W&M vs Richmond - thoughts?

[Anonymous]

William & Mary is the better of the two academically.
Enrollment - Richmond is half the size of W&M.
Campuses - both are beautiful.
Walkabikity/surroundings - Nothing to walk to from the Richmond campus which is in a quiet wooded residential area, but within a short Uber ride of downtown Richmond. People say there is nothing around W&M but that is not correct. Lots of shops and a ton of restaurants surrounding. Colonial Williamsburg abutting campus is there if you want it (many students regularly do a morning run there, they have events like fireworks, ice skating etc), or not.
Between the two, depending on your student, I’d choose W&M. But Richmond is a good school.
They are very different schools.

[Anonymous]

Richmond is very Greek, sort of cliquey I hear. My friend who teaches at W & M said she’d send of her kids there in a heartbeat if she wasn’t a prof there.

Richmond seemed to be about the internships when we visited. Many would think this is great. For me it was a turnoff because I’d want more intellectual atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

thinking econ at this point - also considering Lehigh, which seems closer to W&M than Richmond, but probably with a more pre-professional vibe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is very Greek, sort of cliquey I hear. My friend who teaches at W & M said she’d send of her kids there in a heartbeat if she wasn’t a prof there.

Richmond seemed to be about the internships when we visited. Many would think this is great. For me it was a turnoff because I’d want more intellectual atmosphere.

Heh we had a tour of W&M a few weeks ago and the guide talked up the greatness of their internship opportunities.

I should have rebuked him for his anti-intellectualism. 🙄

[Anonymous]

How do people have so many takes? W&M does not objectively have better academics- not sure how people are measuring that beyond liking W&M

[Anonymous]

William and Mary is ranked well for internships.

Aside from that, Richmond is much more preppy and pre-professional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is the stronger academic school.

Ermm nope. Both are great, but William and Mary has the academic edge easily

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people have so many takes? W&M does not objectively have better academics- not sure how people are measuring that beyond liking W&M

The school district’s scoir data that shows higher gpa and higher SATs get into WM, for all schools in the county(in state VA)

[Anonymous]

If you're interested in cheering for sports teams - a quick comparison of the two schools and the "money" sports:

Richmond is in the A10 except for football. Currently, Richmond is in the CAA for football - they're moving to the Patriot League. The A10 is one of the better "mid major" basketball leagues and Richmond has recently competed for the league championship. Their arena is really nice and gets a good crowd, including a sizable student presence. W&M gets a decent crowd for football games but their basketball has not been competitive - very few students attend their games. My DS goes to W&M and I've been to both football and basketball games. I went to an A10 school and have been to several games at Richmond cheering on my team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people have so many takes? W&M does not objectively have better academics- not sure how people are measuring that beyond liking W&M

The school district’s scoir data that shows higher gpa and higher SATs get into WM, for all schools in the county(in state VA)

Why would I take your spurious word over…publically available data that shows the average admit has slightly lower scores at W&M than Richmond.

[Anonymous]

Both are great schools, Richmond a good bit smaller. My son looked at both and is now at WM. He didn't feel like Richmond would be a place he could see himself and ended up not applying. So I think you'll be able to tell a lot when you get to visit each school as to what is a better fit.

What we like at WM is the close relationships with the professors, classes are taught by professors not TAs. It's a top school for getting internships. It has a cohesive, walkable campus that has lots of wooded space and a large lake for recreation. It really is a lovely place to spend four years.

New construction bringing many new dorm rooms, dining space, and new classroom space to be ready for fall 2025.

[Anonymous]

I am from New England and Richmond is too Greek and too Southern preppy for me. I don't like the vibe. William and Mary made me feel right at home. FWIW, my kid chose UVA but I loved William and Mary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:thinking econ at this point - also considering Lehigh, which seems closer to W&M than Richmond, but probably with a more pre-professional vibe

W&M has an excellent Econ Dept. That was my husband’s major there and I took a few classes as well (had an interdisciplinary major).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people have so many takes? W&M does not objectively have better academics- not sure how people are measuring that beyond liking W&M

The school district’s scoir data that shows higher gpa and higher SATs get into WM, for all schools in the county(in state VA)

Why would I take your spurious word over…publically available data that shows the average admit has slightly lower scores at W&M than Richmond.

Publicly available data shows only 36% of students submit SAT or ACT at Richmond vs 62% at William and Mary. A significantly higher percentage of William and Mary students are in the top 10% of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from New England and Richmond is too Greek and too Southern preppy for me. I don't like the vibe. William and Mary made me feel right at home. FWIW, my kid chose UVA but I loved William and Mary.

Interesting impression, since most students are from the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions and less than a third of the undergraduates participate in Greek life.