Mid-Sized Public Universities
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Anonymous
| DD loves W&M. She’s OOS and full pay. What are similarly-sized universities that are also public? All the lists of best mid-sized colleges and universities she’s found are dominated by privates. If someone is competitive for W&M, what are comparable mid-sized privates that offer merit, bringing the cost closer to OOS W&M. Not sure yet if she wants to study STEM (biology) or humanities (history or public policy). |
Anonymous
| There aren't any. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| *There aren't any that are similarly well regarded |
Anonymous
| Yeah, W&M really is an outlier among state schools. |
Anonymous
| Case Western gives good merit. |
Anonymous
| There are publics with 20,000 undergrads, which I consider on the small side, but that's twice the size of W & M. Don't think that's what you want. |
Anonymous
| SUNY Binghamton? |
Anonymous
|
I agree that W&M is unique. But the larger issue, if you are seeking merit aid, is that your DD will need to be a top applicant. That means she will need to look at schools that aren't as well-regarded (if they were, they wouldn't need to offer merit aid to students like her).
My DS, who ended up in-state at W&M, also considered: SUNY Geneseo UNC Ashville Mary Washington St. Mary's of Maryland Mary Washington Evergreen State He ended up applying to Geneseo, Asheville, and UMW and received significant merit aid from all 3--it would have been cheaper for him to attend any of these 3 than it was for us to send him in-state to W&M (which is a very expensive state school). (UMW, also in-state for us, would have cost us less than $10k, including room & board.) FWIW, he also got enough merit aid from Clark in Massachusetts and Wooster to bring the COA below that of W&M, but these schools are smaller. |
Anonymous
| My son is OOS at William & Mary. Elon has a similar feel with a bit cheaper price tag, and does give some merit. We liked it, but felt W&M was a stronger option. |
Anonymous
| UVM |
Anonymous
Elon does not have a similar feel, IMO. W&M is intellectual and nerdy. |
Anonymous
| Not on the same level as W&M, but College of Charleston and Miami University of Ohio. Both offer decent merit. |
Anonymous
| The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ is a public school with about 7,000 undergraduates. It doesn’t have the reputation of William and Mary, but is very well-regarded in NJ and is ranked #1 in U.S. News in their “Best Regional Universities in the North” category. It has a very attractive suburban campus. |
Anonymous
| My junior will be applying to W&M in-state and she also has UVM, Case Western, Elon, and Butler University on her list, along with some larger schools. Butler in particular has a merit aid calculator on their website that's very helpful. |
Anonymous
| There aren't any. All schools of comparable size have lesser reps. |