<p>Similarly UNC isn’t overly represented by Virginia residents and the bulk of its OOS students come from the northeast. And I agree that there’s lots of diversity in Virginia, including in NOVA, which is by no means a replication of the northeast and in many parts retains a complete southern feel. </p>
<p>The primary differences between UNC and William and Mary from the standpoint of a New Yorkers, at least as I see them, are size, the existence of a large graduate program, big time sports, and cost. The difference between OOS ratios is less of an issue, and reputation and academics are a non-issues. </p>
<p>Woah, this thread really has given me a lot to think about. I’m going to down to UNC on Monday to check it out one last time, and I have to make my choice by Wednesday.</p>
<p>I’m drawn to WM for a lot of reasons
1.) An intimate academic feel
2.) Great history
3.) Great size
4.) Great student body and cool town.</p>
<p>But UNC also has its draws
1.) Chapel Hill / Carolina Blue
2.) Big time sports and the dynamic that allows
3.) More social opportunities</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I love WM. I just need to make sure I consider all of my options.</p>
<p>Okay. So I got back from Chapel Hill yesterday, and my opinions of UNC were very favorable. </p>
<p>I was technically supposed to make a decision on whether or not I would attend by today, but since my financial aid package isn’t ready yet I don’t need to make a decision until Monday.</p>
<p>It looks like the big difference between the two is cost. WM costs me about $27k a year with all financial aid and small scholarships. UNC on the other hand, if the financial aid office’s projections hold true, will cost me about $8-9k.</p>
<p>I have a pretty low EFC, and UNC promised to meet it all with about 90% grants and 10% loans. The difference in price is about $20k a year, which adds to $80k in 4 years. </p>
<p>So, it looks like I will be going to UNC in the fall. I’ll be honest though, if the prices were even I would rather go to WM. </p>
<p>I definitely won’t be suffering at UNC, though. My only concern is what 18k students will look and feel like in the fall.</p>
<p>Congratulations on a wise choice. You’ll have a great experience, meet great people, and be at an excellent school for a much more affordable price. Come on back and let us know how things are going!</p>
<p>W&M is certainly sorry to lose you but wishes you the best of luck at UNC. Please email <a href=“mailto:admission@wm.edu”>admission@wm.edu</a> to withdraw your enrollment.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll enjoy UNC. It was the smart financial choice definitely. If I could save 80K (actually more once you factor in interest on student loans), I’d pick UNC too.</p>
<p>UNC and William and Mary are excellent schools (some of the best) but are very different. UNC is a very large research school whose professors concentrate on research rather than teaching. UNC uses TAs to teach most undergraduate classes. Many UNC classes are >500 students. You will only catch a glimpse of a professor through binoculars. Fat chance to play a sport other than dodge ball.</p>
<p>William and Mary is very different. It is fairly small, with no TAs. Very few large classes. All classes are taught by the faculty. Therefore, the interaction with the faculty is very strong. Now there is a drawback. W&M is very difficult and you must study alot, no matter how good a high school student you were. If you were a half decent high school athlete, you have the chance to play in college. But it’s hard work.</p>
<p>So the tradeoff is: big research institute with large but fairly easy classes taught by TAs with an emphasis on graduate programs, or a smaller very difficult undergraduate school with an emphasis on teaching. A very different experience.</p>
<p>This sounds like an unfair assessment of UNC to me (and I am of course a major W & M fan). This thread is several months old and the various merits of both schools were debated fairly extensively. The OP decided on UNC, and should be a happy freshman there now. No one in the previous discussion came close to suggesting that the classes at UNC were “fairly easy,” or that you’d need to use binocs to see your profs. I don’t have time right now to look into how many UNC classes have more than 500 students, but I can’t imagine there are “many.”</p>
<p>There are many ways of looking at college sports. Yes, UNC is an athletic powerhouse and a student who likes to play will be out of luck if not a recruited athlete (unless they’d like to do intramurals). But they can see some great college sports at UNC. And they can see some great sports at W & M, as well, which usually provides some very exciting games in a variety of sports.</p>
<p>The UNC football team (that has been under investigation all year because the team hired someone to do school work for some of the players) had some trouble with W&M’s “half decent high school athletes” it seems.</p>