<p>I thought I had finally picked a college when I got off the waitlist at Wash U. and decided to go there instead of Vanderbilt. However, now William and Mary is telling me that if I tell them I am still interested, they too will take me off of the waitlist and accept me. What should I do? I'm leaning toward staying at Wash U. because it seems to have more of a social life and a better academic reputation. However, the William and Mary students seemed REALLY friendly and down to earth when I visited there, which is a big plus for me. Can anyone help me?</p>
<p>William & Mary has an excellent academic reputation, and a great price tag even though you are from out-of-state. It will depend on what your interests are--Wash U. definitely has the engineers (no engineering at W&M), lots of pre-med and other science majors that are very strong. W&M has incredible liberal arts, among other things. You have not said what it is you are planning to study! That will help you decide which has the stronger programs for your academic interests.</p>
<p>Then you have to decide whether you want to be in a metropolitan area like St. Louis, or in Williamsburg, which is very nice, but definitely a tourist area right where W&M is. </p>
<p>Good luck--I imagine you have very little time to make your decision. And congratulations for making it off 2 waitlists in a year that it has been hard to make it off just one!</p>
<p>Thanks irishforever-
The reason I did not state my major is because I'm not sure of what it will be yet. I'm considering psychology and/or math/statistics (but not engineering).</p>
<p>Wow, congrats! It's hard to get accepted off the waitlist being out of state at WM alone, plus you're a girl in a usually heavily female applicant pool. Just out of curiosity, did they call you to let you know? (I'm waitlisted, too.)</p>
<p>I'd say this is one you have to figure out. I haven't visited Wash U personally, but I can imagine, as irish said, that the environment and feel of the campus is a lot different than the historical, old vibe (lol) that I got when I visited WM, although it is kind of touristy around it. It's harder when you feel you've committed to one school and learned to love it, but then you have to think about changing that allegiance.</p>
<p>Wash U...just do it.</p>
<p>i'm biased towards Wash U, but either one is fiiiine</p>
<p>William and Mary. Beautiful, amazing, historic campus, great academics, you don't have to be in school in stinkin Missouri and you'll find grad school options from either one to be about the same. Definately go WM.</p>
<p>juba2jive - A few days ago I told a family friend (who is an alumnus at william and mary) to tell william and mary that they could take me off of the waitlist because I had already decided on Wash U. (The family friend was going up to williamsburg to do some alumni thing.) So when the family friend told william and mary this, they said that that was too bad because if I WAS still interested in the school they were planning on accepting me from the waitlist. After the family friend told me what wm had said, I decided I wasn't really positive that I wanted to go to wash u. more than I wanted to go to wm. </p>
<p>However, now I've decided on wash u. It was a tough decision, and if I had time to go and visit both schools again my decision might be different. But some things don't work out perfectly so I just have to do the best with the info I have. Thanks for the advice though guys!</p>
<p>juba - maybe you'll be able to take my spot at wm (if they weren't already planning on accepting you from the waitlist).</p>
<p>Well, stinkin Mizzu is not any worse than sleepy old folks tourist trap Williamsburg IMHO. Both schools are fine with a slightly different emphasis to each.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement. I'm kind of committing myself to Wake Forest mentally, but if WM said yes, I would seriously think about it.</p>
<p>As far as WashU or WM goes, both are great schools, and it would be a hard decision to make if I was in your shoes. Good luck next year!</p>
<p>Why would anyone want to go to school in St. Louis and why does Washington U have such an overhyped reputation? It's amazing how high school students fall into the marketing trap. Same goes for schools like Emory, Vanderbilt or Wake Forest. Those schools are just as bland with no character and not committed to teaching. They just throw dollars at students with high SAT scores to get their US News numbers up. All perception and no substance. Unreal.</p>