Lewis & Clark Posse tuition scholarship or apply to W&M?

[Anonymous]

My DC was just named a finalist for the Posse scholarship paired with Lewis & Clark. While full tuition (but not room and board) is wonderful, I'm concerned it's not a great school academically. We are in Virginia and are mostly confident that DC will be accepted to W&M with DC's stats, which seems better academically and has a better reputation. DC is interested in humanities and will surely go to grad school at some point. DC is intellectually curious, so W&M, if they get in, seems like a good choice. But DC thinks they will make friends and fit in more easily at Lewis & Clark. DC is quirky and non-binary. The presence of a greek society at W&M, even though only 30%, has DC convinced they won't like it. But when we toured W&M, they did like it. Will visit Lewis & Clark this week as decisions need to be by Friday. Is it better to go to a school with more rigorous academics and better reputation, or a school with full tuition paid and made easier social environment? I know there is no right answer, but just looking for thoughts and things to consider.

[Anonymous]

Lewis & Clark is a GREAT school. Smart nerdy quirky kids mostly from WA, CA. Lots of connections with professors and small research opportunities. Awesome people and campus. My sister and best friend both went there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC was just named a finalist for the Posse scholarship paired with Lewis & Clark. While full tuition (but not room and board) is wonderful, I'm concerned it's not a great school academically. We are in Virginia and are mostly confident that DC will be accepted to W&M with DC's stats, which seems better academically and has a better reputation. DC is interested in humanities and will surely go to grad school at some point. DC is intellectually curious, so W&M, if they get in, seems like a good choice. But DC thinks they will make friends and fit in more easily at Lewis & Clark. DC is quirky and non-binary. The presence of a greek society at W&M, even though only 30%, has DC convinced they won't like it. But when we toured W&M, they did like it. Will visit Lewis & Clark this week as decisions need to be by Friday. Is it better to go to a school with more rigorous academics and better reputation, or a school with full tuition paid and made easier social environment? I know there is no right answer, but just looking for thoughts and things to consider.

Lewis & Clark is a great school that’s on the rise, and Portland is gorgeous. The good students there have a West Coast version of the outcomes you’d expect from Wesleyan or Smith alumni.

[Anonymous]

My niece is there and loves it. Very easy to find your place there. Kind students and faculty are very, very accessible. I haven't seen it, but apparently the campus is stunning. It's on the edge of Portland, which is a great city.

And of course, William and Mary is a great place. Probably the most intellectual environment of any state school in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My niece is there and loves it. Very easy to find your place there. Kind students and faculty are very, very accessible. I haven't seen it, but apparently the campus is stunning. It's on the edge of Portland, which is a great city.

And of course, William and Mary is a great place. Probably the most intellectual environment of any state school in the country.

I should add that i agree that, for better or worse, it's mostly west coast students. But for a non-binary DC, that seems to be a plus over Virginia with Youngkin as governor.

[Anonymous]

For quirky and non-binary with that much money, I’d pick L&C. It is a great school, and has a very good reputation particularly on the west coast. Also, the Posse foundation kids are prized on campus. They will be well-treated as a foundation kid.

L&C has very good graduate school placement for the humanities. It may be better than W&M, I would check on that.

One thing to understand is that a lot of the university ratings are east coast biased, and I don’t think are accurately reflective of western states schools. I would not dismiss the academics so easily at L&C. It holds its own very well.

[Anonymous]

Seems like your kid can’t go wrong. I don’t know enough about Lewis and Clark to give an informed opinion. But, I have a kid at WM and would say:

If they want to go to grad school, don’t take out loans for WM over accepting the posse placement. It’s not a cheap school, so if you can’t comfortably full pay, strongly consider L&C.

Greek life at WM is a small part of the social scene, because it’s less intense and less exclusive than at many southern schools. This not buying the perfect wardrobe for rush, it’s all about big sports and tailgating, UAB type Greek (WM has a decent football team in a nothing D1 league and is not exactly known for sports).

LGBTQ+ is very accepted on campus. And I say that as a parent of a kid who falls into that category. W&M ranks very well on LGBTQ friendly on lists like niche and Princeton Review. Again, this isn’t a traditional southern school.

If your kid decides to give up posse for WM, apply ED. “My kid shouldn’t have any problem getting in to WM” are famous last words in NoVA.

Good luck! Reality is, your kid will probably be happy and do very well at either school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For quirky and non-binary with that much money, I’d pick L&C. It is a great school, and has a very good reputation particularly on the west coast. Also, the Posse foundation kids are prized on campus. They will be well-treated as a foundation kid.

L&C has very good graduate school placement for the humanities. It may be better than W&M, I would check on that.

One thing to understand is that a lot of the university ratings are east coast biased, and I don’t think are accurately reflective of western states schools. I would not dismiss the academics so easily at L&C. It holds its own very well.

W&M places very, very well in IR, modern languages, econ, some history and government (politics). Really exception in these areas. English, sociology, psychology, etc.? Maybe less so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like your kid can’t go wrong. I don’t know enough about Lewis and Clark to give an informed opinion. But, I have a kid at WM and would say:

If they want to go to grad school, don’t take out loans for WM over accepting the posse placement. It’s not a cheap school, so if you can’t comfortably full pay, strongly consider L&C.

Greek life at WM is a small part of the social scene, because it’s less intense and less exclusive than at many southern schools. This not buying the perfect wardrobe for rush, it’s all about big sports and tailgating, UAB type Greek (WM has a decent football team in a nothing D1 league and is not exactly known for sports).

LGBTQ+ is very accepted on campus. And I say that as a parent of a kid who falls into that category. W&M ranks very well on LGBTQ friendly on lists like niche and Princeton Review. Again, this isn’t a traditional southern school.

If your kid decides to give up posse for WM, apply ED. “My kid shouldn’t have any problem getting into WM” are famous last words in NoVA.

Good luck! Reality is your kid will probably be happy and do very well at either school.

Our kid was a Posse finalist too and matched with a LAC that was not really on their radar. They went with W&M RD as the LAC felt too small to them. Kid let W&M know in an email they made finalist, but really wanted W&M (application to W&M was submitted before the Posse finalist notification).

The prior posted made some good points, especially regarding finances.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like your kid can’t go wrong. I don’t know enough about Lewis and Clark to give an informed opinion. But, I have a kid at WM and would say:

If they want to go to grad school, don’t take out loans for WM over accepting the posse placement. It’s not a cheap school, so if you can’t comfortably full pay, strongly consider L&C.

Greek life at WM is a small part of the social scene, because it’s less intense and less exclusive than at many southern schools. This not buying the perfect wardrobe for rush, it’s all about big sports and tailgating, UAB type Greek (WM has a decent football team in a nothing D1 league and is not exactly known for sports).

LGBTQ+ is very accepted on campus. And I say that as a parent of a kid who falls into that category. W&M ranks very well on LGBTQ friendly on lists like niche and Princeton Review. Again, this isn’t a traditional southern school.

If your kid decides to give up posse for WM, apply ED. “My kid shouldn’t have any problem getting in to WM” are famous last words in NoVA.

Good luck! Reality is, your kid will probably be happy and do very well at either school.

I agree with all of this as the parent of a W&M grad who was not Greek and was in a large friend group with many LGBTQ+ friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My niece is there and loves it. Very easy to find your place there. Kind students and faculty are very, very accessible. I haven't seen it, but apparently the campus is stunning. It's on the edge of Portland, which is a great city.

And of course, William and Mary is a great place. Probably the most intellectual environment of any state school in the country.

Oh, dear... no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My niece is there and loves it. Very easy to find your place there. Kind students and faculty are very, very accessible. I haven't seen it, but apparently the campus is stunning. It's on the edge of Portland, which is a great city.

And of course, William and Mary is a great place. Probably the most intellectual environment of any state school in the country.

Oh, dear... no.

Among state schools? Name others. I'm not saying highest scoring students (Berkeley and UCLA beat everyone), and also not saying best university (lots are better overall, from Michigan and Berkeley on down). But for an environment where students and professors are seriously discussing and pursuing knowledge, I don't know better for state schools than William and Mary. But let me know if you have other nominees. I'm definitely Interested

[Anonymous]

If a full ride to Lewis and Clark is what your kid wants, support them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My niece is there and loves it. Very easy to find your place there. Kind students and faculty are very, very accessible. I haven't seen it, but apparently the campus is stunning. It's on the edge of Portland, which is a great city.

And of course, William and Mary is a great place. Probably the most intellectual environment of any state school in the country.

Oh, dear... no.

Among state schools? Name others. I'm not saying highest scoring students (Berkeley and UCLA beat everyone), and also not saying best university (lots are better overall, from Michigan and Berkeley on down). But for an environment where students and professors are seriously discussing and pursuing knowledge, I don't know better for state schools than William and Mary. But let me know if you have other nominees. I'm definitely Interested

It's kind of amusing that you don't think Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, et al are "environments where students and professors are seriously discussing and pursuing knowledge." Nope, just W&M! I mean, seriously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My niece is there and loves it. Very easy to find your place there. Kind students and faculty are very, very accessible. I haven't seen it, but apparently the campus is stunning. It's on the edge of Portland, which is a great city.

And of course, William and Mary is a great place. Probably the most intellectual environment of any state school in the country.

Oh, dear... no.

Among state schools? Name others. I'm not saying highest scoring students (Berkeley and UCLA beat everyone), and also not saying best university (lots are better overall, from Michigan and Berkeley on down). But for an environment where students and professors are seriously discussing and pursuing knowledge, I don't know better for state schools than William and Mary. But let me know if you have other nominees. I'm definitely Interested

It's kind of amusing that you don't think Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, et al are "environments where students and professors are seriously discussing and pursuing knowledge." Nope, just W&M! I mean, seriously?

Hmm. Sorry, but I wasn't really trying to pump up William and Mary. I'm on a lot of campuses for work, and like the school, but have no dog in this fight (I live in DC and have zero interest in sending my kids south for college, even if just Virginia).
Again, I'm not saying it's the best state college. But I am saying that it has the most intellectual environment of any state school I know. Berkeley may have a pretty good claim too, but it's just so big that it's not a university-wide environment.
There are more privates that have an intellectual environment. Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Chicago (maybe a little less so recently) come to mind. Not necessarily the best schools in the country, but definitely all have an intellectual atmosphere.

I should add that my own personal recommendation to OP is that Lewis and Clark could be a great fit. I'm guessing that OP and the very fortunate Posse student might very well end up agreeing.