Hello everyone,
So I was accepted to University of Richmond with a presidential scholarship, and overall it is 46k total including everything (tuition, fees, etc.). I’m currently enrolled there. I was waitlisted at W&M and sent them a letter of interest because its academics are good and the undergraduate size of about 6100 is perfect for me. Also, like Richmond, it has small classes which I like and a good bio program.
However, when they got back to me, they told me I wasn’t going to receive any merit aid if I get in (which is expected since I was waitlisted). Also, when I looked up their tuition and fees online, W&M would total 57k (OOS) if I don’t get any type of aid. So even though W&M is public, it would be 11k more than Richmond if I go there. If they offer any need-based aid at all, I highly doubt that it would be enough to make it cheaper than Richmond.
My regional dean said that if I really want to go I can email him again and he can send me an offer of admission, and the office of financial aid would calculate any need-based aid. However, I’m not sure if it would be worth turning down Richmond for W&M if it’s 11k more and of course, I doubt that as an OOS student (with parents with high income) I would receive that much aid.
Do you think it’s worth moving forward, or should I just give up on W&M? Although my family can technically afford it, idk if it’s worth the extra money. I know W&M is more prestigious and the name on the degree would help when it comes to searching for jobs, but Richmond is a pretty good school too. Also the food and dorms at Richmond are better, but that shouldn’t be a deciding factor. I kinda feel bad because I feel like I’ve bothered a dean a little since I’m still not 100% sure whether W&M is my number one choice. When I wrote the letter of interest, at the time I thought I’d definitely want to go to W&M but I didn’t think money would be much of an issue. Now I do think that an 11k difference is kind of big.
My dad told me that if W&M turns out to be cheaper then he would encourage me to attend which I’m okay with but I highly doubt that that would be the case. If W&M turns out to be more expensive by like 5k to 10k ish, would it still be worth attending?
I know nobody can tell me exactly what to do but any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
W&M is not worth the money over UR. They are similar tier schools (W&M really is NOT more prestigious- and this is coming from someone who is in-state for W&M) and W&M doesn’t offer you any additional benefit. As an out of state student, I wouldn’t count on much financial aid from W&M- it’s instate tuition is very high even (the highest in the state I believe- wasn’t affordable for me) and they’re not known for giving great financial aid at all. UR on the other hand, meets full need.
For what it’s worth, I was waitlisted at W&M back in 2014 and chose not to pursue the waitlist because I got the Richmond Scholar (so my situation was a little different), I knew W&M wasn’t giving me any merit aid if I got off the waitlist, and I knew I don’t qualify for financial aid (too “rich” to get aid, too poor to actually afford schools- the middle class doughnut as its called!) at W&M.
Richmond is as prestigious as W&M. I think you should stick with Richmond, especially given the cost discrepancy.
Yeah I agree that they’re both pretty prestigious. I heard that W&M may be more famous nationally, but Richmond has been getting popular over the past years. They both felt great when I visited though, so I think that if W&M is still more expensive then I’d stick with Richmond. If the price turns out to be the same, then that would be another issue but either school is great
William & Mary student here. I can answer any questions you might have about the school. What are the factors that are most important to you? I wouldn’t agree to enroll unless they calculated the need-based aid first, but you are right that it is likely to be limited. I just visited the University of Richmond campus the other day and it is gorgeous, not to mention it is near a city, which can be advantageous for internship/shadowing opportunities.
If class sizes are what are important to you, University of Richmond actually appears to have smaller classes overall. William & Mary has a medium-sized student body with slightly larger class sizes. Your assessment of the relative reputations are pretty on point, but whether that even matters or not probably depends on the field you intend to go into. If you are a hard working student, I don’t think you will be lacking in opportunity no matter where you go. I don’t think you could go wrong with either choice. I really lovvvee W&M but 11 K per year is a lot of money, so I might be inclined to cast my vote to Richmond on this one.
University of Richmond and William & Mary are huge rivals in sports, so chances are you won’t be getting rid of either whichever school you go to. Best of luck!
@shawnspencer Thanks for your honest post! I really appreciate the advice. My regional dean told me that the financial aid office told them that they would only be able to offer loans and work study, so the cost will basically be way higher than Richmond’s, so I decided to stick with Richmond. I really appreciate your post though, and I’m glad you love W&M!
Good luck at U of Richmond…beautiful school…
@moooop thanks!