W&M vs. Davidson

<p>For those who looked at both schools or others with insight into the pros and cons of each, I was just wondering if someone could speak to the differences in: the environments of each (not the setting; I'm aware that williamsburg and davidson are quite different), the types of students that attend each, and the repute of each (please, CC'ers, don't flay me. we all know it is generally a factor...).
As stated, I am aware that the towns are different in addition to the sizes of the student bodies. </p>

<p>Thanks, all.</p>

<p>My son considered both very seriously and decided on WM. He is very happy with his choice. He felt that WM had greater diversity and liked that it was slightly larger than Davidson. Davidson was smaller than his High School and he just felt this would be too limiting.</p>

<p>You cannot go wrong with either choice. All we can encourage you to do is visit both schools, talk with students at both schools, review student blogs and both websites and see which one feels like the best fit for you.</p>

<p>My son just came back from touring both schools and loved both of them. We explored the premed issues extensively but found it easier to do so at Davidson because of its size. My concern is that he is in a highly competitive New York high school taking 4 AP classes, including 2 science AP’s in addition to research which leaves him with a 91 unweighted GPA and a 96 weighted GPA. Does the low GPA place him out of the running for either of these schools? (he has strong EC’s and 2100 SAT’s).</p>

<p>I would say both schools will be impressed with the rigor of your son’s schedule and his research. Sounds like he has a lot to offer! Good luck</p>

<p>idesire, we see students who look at W&M looking at Davidson quite frequently leading us to believe there are a lot of similarities between the two institutions as they seem to attract a lot of similar students. Both are excellent choices. What we can say for W&M is that our students are work-hard/play-hard. They value being able to do both in the appropriate times and relish the opportunities to explore both sides of themselves fully while on campus. W&M is a public ivy with a great national reputation as one of the best publics and one of the best universities in the nation.</p>

<p>flash, we would want any prospective student to recognize that W&M is highly selective, especially for out-of-state students, but our process is such that no one is automatically in or out and course rigor, grades, testing, extracurriculars, etc are all important as we make a decision. You can learn more on our Admit It! Blog ([W&M</a> Blogs Chance Me](<a href=“http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/]W&M”>http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/))</p>