UVA just offered spots to 57 people on its wait-list.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I definitely looked at the male:female ratios when applying to college. I was a female STEM major and was happy to see more males at the schools I was interested in---more potential dating opportunities.

That really doesn't exist anymore.

Sure it does. VT, to name just one university, is 50/50 male/female.

Their website says they are 57% men.

https://www.vt.edu/about/facts-about-virginia-tech.html

Even better.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

My kid loves W&M, but honestly is somewhat bothered by the lower ranking. She is deciding between W&M (where she loves everything, but the ranking) v. UVA (where she mainly loves it for the ranking). She understands that the ranking methodology is based on things that don't affect her personally (i.e. Pell grant recipients) - but still seeing the ranking so far away from UVA is bothersome to her. Yet, W&M is one of those rare schools that seems to have maintained its prestige and reputation without the corresponding ranking. I wonder if its small size made it unable to cater to the metrics that are important in the rankings.

DD feels pressured to go to UVA (from her friends mainly b/c of the ranking), but she, too, genuinely feels like W&M is a better fit. She wants to like UVA b/c she is "supposed to," but keeps feeling drawn to W&M. We are going to the admitted students event this weekend and will most likely make a decision at the end of the day.

DP. My DC knew at the W&M admitted students day that it was *not* the school for her. Your DD will probably know either way right away.

Just curious - what specifically made the school not the right one for her based on DFAS?

I don’t want to diss the school or have the W&M boosters jump all over me, but suffice it to say she just felt completely uncomfortable around the other admitted kids. Totally different personalities from her.

+1 my daughter had the exact same experience. There’s definitely a certain type of student who goes to w&m.

+2

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Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

My kid loves W&M, but honestly is somewhat bothered by the lower ranking. She is deciding between W&M (where she loves everything, but the ranking) v. UVA (where she mainly loves it for the ranking). She understands that the ranking methodology is based on things that don't affect her personally (i.e. Pell grant recipients) - but still seeing the ranking so far away from UVA is bothersome to her. Yet, W&M is one of those rare schools that seems to have maintained its prestige and reputation without the corresponding ranking. I wonder if its small size made it unable to cater to the metrics that are important in the rankings.

DD feels pressured to go to UVA (from her friends mainly b/c of the ranking), but she, too, genuinely feels like W&M is a better fit. She wants to like UVA b/c she is "supposed to," but keeps feeling drawn to W&M. We are going to the admitted students event this weekend and will most likely make a decision at the end of the day.

DP. My DC knew at the W&M admitted students day that it was *not* the school for her. Your DD will probably know either way right away.

Just curious - what specifically made the school not the right one for her based on DFAS?

I don’t want to diss the school or have the W&M boosters jump all over me, but suffice it to say she just felt completely uncomfortable around the other admitted kids. Totally different personalities from her.

+1 my daughter had the exact same experience. There’s definitely a certain type of student who goes to w&m.

It's a little disheartening to hear adults drawing sweeping conclusions based on their kid's ONE day on a campus surrounded by kids who may or may not choose to go to that school. I hope your kids grow up to be more critical thinkers.

This is the dumbest comment. They literally go there to see what kind of school they want. It is to define if they want a small or big or city or small town….it is literally to critically think of the type of school that they want in their school. 🤣

I was referring to the dumb comment that, based on her daughter’s one day on campus, she can confidently state that there’s a very particular type of kid who goes to WM.

DP. That's not a "dumb comment" at all. You go to admitted students' day to see *what kind of students will be attending the school.* Sure, a lot may not wind up choosing that school, but at least you can get a good idea of what kind of kids WILL be attending. I'm sure you found ASDs helpful at the campuses your kid(s) visited.

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Anonymous wrote:^^^Doesn’t William and Mary claim that too-“Those who come here belong here?” I agree they definitely have a certain vibe, esp among the boys we saw during the tour. It’s not for everyone but for those who like it, it’s the jam!

The meaning of that line is more rooted in urging current students being welcoming to incoming students and having incoming students think of themselves as part of a broader community. It isn't about a specific type of person. It is about welcoming different types.

Exactly. I’m not sure if they’re just UVA boosters or some other groups that seem to need to believe that WM kids are a whole different type from other kids. Despite personal reports from people who actually go/went there. It’s really odd. Of course the school isn’t the right fit for everyone. No school could be. That doesn’t mean that there is something unique about the student body or that all types of kids aren’t significantly represented among the 6500 people on campus.

I can only assume that some of these people got highly insulted on another thread when discussing whether UVA is too “bro-y.”

I don't understand why and how this stereotype of W&M even exists. My kids and I have visited the school on at least 3 occasions over the past year, including DFAS and I still cannot figure out what people are talking about. The students seem similar to those we met at UVA, Univ. Of Michigan, GW, VA Tech, UMD and many others. We have only had positive interactions with the kids there.

The W&M admissions rep who visited my kid's school earlier this year spoke about TWOMPs (typical William & Mary people)--so I think they are self-describing as different. Their essay question is about how students are quirky/unique. They have a less rah-rah, more intellectual vibe than UVA or VT which really helps round out all the state of VA college choices--there is something for everyone which is a good thing. Don't think anyone should be insulted about the different vibe.

That's a misrepresentation of the question. There are a lot of colleges that ask kids what make them unique so they can show some personality. Not "quirky." Most colleges want kids to use the essays to set themselves apart from the thousands of others who are applying. That's hardly a self-description of quirky.

I don’t think it was even required at WM. You could choose from a series of options to write about. I don’t believe my kid chose to answer that at any school. Prob because he’s heard my diatribe about everyone having this stupid need to be “unique” and different, making up names for their kids to be “one of a kind”. And yet they all end up doing the same weird crap. It’s stupid.

My BS radar was high when looking at the topics/?s my kid had to write essays for and WM was not one of those “are you frickin’ kidding me?” Like many other schools weee when it came to DEI and uniques and snowflake topics.

[Anonymous]

My BS radar was high when looking at the topics/?s my kid had to write essays for and WM was not one of those “are you frickin’ kidding me?” Like many other schools weee when it came to DEI and uniques and snowflake topics.

Is this a typical W&M student mindset or just yours?

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Anonymous wrote:I definitely looked at the male:female ratios when applying to college. I was a female STEM major and was happy to see more males at the schools I was interested in---more potential dating opportunities.

That really doesn't exist anymore.

Sure it does. VT, to name just one university, is 50/50 male/female.

I am a Tech alum. And it wasn't 50-50. There were many more males than females which is what I said above. Technical/STEM schools used to weigh more heavily male.

But I'm old--but it was a big difference when viewed against all the other VA universities at the time.

Sure - but even now, the 50/50 ratio at VT is FAR more balanced than all the other VA schools, unless there's a school I have forgotten about.

VMI is majority male. GMU and VT fairly close to 50/50. Rest are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which means UVA is the back-up... to which schools?

UVA is the backup to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Cal Tech, Berkley, UChicago, Duke, and others depending on the sutdents' other preferences.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

My DC picked VT over UVA.

My child picked UVA with the Jefferson Scholarship over Yale and Stanford. Everyone has their preferences