<p>In general I do think that Cav tries to be balanced :). I also wonder if the instate reputation of the 2 schools has a large influence on people's opinions - lots of rumors etc. swirling around. However, from an out of state person's humble opinion, my S and D did not see the 2 campuses the way that Cav reported. By the way, both S and D are athletes at the state level (went to state and placed 2nd and 3rd in their sports) as well as many other talents. They were both part of the "cool" crowd so to speak in high school (I say that only to clarify that their perspective is not one of a geek that would judge a campus accordingly). They liked both schools, got into both schools and found lots of "cool" kids as well as "nerds" at both places. </p>
<p>From speaking to contacts in the academic world from other parts of the country, I do have to say that it appears that a science major at W & M is more respected than a science major at UVA at least in the view of people who work in grad. school academic circles. </p>
<p>That said, both schools are well respected in general!</p>