Hi All,
In the past few days, I’ve gotten all my decisions back and I’ve managed to narrow my list down to three schools: Wake, W&M, and Wisco. At this point I really have no idea where I’m going to end up. Generally, I’ve broken it down into questions of Education, Cost, Social Scene, and Student Life.
In terms of cost, I am receiving very minimal financial aid from Wisco and W&M but nothing from Wake, so I would be paying full price OOS for all three schools. Is the Wake Forest experience and education worth $20k more per year than the other schools?
From what I’ve read and heard, the education I would get at all three schools is very similar, if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!! I also was accepted to the Wisco honors program, if that affects the quality of education.
I know that Wisco and Wake have very solid social scenes with plenty of outgoing people and lots of parties but I have not heard so much about W&M. I am very outgoing and I would like the opportunity to meet and hangout with new people if I wanted to. At W&M, I’ve heard that I may have difficulty finding similar outgoing people in a smaller school.
Finally, I’ve heard that food and dorms at W&M are not great, any opinions as to how big of a role that should play in my college selection?
I know this was extremely long to read, I appreciate any and all responses. Thank you!!!
S is a junior at Wake. His final decision was between Wake and W&M. Liked both but felt Wake was a better fit for someone who wanted high octane sports and a more overall social environment. He has loved his experience and it has proven to be a great fit. Lots of friends all over the social spectrum.
W&M has a reputation of more introverted kids but I bet it is also as social as you want it to be. College in general is that way. If you’re a sports fan, ACC sports are tough to beat. Wake even sells out it’s soccer games which are a blast to watch.
I don’t recall the difference in cost being that big ( within 10k per Yr - yes I know that’s real money).
I am a freshman at Wisco rn! I’m also in the L&S Honors Program, which basically allows you access into Honors-only classes or Honors-only discussions, which are usually much smaller and sometimes the discussions are led by the actual professor (as opposed to a TA). Also, you get access to honors advisors, which are typically better than normal advisors. Feel free to PM me or just respond to this if you have any more Wisconsin-related questions !
I am in a similar situation; I’ve narrowed my list down to Wisconsin, Wake, and Umiami. Out of the three schools you are choosing between, Madison hands down is the best college town 100%. There is so much to do and it’s nice having places off campus to go to every now and then. Wake is going to have a stronger student body academically (generally speaking) because it’s a private school. At UW, you have strong students coming from all over the country, including Wisconsin, but some students are barely getting in instate. That may be good or bad depending how you look at it. They are both going to have very impressive intelligent people from diverse backgrounds.
I am also trying to figure out if Wake is worth 20k more/ year over Wisconsin. At Wisconsin, the intro classes have weekly discussions led by TAs with 20-30 students. That allows you to review topics from the lecture and ask questions. Intermediate level classes have less students than intro lectures, I’ve heard 25-40. Then upper level classes are usually below 20 students. That being said, you will get strong academics at both schools, and at UW, you will have to be more independent and seek out help when you need it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Good luck with the decision.
W&M and Wake are probably going to be much similar in feel compared to Wisconsin due to size and location, percent of students living on campus, etc.
Wisconsin and Wake will have big time sports (Big 10 and ACC) if that matters to you. Wake campus is a bit more isolated in its immediate setting. W&M is situated right in the town (city) of Williamsburg, and Wisconsin is situated right in the busy city of Madison.
I would certainly not say Wake is worth $20K / yr. over W&M or probably Wisconsin.
W&M is very social in its own way, but not a big party way. Still, nearly 1/3rd of students are in the Greek system, so there is that if you like it.
For me, all things being equal, Wisconsin, if you can deal with the cold weather. I love that school. Madison to me is one of the best college towns in the country, and with the lakes, lots of recreation. You will meet a ton of people from all over, and you have big time sports. (FWIW, I went to Michigan and if I had to do it all over again, I might pick Wisconsin) Academically, it’s top notch. I’ve never met anyone that went to Wisconsin that wasn’t absolutely in love with the school. And no, Wake isn’t worth an extra $80K over four years,
William & Mary grad here:
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Education: William & Mary has some really small class sizes, most of mine were under 30. I got to know my professors particularly well, which opened all sorts of opportunities. I have only had two classes total that I would even consider “large.” Heck, I even had a class that was 5 people. The professors are enormously supportive, and I have gotten to know several on a personal level. I have gotten coffee with some of them, been invited to some of their houses at the end of the year, and even to meet some of their kids. There are several that I can point to that really made a difference in my life, and have completely changed how I think about things. It is not uncommon for them to stay in touch after graduation, get invited to weddings, and one of my friends said “I really want to come back to campus, so I can visit my professors.” So professors are awesome. I’ve never been to Wake, but from what I gather and know about it, it has a similar educational experience as W&M and your biggest difference will probably be Wake and W&M vs. Wisconsin.
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Social Life: What do you consider fun? I would say that there are plenty of outgoing students at W&M, and there are plenty of parties – both inside the Greek Life organizations and outside in other student organizations. Admittedly, you aren’t going to find your ragers that you find at other larger, state schools, but I would say that students have a good time. There’s plenty of ways to have fun at William & Mary, and one of my favorite things about it is that its easy to go on adventures, never sure where the night will lead. A couple of years ago, it was ranked number 1 for happiest students. I’ve had a very active social life at W&M, and gotten to know students from all walks of life.
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Sports: William & Mary has some strong sports programs, but I would say that the attendance at these events are not what you are going to find at Wisconsin or Wake. Students love their teams (I follow them enthusiastically) but the conference and competitiveness level is just different.
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Finances: I agree with the others, I don’t think Wake is worth 20K more a year, which would be 80K total. I think you will get a quality education from all three.
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