<p>I have been accepted to both the college of William and Mary and Washington and Lee university. I can't make a decision. Here are the pros and cons of each school...</p>
<p>W&M:
~20,000 a year
twice the size
can't swim here
45 minutes from relatives
More to do around town/eat
beautiful campus
much more NOVA kids ewww</p>
<p>W&L
down to ~33,000 a year
frat life
can varsity swim here
better connections for the future i believe
close proximety to all the 81 schools, and uva
overall better academic school
not much to do around town
beautiful campus
great support network
wide array of student population (as far as their backgrounds)</p>
<p>What would you guys recommend? is the 13,000 more a year price different worth it for the connections the school will grant me in the future? I'm so torn. One of my parents likes one and the other likes the other. ahhhhh!!!</p>
<p>I dunno. Both schools are WAY TOO CONSERVATIVE for my taste, especially W&L. By the way, you’re assuming there will be all sorts of “connections” simply from enrolling at W&L, or at least more than you think you’ll get at W&M. What’s your proof? I wouldn’t pick one over the other for THAT reason. That’s a very elitist mentality. </p>
<p>Concur with Plainsman. The difference academically between W&L and W&M is very small. It likely comes down to social life, which is a big part of the college experience. If swimming or frat life or campus environment is worth $13k/yr to you, then there’s your answer. We can all tell you whether those things would be worth $13k/yr to us, but no one can tell you whether it would be worth it to you.</p>
<p>I do think Washington and Lee is a better school academically, and it’s so pretty. Having said that, it is not for everyone. It truly does have a very old-fashioned, Southern sensibility that is charming but extreme. I don’t actually think William and Mary is conservative at all, though it does have some quaint Southern customs as well.</p>
<p>W&L has swimming, mountains, smaller, frat-focused. W&M bigger, broader student body, beach, not as conservative. Academics/connections are equal. If the pros of W&L are worth 13000, then thats your decision. If not, save the money for a real nice car. Two very good, different schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, W&L is much more conservative and my friends say that it the frats dominate the social scene. W&M is less so, and the slightly larger, yet still close, community enables a wider selection if frat life is not your thing. My friend who went to W&L for swimming is very much not the frat type and has regretted it ever since, except they got a full ride. But if that old south culture is what you’d like, you’d probably find more of it at W&L.</p>
<p>i’m leaning towards w&l. The people there seemed much nicer and welcoming and its score on U.S. News for overall college rankings is an 83 as compared to William and Mary’s 67. I think its academics are in a slightly higher league than W&M’s + the kids seemed much happier. Any more opinions are appreciated!</p>
<p>If you are using US News as a factor in your decision, then you are very naive. Both schools offer excellent academics, period. The difference are in location, size, Greek issues, conservativeness, sports, cost. Make your decision based on relevant issues, not a magazine issue trying to make money.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine paying $13K a year more to choose W&L over W&M - in fact, I’d take W&M even up. I think it’s one of the great names in all of higher education. I have to wonder how many people outside of the Southeast even know about W&L. Consider how few of the 7,000 students or so you met at W&M from which you’re generalizing impressions of niceness and happiness. I have no negative issues with W&L at all, but I think that W&M is one of the top bargains in American higher education.</p>
<p>Regarding US News rankings - I think their criteria are reasonable, but it’s important to note that 25% of their ranking comes from peer assessment. For W&L, the peer assessment is LAC administrators assessing similar institutions, but in the National Univ category, it’s primarily administrators at huge research universities assessing their own kin. W&M doesn’t fit the mold of most of the giant public doctoral institutions in their grouping, so their PA score suffers due to that bias. So do the PA scores of other smaller, in-between National Univ schools such as Rice and Wake Forest. If you took out the PA scores, which are skewed downwards in W&M’s case, W&M’s ranking on the purely objective criteria would go up considerably. And the two schools’ 83 and 67 scores can’t be compared. A score of 67 in the National Univ category means “67% of Harvard’s score” (since Harvard, by virtue of its top ranking gets an index of “100”) and a score of 83 in the LAC category means “83% of Williams’ score).”</p>
<p>Looks like someone got waitlisted and then got in at one of the two.</p>
<p>W & L has liberal faculty and conservative preppy students many of whom are from New Jersey and other points north. Surprising? Yes. Its changed a lot. Its greek city at W & L. Over 80% pledge. Fabulous academics. They are rivals with William and Mary. Drinking is an issue at W & L.</p>
<p>William and Mary however is much more intense and frenzied academically. Notorious for being hyper competitive. More geek than greek, so to speak.</p>
<p>William and Mary is a state school…though small by state school standards. So you may have kids there from in-state who are not necessarily the money crowd. W & L is decidedly a rich kids environment. Private prep school types abound. </p>
<p>You go where you can excel academically, in whatever environment suites you the best, and what activities you like the most.</p>
<p>I like both schools but for very different reasons.</p>
As would this. Everything I’ve seen suggests its a more cooperative community despite having a very large workload with, as you said, intense academics.</p>
<p>So everyone agrees that the opportunities I will be granted at W&M will be equal to those at W&L? Im coming from northern virginia and prior to this application process I had never even heard of W&L. My counselors don’t no of the school and neither do any of my friends which has made the decision even worse. Now i’m leaning towards W&M due to it’s cheaper price and apparent equality with W&L. It’s also hard because I have the support network already at W&L and know a good amount of people whereas I’d be entering W&M with no sports team that I know and only a few friends that attend from high school.
Keep sending opinions!</p>
<p>How would you and your parents pay for the extra $13K/year to go to W&L? If it involves taking out additional loans, then I’d really recommend going the W&M route.</p>
<p>This is probably way too late to assist you in your choice, but I go to W&L, and I know quite a few people at W&M, and there are some notable differences. Washington and Lee kids were typically the ones who did everything in high school, namely lettered in sports, were elected to lead their student body, and were overall more engaged in school, whereas the William and Mary students tended to just be more focused on their studies. </p>
<p>Both schools are very strong academically, however Washington and Lee is substantially better. And while many people have not heard of Washington and Lee, I have found that the more connected, more important and more educated one is, the more likely they are to be familiar with Washington and Lee, as they are more familiar with the successful Washington and Lee grads. On that note, to the person who called networking elitist, maybe it is, but that is what makes W&L stand out. Because of it’s small size, and the devotion that grads feel to their school, they are always more than willing to help new graduates out whenever they come across them. They aren’t gonna give you a job if your resume is terrible, but the W&L edge definitely helps. </p>
<p>Washington and Lee is more of an elitist school than William and Mary, and they do party a lot more, so really the choice is up to you. I chose Washington and Lee with limited aid over lesser schools that gave me much more, and I have never regretted my decision for a second.</p>
<p>Lol. William and MAry is 10x better academically then W&L.
Also WM is #5 in the nation for undergraduate teaching (including LACs) according to USNWR. </p>
<p>I know a kid at WL that says its totally boring. All he does is drink and party, it’s the only activity. Lexington sucks, and it’s not particularly close to anything.
He’s only there for a soccer scholarship.</p>
<p>I would describe W&L as elitist. Rather, I’d say was ‘Southern Aristocrat.’</p>
<p>And in academic quality, I’d say there’s little difference between the two schools. And yes, along with UVA, the schools are academic rivals. As the bumper stickers state in Lexington, “Washington and Lee is THE UNIVERSITY of Virginia.”</p>
<p>bzva74: W&L is D-3 so doesn’t offer athletic scholarships, so I hope your friend is at W&L for other reasons. Given the number of sports, intramurals, films, concerts, public service opportunities, etc., on both campuses, students who can only drink (even when they’re athletes?) aren’t making the most of the opportunities. In any case “drinking” doesn’t explain your academic comment. What is the average class size? How rigorous are the classes? Do students cut classes very much? What percentage of the students do X after college, and how do they perform? What’s the graduation rate?</p>
<p>As to the cost, because of financial aid the average indebtedness of students graduating from W&L is only about $7,000 higher than those graduating from W&M.</p>
<p>He got a hefty financial aid package for soccer. A kid on CC got a full ride for swimming. But, as you say, they arent NCAA scholar****s.</p>
<p>You tell me about all those questions. I know I’m right. Prove me wrong. Which school is the #4 public university in the nation? Which school is nationally known for excellence? Which school was nearly Ivy-ified?</p>
<p>Do you go to WL? Because there isnt much to do in a **** town like Lexington. And the school has like 2000 people. On the soccer team they just haze and drink…</p>
<p>bzva do you attend William and Mary? There is a fierce rivalry with those two schools and no love lost between them. You aren’t representing the best of WM if you do. Take the high road pal. Ranking on another school is the low road.</p>
<p>Drinking occurs everywhere. Its true that the frats and sororities at W & L make it a primary social function, but academically Washington and Lee is a top flight school.</p>
Two very good, different schools.</p>