W & M vs. Wesleyan vs. Emory

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
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<p>D having tough time deciding among Weslyan, W & M and Emory. Wants liberal arts with an eye towards law school. She tends to like smaller classes which is why she didn't apply to any large schools. I know they all are different schools and all are great. Problem is she wants to go to all of them!! We're from New Jersey. Money is not an issue and doesn't weigh in the decision but it's sure nice that W & M is $11K cheaper if that's what she decides.</p>

<p>Love to hear opinions, especially from current students of these schools.</p>

2

<p>Reputation alone would rank William and Mary far above the other two colleges that you listed. </p>

<p>I'm a William and Mary student, though my opinion is biased............. Lot's of NJ students here. As for the quality of her education, W&M is great. The biggest surprise is that the students are engaged, fun, amazing, friendly, sincere, intelligent, accepting..............the campus is beautiful. I love William and Mary, and it loves me!</p>

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<p>Thanks Pedsox. Obviously W & M has a great reputation. But rankings show Emory higher and Wesleyan way higher (although in different catagories) which really did surprise me. Not that rankings are everything and don't really indicate a better education. But if D's plans are to go on to graduate school rankings could have an impact as long as GPA were equal. It great to see your love W & M. What year are you in?</p>

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<p>I'm the mom of a 2005 W & M alum and an incoming freshman this year. Though I love the school, I can't say I agree that reputation would rank it "far above" Wesleyan and Emory, both of which are also outstanding schools with very talented student bodies. And, as Leibow correctly points out, both of which are ranked higher than W & M by US News in their different categories. It's foolish, and counterproductive, to assume such rankings are irrefutable. But by the US News formula, there are measures by which Wesleyan and Emory do surpass W & M. Some of these are probably related to the advantages of attending a private school.</p>

<p>As far as grad schools go, I think a degree from any of these colleges could only be seen as an asset. W & M does have a reputation for grade deflation - when my oldest d entered, the average freshman year GPA was 2.9 (think this has increased since then). 4.0s after four years are quite rare. I don't know about this issue at Emory or Wesleyan, but it might be something for your d to consider. W & M's med school placement, for students who are recommended, is outstanding (I think I read 80 percent recently). </p>

<p>Leibow, your d can't go wrong. Congrats to her on three wonderful acceptances!</p>

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<p>I am a junior in the undergraduate business school. I hear what you are saying, but all things considered, William and Mary is more well known. Companies that matter know of their tough standards and grade deflation. It was super easy for me to secure a good paying internship for this Summer. </p>

<p>I know you parents are all about rankings............yeah, whatever. William and Mary is a great place to be. The profs are excellent. I am getting a great education and going to school with really inspiring students. William and Mary was my first choice for college. I am happy to be here and honestly it just keeps on getting better. You don't need a martini shaker in one hand to fit in socially here. You can be who you are in every way. What would you expect me to say? William and Mary is GREAT!</p>

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<p>Three great schools but in very different settings and very different "feels". All are of equal "prestige" and quality. Go visit and be true to yourself. You cant lose.</p>

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<p>I believe pedsox is a bit too close to the mirror. Wm&Mary has a fine reputation, but definitely below Emory. Probably beyond Weslyan, which is hot stuff in the NE, but not beyond there. There's no escaping the 2/3 requirement for Virginia enrollment though, nor the fact that it's grossly underendowed on a per capita basis relative to Emory in particular.</p>

<p>They're all fine places. Emory has a much more national flavor than either of the other 2.</p>

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<p>First of all, the fact that you admitted to being 18 years old in another post on this site does not make me feel that confident you know anything about national flavor. That alone brings question to your argument.</p>

<p>Secondly, I think that you might be too close to the mirror, seeing as though you think you can make the argument that one fine school's reputation is better than another fine school's reputation. WM, Emory, and Wesleyan are all good schools. I could be ignorant and tell you that most of the people I talk to outside of Virginia think 1. WM is private and 2. it is in the ivy league (or close to it), but this would be a stupid argument given the fact that this is ONLY MY experience. Just because most people I talk to in SC think WM is better than Emory even though it is the next state over doesn't mean its national reputation is necessarily better. The thing is that there is no possible way you can quantify reputation Whistle Pig. I don't care if you use endowment, acceptance rate, average SAT scores, or your personal experience. Generally speaking, it is obvious that Richmond and D.C. will be used to dealing with WM grads and Atlanta will be used to dealing with Emory grads. But that is due to obvious regional conditions. Both Emory and WM have high graduate school acceptance rates. WM has better graduate school acceptance rates than UVA which is ranked very similarly to Emory. Now, UVA is probably better known on the west coast by the common man than the east coast. But as far as graduate school admissions go, apparently the average man's opinion doesn't matter as much. Do you see what I am saying? You can go around and around in circles with your argument and never arrive at a logical ending. The fact of the matter is that they are all very different schools who all have good reputations. Wesleyan is in a completely different ranking system, used for schools with different missions/sizes. I could tell you that the liberal arts schools' ranking is much easier to be highly ranked in than the national school rankings since Univ. of Richmond was ranked in the 80's last year in the national school rankings and is now tied for 40 in the Liberal Arts ranking. However, I won't make that argument because it is unfair. All that I am saying is next time make a legitimate argument rather than a statement which is not based on reason. You can talk about endowment and you can talk about VA's 2/3 policy, but that has nothing to do with national reputation. If you look at the high school rankings Thomas Jefferson High is ranked number 1. I can guarantee you more of the kids who graduate from there attend WM and UVA on a regular basis than Emory, because it is a known fact. However, even this does not mean WM has a better reputation than Emory. The fact is that Emory and WM will garnish more respect in their respective regions than vice versa. In terms of national reputation there will be those who will give greater respect to Emory and those who will give greater respect to WM. Leibow11's daughter will be attending a good school either way, case closed.</p>

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<p>In the "Atmospere for a northwesterner" thread on the WM discussion board you say:</p>

<p>"Not to me. I appreciate them but personally see major differences between NE, East Coast, Southern, Midwest, MidSouth, Southwestern, West Coast cultures, especially for an 18 year old.
Sadly, the goal of diversity is to become very average"</p>

<p>Diversity = weakness? I am sure that I am not the only one on this Discussion Board who finds a comment like that offensive.</p>

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<p>Are you serious? Man, you've bought the PC company line. I'll stick by my observation. Sorry you somehow find that offensive. I suspect you're quite easily led by your own thoughts.</p>

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<p>Edit -> "Now, UVA is probably better known on the west coast by the common man than the east coast"</p>

<p>Meant to say better known than William and Mary on the west coast.</p>

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<p>I like the mystique of W&M in far flung parts of the country. Everyone seems to have heard of it, but no one really knows much about it, almost like it's some sort of Illuminati offshoot or something.lol</p>

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<p>I agree that the confusion about WandM being private is pretty amusing...I have a son at Duke and wish I had a nickel for every time someone in Virginia tells me that "it's too bad I have to pay out of state tuition rates to Duke." IF ONLY> ha. For some reason, Duke also "reads" in nearby states as some version of Chapel Hill.</p>

<p>Many people even in nearby states believe Wm and Mary is a private college, and frankly if you didn't know any better...it does in many ways have everything a private college has got to offer.</p>

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<p>W&M= education of Davidson, prestige of Georgetown, for the price of Va Tech. Cant get much better than that.</p>

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<p>My son was accepted at W&M. He will likely not attend for two reasons: Cost (out of state) and the "mystique" previously mentioned. Being from NY, we are used to interaction. While we visited for two days, it did not seem to me that the students were very happy people. They passed us and kept walking. People there seem aristocratic. Is it me? What programs is W&M best known for? Please reply.</p>

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<p>I think that W&M is "best known" for the overall high quality of its undergraduate education, its outstanding faculty, and its high-achieving, actively engaged student body. Others are probably better-informed about individual programs than I am, though I have read that its American history and marketing departments are particularly highly rated. </p>

<p>mummee28, we are from NY as well. I've spent quite a bit of time on the W & M campus as the parent of a 2005 grad and an incoming freshman this year. My impression of the student body is quite different from yours. It's a public school, so the idea of its students being aristocratic is surprising to me - I can't say I've experienced this myself. If you visited on a rainy Monday morning during the week before exams, I imagine many of the students weren't very happy! :) </p>

<p>Since your son has a week in which to decide, if he shares your negative impression, he probably wouldn't find a very good fit at W & M. Your other post indicates that he likes Gettysburg, which is an excellent LAC, and will attend. Best of luck to him next year!</p>

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<p>Another parent of a WM student here. I have also been on campus now many, many times. It is quieter during the week than I ever expected it would be but I have yet to walk across campus without feeling uplifted by the study body that seems happy and gregarious. Being from the Boston area, WM is not well known here (please don't slam me - I have had 3 years of saying my son goes to WM with curious reactions - including - "the cooking school?" from a teacher). Everyone assumes it is a private college. My son is very happy there but is concerned that some of the recent political trends and the lack of state funding is hurting the reputation.</p>

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<p>More than once I've been asked where my daughter went to college and started to answer, only to be interrupted after two syllables with "Oooh, Williams - great school!" :)</p>

<p>I've occasionally come across people who've never heard of W & M at all, folks who think it's a private school near Boston, one guy who thought it was a community college, etc. Then again, most people in VA probably aren't all that familiar with Colgate or Hamilton, which are well-known here. I like to think I'm educating people!</p>

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<p>Daughter is a freshman at WM and I've never thought of her, nor anyone I've met from WM as aristocratic! Daughter has thrived in atmosphere, in every way. I've literally seen her grow from a young girl into a wonderful woman from her experiences in and out of the classroom. D2 begins the college searches now, as a rising senior. Would love to see her follow D1's footsteps and WM be a part of our lives these next five years.</p>

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<p>Okay, a W&M alum here (Class of '83) who is married to an alum ('83), and the brother of an alum ('85) who is married to an alum ('85), and with a son who is a current W&M student (Class of '10), so you can imagine my view is "totally unbiased."</p>

<p>W&M is a state school so tuition for in-state is a bargain and many, many middle class and working class kids go there (that was me 25+ years ago). Out-of-state tuition (we're in Delaware so we pay OOS for my son) is more, but still a bargain compared to the Ivies, Duke, Wake, most privates. </p>

<p>Aristrocratic? That is an antiquated stereotype left over from the days when only the children of privilege went to college. My son has plenty of friends from high school who are at the schools you would think would be "aristocratic" (Harvard, Princeton, Penn, MIT - well, okay, hard to be aristocratic when you're an engineering geek) and they are all "jes' like yew 'n' me." </p>

<p>My experience at W&M, and my son's now, was very positive, and there was a diverse set of people. Were there rich kids? Sure, there were some. Were there snobs? Yeah, but "rich" and "snobs" did not go hand-in-hand. I had a number of friends and acquaintances who I found out, after I had known them a good while, were from very well-to-do families. And there were plenty who set off the old "Jerk-O-Meter" who were as middle class as middle class can be.</p>

<p>The other schools (Wesleyan and Emory, right?) are very good schools and if your son's inclination is toward those schools, then either is a great choice. It is a shame, however, that somehow you got only a superficial familiarity with William & Mary, as it denied your son another good option.</p>

<p>William & Mary aristocratic? Nah. Now if you were talking about that too-full-of-itself but really second-rate school in Charlottesville, founded by a caring, generous, empathetic W&M grad who felt sorry for the poor, misguided Wahoos, and felt they should have some place they could all gather together to wear their madras pants and blindly chant "Wahoo-Wa," well, that might be a different story.</p>

<p>K9Leader</p>