<p>Here are some facts about William & Mary. Yes, there was discussion many decades ago to add W&M to the so-called "Ivy Sports League" but the transportation logistics at the time didn't make sense and W&M's public status was also a minor consideration although Cornell is semi-public. </p>
<p>Also, the Duke family approached W&M first with their money but the school turned them down. Further, UVa and MIT were founded by W&M alums.</p>
<p>It is, but everyone thinks it's private (it isn't) because it's so old and because of the Royal Charter that we have. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we will never be as prestigious as UVA as long as we are state funded, because the state wants it that way. I also think the state wants Tech to be better than us. That would make me cringe if this ever happens, though the General Assembly could care less.</p>
<p>Globalist - W&M went public 100 years ago due to the economic fallout from the Civil War.</p>
<p>WMAlum2006 - W&M is the most prestigious school in the country in terms of history and character.</p>
<p>"WMAlum2006 - W&M is the most prestigious school in the country in terms of history and character."</p>
<p>A+</p>
<p>hahahahaha</p>
<p>I think UVA and WM are prestigious in their own ways. I mean UVa might have more national recognition, good in some ways bad in others, but I think that WM has a level of academic prestige that will always elude UVa</p>
<p>I'm a W&M student, and I sometimes get frustrated with the lack of recognition that the College gets. However, even though the general public may not be as familiar with William and Mary as Harvard and Yale or other Ivies, Grad schools are very, very impressed by graduates of W&M, and our acceptance rates to grad programs show that (I think about 25% higher than the nat'l average). </p>
<p>If anyone has any questions about the school, I'd be glad to answer them! My e-mail is <a href="mailto:crhauc@wm.edu">crhauc@wm.edu</a>.</p>
<p>Everyone on the East Coast knows William & Mary. Does any other geography matter?</p>
<p>WMAlum2006 - W&M is in the process of going private. Have you heard of the Charter Initiative? See webpage:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.virginia.edu/restructuring/%5B/url%5D">http://www.virginia.edu/restructuring/</a></p>
<p>Macsuile, there's a serious difference between becoming more semi-autonomous due to the recent Restructuring and going private. I highly doubt W&M will become private anytime soon. One problem is that W&M would have to buy all its buildings from the state including the priceless historical ones.</p>
<p>That dilemma was brought up by UVa when it considered going private. What price tag can you put on UVA's Lawn, which was built by Jefferson and is the only American collegiate structure on the United Nation's World Heritage List? Even with a $3.5 billion endowment, can UVA afford to buy ALL its buildings from the state? </p>
<p>I guess the same can be said about W&M especially in regards to the Wren Building and the rest of the Ancient Campus.</p>
<p>The state (err, commonwealth) is not going to let UVA, W&M, and VT go private. There's no way.</p>
<p>The state is trying to keep them slightly happier by agreeing with the Charter Initiative.</p>
<p>You guys are missing something critical: Tech and UVa were never private. William & Mary was. Besides, does Richmond want to see second tier schools like Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt and Wake continue to steal our professors as we languish in state-run bureaucracy?</p>
<p>macsuile - I have to differ with you re: East Coast knowing William & Mary. Perhaps we need to narrow down the East Coast a bit. My son is a WM student and I rarely meet anyone who recognizes the school. However, we are not mid-Atlantic east cost - we are Boston east cost. As I have mentioned before, one of his teachers wanted to know why he was going to cooking school. The selectivity index of WM for OOS students skews the student's perception of it's overall recognition in the Boston area - even those who recognize the name of the school would not compare it to any of the big name Boston schools. This may be quite unfair and provincial but true, nonetheless. Personally, I don't care - I am happy that my son is happy there. But, in no way does WM have the recognition that places like Tufts or BC have in the Boston area.</p>
<p>I should add, nevermind places like Harvard!</p>
<p>while such may be so in Boston, where people love and cherish Tufts and BC, in the NY area where I am from I get an entirely different reaction when I tell people where I go. I, instead, have received comments such as "is nt that the College that is OLDER than Harvard (its not its second only to Harvard)", and like wise comments about oh my you are one of the smart kids etc. In NY WM is looked upon, in my experience as the Public Ivy, ahead of even UVA which is recognized along with UNC as a sports school. I am sure that in Boston people love the Boston schools, but in NY tufts is seen as overrated as an undergrad school. BC is seen essentially as Notre Dame light and as too expensive for the quality of education. Here, honestly, Villanova is gaining very rapidly on BC. WM, however, getting back to my point, is far from left in the shadows of Beantown. People both know and respect WM greatly mostly, and those who dont arent people who are of any real significance. In the long run, you know that grad schools will know WM and employers will. all and all, i couldnt be happier with WM's reputation. now if only US news would stop screwing us based on endowments.....</p>
<p>gangreen7788 - my son applied ED to WM so it was clearly his first choice school and we never questioned the quality of a WM education. Please note, I am not taking a stand that Boston schools are better. I just wanted to point out that it is not well recognized, at least in our area. This concerns me re: future job prospects in this area - but who knows where my son will end up searching for jobs. The old boy network will be in Virginia (or maybe NYC??). I suspect that the 70% instate population at WM, and the very limited number of students accepted from MA, contribute to this lack of familiarity and strong recognition. I never met anyone who went to WM before sending my son there.....and my own polling of rather well educated people confirms that I am not alone. We also do not hear a lot coming out of WM in our local papers (sports, research, events, etc) as we do the Boston colleges and universities - understandably as WM is not local. </p>
<p>I agree with you about the endowments. I am very unhappy with the difficulty students have in getting into classes. As an OOS parent paying private school level tuition, I haven't been happy to deal with state school budget issues. Until WM can fund enough teachers (they did tell me that they will not hire more instructors for international relations/business until they are sure it's popularity as a major isn't a "blip".....huh?) and keep great teachers and researchers with pay and funding, they will be hurt by the endownment rating. It is a problem at the college even though things are looking up.</p>
<p>the strongest network of WM alums is in the DC area (at least I think so), but the school is still regarded highly by the people who matter.</p>
<p>WM is also a fairly small school, so it doesn't have the pure numbers of alumni that some other schools do.</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that W&M has the distinction of being THE most selective public American university not to mention 2nd oldest AND top 10 in commitment to academics. Average 2006 SATs are 1360 and accept rate is 27% (it is about 20% for OOS admits). Yes, Berkeley and UCLA have slightly higher HS decile numbers but that is due to a reporting quirk (W&M's true HS 1st decile rank number is probably closer to 89%).</p>
<p>Rutgers is considered to be a "public ivy" based on its academic reputation. The "public ivy" status is given to schools which provide the academic rigor and experience that the private ivies do.</p>
<p>Additionally, Rutgers was asked to join the Ivy League, when it was being created, due to its antiquity, academic excellence, and the fact that the first football game was played between itself and Princeton. The Ivy League was originally just an athletic federation afterall. Rutgers instead decided to proceed with becoming a public institution and officially became Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey by acts of the NJ state legislature in 1945 and 1956.</p>
<p>Rutgers is also the 8th oldest instititution of higher learning in the country. Founded on November 10th 1766. This makes Rutgers older than Dartmouth and Cornell.</p>
<p>Rutgers??????????????? Ha hahahahhahahahahahahahahahahah</p>
<p>Rutgers should also go private. How big is their endowment?</p>
<p>I and everyone I know consider UVA to be the public ivy, and much more prestigous than W&M.</p>