Looking for feedback between the following schools…Washington & Lee (VA), Wm. & Mary, UVA & Georgetown. Son wants to study Political Science and likely dual major in Economics. Plans to attend law school after graduation. Has acceptances currently to 3 and waiting on last but hopeful. Who would you pick and why?
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What are the relative costs? Would any require more debt than another?
Those schools also have different vibes. Is he looking for a rural LAC experience? Or urban university? Or something in between?
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GT. Maybe UVA after that. Just general reputation.
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These are all very different - has he visited? What is he looking for? Prestige wise Georgetown and you can’t beat the location for political internships, witnessing politics in action etc., but if he prefers large and rural UVA also has a good reputation.
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If I wanted to be outdoors (hiking, camping) and in a small quaint town, I’d go to W&L.
If I wanted to intern in DC, I’d go to W&L over Gtown - call me crazy but they have the 2nd highest placement per capita of any school (their Prof told me on our visit). I’ll take him at his word. First - Sewanee. Yes, Gtown will have many more but also many more fighting for them and not everyone wants to hire from three schools (the local ones).
If I wanted to be in the action, in the city, I’d go Gtown.
If I wanted big time sports I’d go UVA…it’s the only with real football although W&M has small school football.
And If I wanted smaller and quieter, but still strong, W&M.
It’s a tough decision but one that you all have to make, not us…especially if he’s going to law school (although many think that but don’t end up there).
His GPA, LSAT, and in today’s world for strong schools, work experience in between which is becoming more the norm if far more important than one of these over the other.
Basically there’s no wrong choice here.
I assume you’re in-state to VA? Are you full pay?
If so, unless you have need, I would not pick Gtown and I’d only pick W&L if I won either the Johnson or a full tuition scholarship.
If you’re going to law school, save the $$ now and go to an in-state public.
This is like asking - in fantasy football, should I start Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahones or Josh Allen.
They all work.
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He’s looking for a challenging program with a great reputation to back his future plans. Interested in American govt. politics/judicial law. Out of state for all options so finances will be taken into account on final decision but not deciding factor He’s seen all 4 and has no preference rural v. urban. Id say W&M was #4 based on campus. GT is the one he’s waiting on. Not a party kid but is social. Would rather have intellectual conversations. I guess is there any academic or professional advantage to 1 over the others???
I have a bias to picking the strongest program. I tend to not look at costs etc, because I expect the family is very aware of what they can pay, and I don’t dwell on it.
GT is handsdown the best path of the 4 for a political science and an eventual law school path. This is the received wisdom at our school, even if my kids are not going down that path.
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Actually in NY…but Im originally from VA and attended VTech so I know the schools. W&L was a surprise choice he added. He really liked it when we unofficially visited. But of course he also liked UVA & Gtown. The latter school is the one we are waiting on.
He can achieve all his goals from any of those schools.
Does he like intense academics and peers?
Has he visited these schools? Will he be able to go to admitted student days?
I don’t know of any data that supports this statement, it would be great if you could share yours, not anecdotes. Of course it’s strong in poli sci, but so are the other schools, and well, GTown is not really a choice yet.
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I agree to disagree @neela.
I’m ok with going reputation - but I think these four are relatively equal - but different.
By rank but not perception, W&M is lesser.
You can go to name your cheap, low ranked four year school - get great internships, a great LSAT, get some solid work experience after and get into Harvard.
You don’t need to go tippy top to get to the best law schools. You need a tippy top LSAT.
If one is going to law school, unless their last name is Gates or Buffett, they should look to spend less although that’s a personal choice.
Having a better name for law school - not a big deal - but of these four - there really is no better name.
Now, if you ask 100 people on the street about W&L, 90 may not know. But every academic will know and their track record is phenomenal. My neighbor went - and they really take care of one another.
You might look at their law school advising outcomes (for each school) although I’m sure all will be strong.
I do find it hard to believe someone can like all three schools equally - pulling out W&M - they’re just so different - but they’re all really good.
W&L is known as a party school but there’s many there that don’t party and that’s been verified by many a poster.
Good luck
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This is my opinion :-). We have different opinions, and that’s fine.
Here are my reasons:
- I agree that law school admissions depend on the LSAT score, but jobs in law depend at least to some small degree also on your undergrad. This is because law firms are selling your services to their clients, and a brand name is a brand name. This is a client facing job.
- Going to a more reputable place will open you to opportunities that you don’t even know of currently – perhaps in the govt, perhaps in the state department, perhaps in I Banking, perhaps into business, perhaps into management consulting. You may even rethink the entire law school path. Going to a higher ranked place will give you optionality with other choices.
- The quality of your networking will be superior.
Again, I don’t like to bring up finances in these situations, or plan it for them, unless it is part of the question …
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We have visited…as strange as it sounds he likes all 4. Probably W&M is #4. GT is a little hilly with tons of steps to navigate, UVA is spread out, W&L is the most remote. But thats being picky on each. He wants challenging academics & peers to mat h. Not looking for the easy path.
I agree it is not a choice yet, but it has been mentioned as a choice.
I cannot offer “evidence”.
I am only conveying what I have learned from choices that very well informed families have made at our school for kids that are interested in these areas. Both my kids are in STEM and we haven’t looked at any of these schools.
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He wants challenging academics & peers to mat h. Not looking for the easy path.
You need a better filter - all four fit this one.
You need to find what his preference is in what differs. Does he want to go to big time sporting events? Does he want to go to DC monuments? Does he want a tiny campus that’s hours from a major city?
Does he want space or nature? Large of small size.
Honestly - if you can’t decide, pull it out of a hat because he can probably be happy at all. There’s not just one college out there for kids - there can be many.
I hate to say it like this - but maybe Gtown says no - then you’re down to two (assuming W&M is a cut since you said he likes it, but less).
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University of Virginia is the best choice for your son among his 3 options simply because he likes it the best.
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Sorry if I missed that - where was that said? If so, one can go with that for sure.
Since the schools are different but he’s having a hard time selecting, you might look at what people don’t but should look at because so many students complain about dorms and food. Hopefully you ate at each school’s dining facilities when you were there.
Niche rates each category. Too bad he didn’t hit your alma mater - because they rate at the top for eats.
Gtown - those are the gripes you read about - Niche gives them a C- for dorms and C for food.
UVA gets a B for dorms and C for food. If you get the dorm on the quad though one day, that’s pretty awesome.
W&L gets the highest - A for dorms, B+ for food.
If they don’t like the food or they tire of it, they spend spend spend off campus - I’ve experienced that with both my kids (which have the same vendor).
W&L (I’m just more familiar with it) has the Shepherd program which focuses on poverty issues. I’m sure the others have featured programs as well. W&L also has Washington Term - so you’re not completely absent from DC if he wants some of that.
I’m sure UVA has something and I know GTOWN has different programs.
In the end, he’ll choose one - and if he puts for the effort to get involved and make an impact, he’ll have a great four years - there’s just not a wrong choice short of $$.
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Congratulations for being in an enviable position. You have no bad options but a big decision. My suggestion is use the the time available to you if possible. At this point it is all about feel and fit.
When we got down to decision time and had gotten our acceptance options we went back and visited each kids top 3 schools. In each case we were lucky enough to know a student in attendance so our kid was able to spend the night on campus.
After each visit it was obvious that the option to attend being in our kids hands changed the perception. Ultimately I don’t know if my kids made the best choice but after these visits they were confident and felt informed.
Once again congratulations and all the best.
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You should look at class size. UVA will have huge classes, hundred of kids and yes, the campus is very spread out. Additionally, it is a big-time party school - the frat scene is huge. I don’t recall Georgetown having a lot of steps but I’m not sure what part you are referring to. Georgetown has smaller classes and therefore easier to get more attention and better grades, at least that was the case for our friends who had kids attend both schools. There are no frats (at least from what I recall), but there is a nice social scene mixed with a lot of internationals from the SFS - the friend group will come from everywhere. UVA and WM & Mary will be mostly kids from Virginia. From what I have heard, the friend group at Georgetown was more intellectual than at UVA, but our points of reference were not Echols or Jefferson scholars, which you child may or may not be and be living with. Don’t know much about W&L or W&M. Good luck with your choices.
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My d didn’t even consider UVA once she was in Georgetown- unless you are a Jefferson scholar I am not sure why you would choose UVA between them, especially for political science and related fields in which Georgetown is at the top of the field and opportunities. . I haven’t ever hear much about the other two schools on your list. Having said that, as a lawyer, the law school you go to is the only thing that matters, so the prestige/selectivity of the undergrad schools has very little/no impact.
Honestly, again they’re so different, I agree with going back - one will stand out - but if you want to look at Poli Sci and Econ by rank - and I used Niche because it’s so complete - everyone has their favorite ranking system and I don’t know that one is better than another, etc…just another data point.
Georgetown - Poli Sci #2, Econ #20
UVA - Poli Sci #28, Econ #24
Wash &Lee- Poli Sci #14, Econ #10
William & Mary - Poli Sci #21, Econ #23
The more I look at this - the more I see you can’t go wrong…although you can go hungy according to the food rankings 
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