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Reply to "Wake vs William and Mary"
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wake alum, married to a Wake Alum with a kid at WM. They have a lot in common academically. Small classes, professor involvement, etc. The downside to Wake that I missed when I applied and regretted my senior yearnis that it is very pre-professional. It seemed like everyone was pre- law, med, MBA, 5 year accounting degree, etc. I had very weak placement applying for PhD programs— despite being phi beta kappa and summa cum laude. WM also has a lot of pre-professional, but they also place kids well in non-professional grad programs. I got a great education. And I think DC is getting a similarly excellent education at WM. But the relationships and mentoring wasn’t there to go on for a PhD— at least in my major, which was a popular one. Besides that, I’d certainly consider them academic peer schools. They are very different socially. Wake’s Greek scene really dominates the school and the culture is very Southern. WM’s has a much more relaxed Greek scene— it plays a role, but not an outsized one. Wake has a much stronger D1 sports scene. And I was there during the Tim Duncan years, which was great. But many years, Wake’s big time sports are meh. This isn’t UNC or Duke and don’t count on them getting a bid to March Madness while your kid is there. Football has improved, so Bowl prospects are better DH and I encouraged our kids to apply to WM, but not Wake. We just couldn’t justify the price tag, when WM is just as good. And we don’t have kids with an interest in Greek life (or watching sports) or who would like the Southern vibe. Also, WM kids trend UMC/affluent. Wake has a lot of flat out rich kids. Only you know if that’s the crowd your kids wants to run with— or can afford to run with. YMMV, but having actual experience with both, it would be hard to swallow the extra cost for Wake. And given our particular kids, it didn’t look like a great fit anyway. Plus— not gonna lie— I grew up near Wake and my parents still live a 1/2 hour away— and Winston-Salem is fine. But interesting college town, great culture, etc— not so much. And given the location of its campus, Wake is kind of isolated from what W-S does have to offer, especially without a car. I’m not sure how dependable Uber is in WS now, but in my time, way too many kids left campus to party and drove back drunk. Williamsburg is also not a college town, but there is a lot more that’s walkable and the bus system works well for campus. So, slightly different strengths, but great educationally. Look at your finances and your kids preferences for their social life. My 2 cents. [/quote] You can tell it’s been a few decades since you attended Wake (to be fair, not reasonable to expect any parent’s recollections of a college back in the 1990s to accurately reflect the experience an undergrad will have in the mid 2020s). Wake has a small campus called Wake Downtown (Medical School, research labs and some undergrad classroom space) and there is a shuttle run between the two from the main quad, about a 10 minute drive, so easy access to downtown Winston. And yes, of course kids Uber. Winston Salem itself has gentrified quite a bit with two new Kimpton hotels downtown and a slew of bars and restaurants. There is even a surprising number of expensive condos. It’s definitely not particularly southern anymore with large contingents of students from the Northeast (seems to be the largest group)., California and Florida. Greek life is definitely still big, but there are no longer any fraternity or sorority houses, instead groups are allocated space in dorms (only sophomores can live in these areas and generally only about half of any pledge class due to size constraints). When you attended, Wake likely has little on campus housing. Now it is available for all four years and required for the first three. All of the dorms have been renovated in the past decade, but the dorms that were built in the past decade to support this initiative are particularly nice. I don’t think much weight should be placed on an academic experience from the 1990s either, so much has changed.but would agree that business, stem, and pre-law remain popular. The new president has a STEM background and increasing research opportunities for undergrads has been a priority and the new lab facilities are gorgeous, The engineering program is relatively new but fully accredited. The student rec center/gym is really beyond words, nicer than we saw anywhere else, including USC.[/quote]
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