Hi everyone,
I was recently accepted at both Wake Forest and Washington and Lee and am torn between the two! I have visited both and loved them and do not know which to choose! I know I can’t go wrong with either one but I would love some advice.
Thanks!
If Wash & Lee is a fit–and affordable–then it may be the better option. But, it would be helpful to have more information about your intended major, career goal, and likes & dislikes.
WFU has more students & big-time sports. Wash & Lee offers a secluded environment–which its students seem to love–while WFU offers interaction with the real world due to its location.
No wrong choice. But, if W&L fits, wear it as there are very few schools like it in the nation.
Yes-so a little bit more about me: I am from Washington D.C. and am an undecided major. I like to workout/stay active (playing tennis, going on runs etc) and am academic but also enjoy going out. My main inquiry is whether the size of Washington and Lee is too small, but I think I could also enjoy the small classes and close interaction with professors. Thanks!
If you are an avid tennis player, then W&L is a great option. Also good for running.
Daily athletics can make a small school an enjoyable environment. Develops different groups of friends. Academic friends, EC friends, running friends, & tennis friends. W&L has a socially active, inclusive Greek system in an environment with a lot of smart, social, outgoing folks.
WFU is bigger & suburban / urban.
Country club versus ACC school. Two great choices. Personal preference.
Funny, as you describe yourself , I think of Wake Forest students: smart, active, social / outgoing, leaders, etc. Never been to W&L but hear it’s a great place for the right fit.
Wake is quite intimate and feels like an LAC (especially with professor engagement and small classes) even though it has 5k UGs. You can walk the campus from end to end in 10-15 minutes.
Question to ask yourself: Do you want LAC or LAC+, and the + comes with big time school spirit and ACC sports.
Completely a feel thing. Great choices!
Yes I got the feeling that Wake was a LAC when I visited campus last fall. I am definetly into school spirit but am a little worried about the Greek life at Wake. Such a hard choice!
Forgive me if I’m wrong but Greek life at W&L is huge; bigger than Wake both from a percentage basis and magnified by it being a smaller school. FWIW, S is a Non Greek junior at Wake and has had NO problem having a very active social life.
That said, I would be open to looking at Greek life to see if it’s for you. S was predisposed to not want to do the frat thing but during his first semester he actually considered it quite heavily. Most of his hallmates opted not to and he was / is really close with them so he opted against joining a frat. Essentially, they formed their own group which has grown to be pretty large.
With or without frats you will be involved with all kinds at Wake. Most kids join a few groups / clubs independent of the frats / sororities so you’ll have several circles of friends. Very common to be quite active in multiple clubs.
That’s great to hear! Does he find the Greek system to be exclusive at all or is he happy with his decision to not go Greek? Thanks!
^ He’s very happy with his decision to not go Greek. Some things within the Greek world are exclusive. Different for guys vs girls. As you would imagine, girls can pretty much attend any party they want. The frat parties definitely fell off for S starting 2nd semester freshmen yr (as that was all rush/pledge all the time and he wasn’t part of that). He and his group, which has grown to a small army, have done just fine. They have their own parties and have had 40 or 50 kids in their suites frequently. No lack of partying if you’re interested. They just have to be a bit more creative.
His clubs also have several social functions and he attends lots of sorority date functions which typically include “pregaming” so again, plenty of opportunities to party.
However, if you’re a guy and you want to go to frat parties after freshmen yr, you pretty much want to be Greek. S found those parties to be pretty boring after a while.