<p>I think it’s critical to understand that the University of Virginia has a reputation for being among the best places in the world to study English. Its graduate program (something W&M lacks) consistently ranks in the top ten in the U.S. Although these are graduate rankings, they are indicative of the stellar faculty. </p>
<p>If international schools were added, there are a few institutions that would knock UVa out of the top ten, namely University College London (UCL), Oxford, Durham, and Cambridge. </p>
<p>W&M is a great school and there’s certainly an argument to be made for non-PhD granting departments whose focus is undergraduates and perhaps also master’s students (Georgetown comes to mind for this). However, I think people are too quick to identify W&M as the superior place for some humanities programs due to its liberal arts college feel. </p>
<p>As far as business goes, I’m studying grad Commerce at UVa (and did the majority of my English degree at UCL) and I can say that you’d probably fare far better in recruiting through the McIntire School of Commerce, compared to the results of friends from Mason at W&M. That said, my friends who did undergrad commerce say it is grueling, just incredibly intense, but they’re also employed (making in the 50’s and 60’s) and they just graduated a month ago. Many students at McIntire choose to sign with an employer before graduation (I think 60-70%, but I may be wrong). In terms of Virginia schools, UVa the closest you’ll get to an education like Wharton (@Penn). Even after that, the University of Richmond B school seems to be better than W&M, though I wouldn’t say it’s worth the private school price tag over W&M.</p>