!</p>
<p>S’s two older brothers are weighing in as well. Both have expressed that it needs to be his decision, and both recognize the strengths that each school has. That being said, they both tend to lean more toward WM ultimately. </p>
<p>Interestingly, this past weekend S saw his friend from VT who is in the honors program and lives in the honors dorm, and who is loving VT and trying to persuade S to attend there. Then he saw his friend in his high school that is still making a decision between JMU and WM, but leaning more toward WM. Back and forth, back and forth. S1 (who attended an Ivy for undergrad) told S3 to put the names of both schools on scraps of paper, pull one name from a paper bag, and see how you feel about it. How methodical is that? His parent (not me) had him flip a coin and call heads or tails. S2 (also at an Ivy, for what it’s worth) told S3 to check out the female population at each school. All three were somewhat in jest, of course. I am making up a decision grid with the pros and ‘relative’ cons of each, and I am trying to figure out a weighting system for the pros/cons (i.e., which factors weigh in most heavily). </p>
<p>Am I obsessive? Probably too much so. I will be happy when he finally makes his decision— so that I can put this to rest in my own mind. Ironically, our opinions as his parents hold the least weight of all… LOL </p>
<p>I will keep you posted on his final decision and his rationale.</p>
<p>*consider the graduation rate (W&M 91% vs VT 78%). *</p>
<p>I don’t think that is relevant at all unless the rate has been affected by a student’s inability to get the courses that they’ll need. I can imagine that VT has more students who might be working their way thru college (doing co-ops and so forth), so it’s “inferior” grad rate could be meaningless. </p>
<p>If a child doesn’t have to worry about funding and isn’t likely going to change his major significantly (or change as a junior or senior), then graduating in 4 years shouldn’t be a big problem.</p>
<p>“Lastof3- Not exactly a crystal ball, but if he thinks he could be happy at either consider the graduation rate (W&M 91% vs VT 78%).”</p>
<p>Solely a factor of economic diversity. The more Pell Grant students, the lower the graduation rate.</p>
<p>You know, I’ve kind of gotten slammed on this one…</p>
<p>I didn’t mean this as an overall statement on one school or another, I was simply bringing up a data point to consider (or not) along with other factors they were considering. </p>
<p>From our findings it was indeed a case where for our student, in his major, he may have had trouble getting classes scheduled and graduating on time. It’s one point to consider and may or may not effect your student. It’s up to each family to look into it and see what happens with the specific major, what current students are experiencing, and judge for themselves.</p>
<p>I think graduation rates ARE important. Most kids are influenced by peer pressure. If half those who start transfer or drop out, then at least subliminally the kid gets the message that getting the piece of paper just isn’t that big a deal. </p>
<p>Or sometimes, a low graduation rate means a lot of kids transfer. That too is not a good sign. </p>
<p>Now, I think a 78% graduation rate is fine. But to say that graduation rates are irrelevant and /or always wholly explained by the percentage of students on Pell Grants strikes me as untrue.</p>