Anyone else surprised by a lack of interest in William & Mary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good place for brainy kids who aren't into getting drunk several times a week. My Kid who went there liked to go hiking and camping, went to parties occasionally but preferred hanging out with friends, playing games or watching movies. I think my kid wished Williamsburg was more of a college town, like Charlottesville, but he was turned off by the fratty UVA culture.

OP here: did your kid find it cutthroat and overly intense and competitive among students? Did they experience grade deflation?

The average GPA at W&M in 2014 was a 3.33 (https://gradeinflation.com/Williamandmary.html) ; I’m quite sure it’s gone up since then. It has a reputation for “grade deflation” but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. That said, it could still be cutthroat and intense I suppose.

W&M average undergraduate GPA is about 3.5 now per the grade reports. It isn't quite at the level of Yale, which has gotten some attention recently for having a 3.7 average GPA, but W&M still has had grade inflation, not grade deflation, like almost all schools.

https://www.wm.edu/offices/fsl/scholarship/pastgradereports/spring-2022-public-grade-report-pdf.pdf
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/11/30/faculty-report-reveals-average-yale-college-gpa-grade-distributions-by-subject/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our oldest (sophomore) has already ruled out W&M and UVA. She's an honors student, and could be on track for both. She thinks W&M is a pressure cooker and UVA is too snobby. She's going with Virginia Tech.

Has she toured there?

DP here. Students tend to shy away from those schools because it feels too much like High School 2.0. I have heard from current students that UVA is easier than their HS and WM is not.

ugh with this HS 2.0 for UVA. That is NOT the case for 99.9% of the students there. My DD had a 4.44 in HS and it was so easy for her, never had to study, never had an issues - and no never had to retake or anything. Just breezed through. Well she ended up with a 2.5 after her first year at UVA. Her roommate, also a straight A student from the northeast, might have a 3.0 now as a third year? Maybe? My point is that most students will find it harder than HS unless the kid went to a particularly rigorous private school.

And though my kid is from NOVA, not a single friend of hers is also from NOVA. Not one. So no, it's not high school 2.0.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a current W&M student here, and I agree with PP.

DC graduation class sent the largest contingent ever to W&M and DC has not had one class with any of them, nor really crossed path with them on campus. I am pretty sure at UVA it is the same as it is even larger. Unless kids seek out their HS friends.

Regarding difficulty of classes, I cannot imagine there really being any difference or much of it between those 2 colleges.

[Anonymous]

DC has a friend at William and Mary from an academically rigorous private. They are finding it pretty easy but in a good way, allowing for more fun than high school.

[Anonymous]

We are in-state at a public hs and our counselor told us that UVA, VA TECH, JMU and VCU were all "significantly" more popular than WM. We were really surprised given where WM is ranked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in-state at a public hs and our counselor told us that UVA, VA TECH, JMU and VCU were all "significantly" more popular than WM. We were really surprised given where WM is ranked.

If schools like JMU and VCU attract lots of applicants with stats that won't get them into W&M, so what? (And yes, I'm sure there are some who could get into W&M, but the majority couldn't according to SCHEV.) Agree that UVA has broader appeal than W&M, but that hasn't prevented W&M from filling their entering class with students with comparable stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M seems to have so much going for it--well regarded academically, smaller, historic, located in quaint town, and cost-effective if in-state VA. But my in-state DC (with stats to get in) has no interest, and none of their friends do either. They consider it high pressure, low fun. They have heard that it's cutthroat among students. They find the campus old and dated.

DC is applying to Wake Forest, Davidson, and W&L, among a few others. It seems to me that W&M should be right in that mix.

Does W&M have a branding problem? Or is there some truth to the perceptions? I'm pretty much going to insist that DC apply there, to have an in-state LAC option.

you have a real brain child on your hands There are only 9 colleges that pre date the birth of our nation and W&M is one of them.

do your kids and his friends find water too wet as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M seems to have so much going for it--well regarded academically, smaller, historic, located in quaint town, and cost-effective if in-state VA. But my in-state DC (with stats to get in) has no interest, and none of their friends do either. They consider it high pressure, low fun. They have heard that it's cutthroat among students. They find the campus old and dated.

DC is applying to Wake Forest, Davidson, and W&L, among a few others. It seems to me that W&M should be right in that mix.

Does W&M have a branding problem? Or is there some truth to the perceptions? I'm pretty much going to insist that DC apply there, to have an in-state LAC option.

you have a real brain child on your hands There are only 9 colleges that pre date the birth of our nation and W&M is one of them.

do your kids and his friends find water too wet as well?

I had this same thought. Harvard is actually the only one older, but kids seem to work around that. And for many of us, that feeling of history made for a nice combination with the newer things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would pin it on the current W&M president. All about woke and nothing else. Screwed up hire after hire and messing with the traditions that have made it a great institution.

and UVa isn’t all about woke? on our tour we had to take a moment of silence for the colonized land we were standing on. That immediately tiled that insufferable school out. Fuc&ing morons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would pin it on the current W&M president. All about woke and nothing else. Screwed up hire after hire and messing with the traditions that have made it a great institution.

and UVa isn’t all about woke? on our tour we had to take a moment of silence for the colonized land we were standing on. That immediately tiled that insufferable school out. Fuc&ing morons.

Most campuses are pretty "woke" these days.

[Anonymous]

I think for kids in the DMV, many associate W&M with their colonial Williamsburg field trips, etc. I really really want my kid to apply there and they just can't get past this...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in-state at a public hs and our counselor told us that UVA, VA TECH, JMU and VCU were all "significantly" more popular than WM. We were really surprised given where WM is ranked.

William and Mary gets 11 applicants per spot in the incoming class. UVA gets 12.4, VT and JMU 6.3, and VCU 4.3. From that perspective, those schools are not "significantly" more popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M seems to have so much going for it--well regarded academically, smaller, historic, located in quaint town, and cost-effective if in-state VA. But my in-state DC (with stats to get in) has no interest, and none of their friends do either. They consider it high pressure, low fun. They have heard that it's cutthroat among students. They find the campus old and dated.

DC is applying to Wake Forest, Davidson, and W&L, among a few others. It seems to me that W&M should be right in that mix.

Does W&M have a branding problem? Or is there some truth to the perceptions? I'm pretty much going to insist that DC apply there, to have an in-state LAC option.

you have a real brain child on your hands There are only 9 colleges that pre date the birth of our nation and W&M is one of them.

do your kids and his friends find water too wet as well?

I had this same thought. Harvard is actually the only one older, but kids seem to work around that. And for many of us, that feeling of history made for a nice combination with the newer things.

You're comparing the wealthiest private to a state institution. It is underfunded and run down, the students are there for the discount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in-state at a public hs and our counselor told us that UVA, VA TECH, JMU and VCU were all "significantly" more popular than WM. We were really surprised given where WM is ranked.

This is very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in-state at a public hs and our counselor told us that UVA, VA TECH, JMU and VCU were all "significantly" more popular than WM. We were really surprised given where WM is ranked.

William and Mary gets 11 applicants per spot in the incoming class. UVA gets 12.4, VT and JMU 6.3, and VCU 4.3. From that perspective, those schools are not "significantly" more popular.

Source, please?