<p>Here's my situation. I've narrowed my choices to W&M and UVA for an anticipated double major in CS and Linguistics. I think I can safely assume that the undergrad linguistics programs at both are neck and neck, but it's the rest that concerns me.</p>
<p>I think I'd enjoy the culture at W&M much more than UVA's (I'm visiting both in the next week to be sure). I also qualified for Monroe scholars, so I very much want to choose W&M, but I'm very concerned with the difference in the CS departments between the two. </p>
<p>I fear that W&M's CS department may not be as good for me as UVA's. I'm not worried about the quality of instruction at either, but it seems to me that UVA, as a larger institution, has much better name recognition and many more resources and connections to offer. </p>
<p>So, here are my questions. I know that I'm not exactly going to get unbiased answers on the dedicated W&M forum, but I'd really appreciate well-reasoned input. I'd love to attend W&M.</p>
<p>-Are my thoughts on the CS departments correct?
-How much does being a Monroe/Rodman scholar actually matter or affect the education? $3K, luncheons, and priority class registration, while nice, are luxuries.</p>
<p>W&M has recently upgraded its science facilities and has new research buildings for physics. My son is also choosing between UVA and W&M and is leaning toward W&M based on size and fit. Not sure about computer science. One of the things he really likes about W&M is the St, Andrews program that lets juniors in the sciences spend a year abroad there.</p>
<p>First, I don’t really know anything about the CS department. What I gather from your post, it seems that you are worried about name recognitions and connections. Of course UVA is a bigger school so it has more alumni, there’s no way around that. I can tell you that W&M is highly respected among hiring managers. W&M students also place extremely well into graduate schools. W&M also “walks the talk” regarding undergraduate research [William</a> & Mary -*Research](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/computerscience/research/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/as/computerscience/research/index.php)</p>
<p>If you are going to W&M at any point this month, you should see if you can schedule some time to talk to a professor or the head of the Comp Sci department.</p>
<p>Also IMO, Monroe and Rodman are definitely nice perks to have… but they don’t “make” your experience at either school. Most of the people you interact with at either school will not be Monroe or Rodmans. I think your description of “a luxury” is accurate.</p>
<p>From your post, it sounds like you think you would be happier at W&M. That is worth a lot. It’s four years of your life and you want to be somewhere that you want to be. If the only thing pulling you to UVA is the [perceived] “connections” (which can be very dubious, hard to quantify, etc), then I don’t think it’s worth it. I say this as someone attending a graduate program that is definitely not one of the “big names” in the field, but I’ve secured very competitive internships (acceptance rates from 3% to 10%) in my field. While the name on your diploma can help, it will never make or break you as an applicant.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your sound advice. I do think it’s an excellent idea to try to meet someone in the CS department—I’ll do that to try to get a better feel of how the two schools measure up to each other.</p>