Washington & Lee

[Anonymous]

We recnetly visited Washington & lee and are giving it a good look. Can anyone shed any thoughts about the school? We had one concern about the intensity of the "Greek" system. On its face it seemed a bit strong.

[Anonymous]

Excellent academics but very conservative and traditional.

[Anonymous]

Between 75 and 80% of students are involved with Greek life.

[Anonymous]

Excellent school -- but yes, Greek-dominated and conservative. Think pearls-and-sundresses and seersucker suits.

[Anonymous]

bloody hell i roughly checked the acceptance rate for W-L....18%?? It's as tough to get into there as Georgetown or Hopkins and tougher than Haverford, Emory, and Carnegie Mellon?

That's crazy.

[Anonymous]

As a lifelong Virginian and girl from the south, I can only say EWWW to W&L.

[Anonymous]

To 12:08---you have no idea of the qualifications of the 82% that got rejected. You have a lot of well-qualified students who would never consider W&L because of the conservatism and Greek life and a lot of southern not-so-bright preppies who desperately want that cocoon.

--native Carolinian who went to high school with lots of not-so-bright preppies who aspired to W&L and settled for Hampden-Sydney (motto: where 'men are men and women are guests . . . . ")

[Anonymous]

Went there for law, not undergrad. It is Southern and conservative but this Yankee spent a very enjoyable 3 years there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:bloody hell i roughly checked the acceptance rate for W-L....18%?? It's as tough to get into there as Georgetown or Hopkins and tougher than Haverford, Emory, and Carnegie Mellon?

That's crazy.

Pomona is 14%, Bowdoin is 16% - welcome to the world of college admissions. It's not like it was when you went to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bloody hell i roughly checked the acceptance rate for W-L....18%?? It's as tough to get into there as Georgetown or Hopkins and tougher than Haverford, Emory, and Carnegie Mellon?

That's crazy.

Pomona is 14%, Bowdoin is 16% - welcome to the world of college admissions. It's not like it was when you went to college.

I'm not that far removed from undergrad so I know how tough the landscape has been the last 5 years given demographic bubble, more intense marketing campaigns by schools, and common app lowering barriers to applications by making it much smoother/easier to apply to a million schools.

Plus Pomona one could argue is the top LAC given it's academically as good as the top 3 and has a hell of a lot better location, drop dead gorgeous weather, and ultra laid-back personality...and is located in the most populous state in the country..so 14% seems actually higher than what i would've guessed it would be.

Bowdoin is also a top New England LAC.

Is W&L in the same league really as Pomona and Bowdoin and at the same level of Georgetown?

What's the cause of their low acceptance rate? Has it become a super-hot school or is giving truckloads of grant money?

Have they become better at branding themselves like Chicago? just 10 years ago chicago was running 35-40% acceptance rates...now it's below 10 i believe. To use a markets term, their 'alpha' when it comes to driving acceptance rates lower is higher than the average elite school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 12:08---you have no idea of the qualifications of the 82% that got rejected. You have a lot of well-qualified students who would never consider W&L because of the conservatism and Greek life and a lot of southern not-so-bright preppies who desperately want that cocoon.

--native Carolinian who went to high school with lots of not-so-bright preppies who aspired to W&L and settled for Hampden-Sydney (motto: where 'men are men and women are guests . . . . ")

ohh that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bloody hell i roughly checked the acceptance rate for W-L....18%?? It's as tough to get into there as Georgetown or Hopkins and tougher than Haverford, Emory, and Carnegie Mellon?

That's crazy.

Pomona is 14%, Bowdoin is 16% - welcome to the world of college admissions. It's not like it was when you went to college.

I'm not that far removed from undergrad so I know how tough the landscape has been the last 5 years given demographic bubble, more intense marketing campaigns by schools, and common app lowering barriers to applications by making it much smoother/easier to apply to a million schools.

Plus Pomona one could argue is the top LAC given it's academically as good as the top 3 and has a hell of a lot better location, drop dead gorgeous weather, and ultra laid-back personality...and is located in the most populous state in the country..so 14% seems actually higher than what i would've guessed it would be.

Bowdoin is also a top New England LAC.

Is W&L in the same league really as Pomona and Bowdoin and at the same level of Georgetown?

What's the cause of their low acceptance rate? Has it become a super-hot school or is giving truckloads of grant money?

Have they become better at branding themselves like Chicago? just 10 years ago chicago was running 35-40% acceptance rates...now it's below 10 i believe. To use a markets term, their 'alpha' when it comes to driving acceptance rates lower is higher than the average elite school.

USNews ranks Pomona at 4, Bowdoin at 6 and W&L at 14 so yes it is in the same league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bloody hell i roughly checked the acceptance rate for W-L....18%?? It's as tough to get into there as Georgetown or Hopkins and tougher than Haverford, Emory, and Carnegie Mellon?

That's crazy.

Pomona is 14%, Bowdoin is 16% - welcome to the world of college admissions. It's not like it was when you went to college.

I'm not that far removed from undergrad so I know how tough the landscape has been the last 5 years given demographic bubble, more intense marketing campaigns by schools, and common app lowering barriers to applications by making it much smoother/easier to apply to a million schools.

Plus Pomona one could argue is the top LAC given it's academically as good as the top 3 and has a hell of a lot better location, drop dead gorgeous weather, and ultra laid-back personality...and is located in the most populous state in the country..so 14% seems actually higher than what i would've guessed it would be.

Bowdoin is also a top New England LAC.

Is W&L in the same league really as Pomona and Bowdoin and at the same level of Georgetown?

What's the cause of their low acceptance rate? Has it become a super-hot school or is giving truckloads of grant money?

Have they become better at branding themselves like Chicago? just 10 years ago chicago was running 35-40% acceptance rates...now it's below 10 i believe. To use a markets term, their 'alpha' when it comes to driving acceptance rates lower is higher than the average elite school.

It took off when they started offering tons of merit scholarships -- think Morehouse Scholar kind of thing. Remembered it as a very safe bet back in the day, no more.

[Anonymous]

I see the W&L is ranked above some Ivies - what are the most well known academic programs/degrees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent academics but very conservative and traditional.

The use of the word "but" there suggests you think these are negative attributes?