How to pick between UVA and W&M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a physics major, he should go to the school that will give him the most and best opportunities for undergrad research in his area(s) of interest. He should read professor bios to find out about their research. He should also consider reaching out to those who interest him the most about potential research opportunities.

--STEM PhD

Thank you. I think that research interests/bios, UVA might win. But my guess is that in actual research opportunities once in college, it wouldn't? As a rule, do you think big university or LAC for undergrad?

Personally, I don't think there is a rule. He should talk to the physics faculty at both schools and understand the dynamic. Some departments specialize in one or two areas of physics, neither of which may be something that interest your son. Some only have "undergrad" research, which is really just nonsense and not real research experience. Some departments are full of dinosaurs who are past prime and who aren't actively doing research. Some have lots of faculty who don't want to mentor undergrads.

You want to find a school with engaged physics faculty who do research in topics that interest him and who are open to mentoring undergrads. Go to open houses and talk to faculty. Talk to grad students. Talk to current undergrads. Ask about grad placement and opportunities for real research experience. Don't go off of rules of thumb.

TY!

[Anonymous]

In terms of making a decision, I think it should come down to the program and vibe. We visited both and ultimately got into both. Between the two schools, we preferred W&M because my daughter loved the campus more. Granted, we visited UVA (our very first college visit) when it was rainy and steamy. However, she preferred UVA for some of their programs. In the end, she opted to go out of state - just didn't want to see her peeps from high school and wanted a brand new start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is 38th in physics programs according to rankings; WM isn’t listed.

Are you sure you're not looking at graduate programs? WM doesn't have a graduate program in physics (nor in most subjects) since it's primarily an undergraduate focused institution.

NP. The ranking cited IS for graduate degree in Physics AND WM does offer such a degree.
https://www.wm.edu/as/physics/grad/

[Anonymous]

Only thing that bothers me about W&M is that it doesn't seem to have a strong comp sci program and it seems like the schools that are shooting up in the rankings have a decent investment in this area. Otherwise, it is a beautiful campus. I have heard that juniors and seniors do not necessarily get on-campus housing, but freshmen and sophormore are guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a physics major, he should go to the school that will give him the most and best opportunities for undergrad research in his area(s) of interest. He should read professor bios to find out about their research. He should also consider reaching out to those who interest him the most about potential research opportunities.

--STEM PhD

Thank you. I think that research interests/bios, UVA might win. But my guess is that in actual research opportunities once in college, it wouldn't? As a rule, do you think big university or LAC for undergrad?

Personally, I don't think there is a rule. He should talk to the physics faculty at both schools and understand the dynamic. Some departments specialize in one or two areas of physics, neither of which may be something that interest your son. Some only have "undergrad" research, which is really just nonsense and not real research experience. Some departments are full of dinosaurs who are past prime and who aren't actively doing research. Some have lots of faculty who don't want to mentor undergrads.

You want to find a school with engaged physics faculty who do research in topics that interest him and who are open to mentoring undergrads. Go to open houses and talk to faculty. Talk to grad students. Talk to current undergrads. Ask about grad placement and opportunities for real research experience. Don't go off of rules of thumb.

IME most kids who think they want to be physics majors change their minds in college so while this isn’t bad advice for the kid who is 100% committed to physics I’d keep in mind that the reality is different for most kids.

[georgeglass]

Because of the lack of graduate programs, W&M has a really high rate of undergrads doing substantive research. Definitely ask about that when you go for the visit days.

I'd not put much weight on the rankings - the new USNW ranking criteria reduces or eliminates weightings based on what W&M values - small class sizes, engaged alumni, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only thing that bothers me about W&M is that it doesn't seem to have a strong comp sci program and it seems like the schools that are shooting up in the rankings have a decent investment in this area. Otherwise, it is a beautiful campus. I have heard that juniors and seniors do not necessarily get on-campus housing, but freshmen and sophormore are guaranteed.

It's investing heavily in it at the moment - the Computer Science department and some others are moving into a new separate school in Fall 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a physics major, he should go to the school that will give him the most and best opportunities for undergrad research in his area(s) of interest. He should read professor bios to find out about their research. He should also consider reaching out to those who interest him the most about potential research opportunities.

--STEM PhD

Thank you. I think that research interests/bios, UVA might win. But my guess is that in actual research opportunities once in college, it wouldn't? As a rule, do you think big university or LAC for undergrad?

Personally, I don't think there is a rule. He should talk to the physics faculty at both schools and understand the dynamic. Some departments specialize in one or two areas of physics, neither of which may be something that interest your son. Some only have "undergrad" research, which is really just nonsense and not real research experience. Some departments are full of dinosaurs who are past prime and who aren't actively doing research. Some have lots of faculty who don't want to mentor undergrads.

You want to find a school with engaged physics faculty who do research in topics that interest him and who are open to mentoring undergrads. Go to open houses and talk to faculty. Talk to grad students. Talk to current undergrads. Ask about grad placement and opportunities for real research experience. Don't go off of rules of thumb.

IME most kids who think they want to be physics majors change their minds in college so while this isn’t bad advice for the kid who is 100% committed to physics I’d keep in mind that the reality is different for most kids.

Is it much harder than expected? Why do kids change their minds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is ranked in 20’s and W&M ranked in 50’s. Wouldn’t ranking matter?

Reputation matters not raw ranking (this is why NEU hasn't become more "prestigious"). Both have really good reputations.

Trying to sneak NEU into a UVA / W&M discussion. NEU's "reputation" is just fine, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is ranked in 20’s and W&M ranked in 50’s. Wouldn’t ranking matter?

Reputation matters not raw ranking (this is why NEU hasn't become more "prestigious"). Both have really good reputations.

Trying to sneak NEU into a UVA / W&M discussion. NEU's "reputation" is just fine, thank you.

The point being that ranking/acceptance rate does not supercede historical reputation, but the fact that you're being so defensive makes my point for me

[Anonymous]

Even when W&M was ranked in the low 40s, I was bit surprised by it. I thought that it would be ranked much higher. I just remember "back in the day" how difficult W&M was to get into (and dare I saw it was more difficult to get into than UVA). I just don't now why it wasn't able to climb more in the rankings. It definitely looks the part of an Ivy-like school.

My child would consider W&M more seriously if it had a stronger program in CS and digital arts. Even though they allow you to create your own major, there simply are not enough classes to create the type of major that my child wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is ranked in 20’s and W&M ranked in 50’s. Wouldn’t ranking matter?

Reputation matters not raw ranking (this is why NEU hasn't become more "prestigious"). Both have really good reputations.

Trying to sneak NEU into a UVA / W&M discussion. NEU's "reputation" is just fine, thank you.

The point being that ranking/acceptance rate does not supercede historical reputation, but the fact that you're being so defensive makes my point for me

Calling out your gratuitous pettiness isn't being defensive. Let a thread breathe with UVA and W&M. There are many other threads for your trolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is ranked in 20’s and W&M ranked in 50’s. Wouldn’t ranking matter?

Reputation matters not raw ranking (this is why NEU hasn't become more "prestigious"). Both have really good reputations.

Trying to sneak NEU into a UVA / W&M discussion. NEU's "reputation" is just fine, thank you.

The point being that ranking/acceptance rate does not supercede historical reputation, but the fact that you're being so defensive makes my point for me

Calling out your gratuitous pettiness isn't being defensive. Let a thread breathe with UVA and W&M. There are many other threads for your trolling.

It's not pettiness, I brought up a school as an example. Could have also said Tulane or many others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most kids with this choice - who are in state - have a very clear understanding of where they fit best. He literally doesn't? I mean they are quite different. My two who chose UVA liked W&M but felt it was not quite the right social, and rah rah type school for what they wanted, so it was the second choice. I'm 100% sure they would have been fine at either. W&M is also more expensive and farther from home (and way more annoying to get to), so that was a small ding against it.

Depends on where you live. From NOVA, WM is very easy for kids coming home for breaks. $20 each way of you but a couple months out. The train station is walkable to campus and literally hundreds of WM kids ride into Alexandria (the DC and up the NE corridor) together. So fu. Tt9 do pickup and watch the WM kids stream off the train. It’s actually a part of WM that kids love.

[Anonymous]

Try to have him do sleepover at both schools, that really helped my child.

Also, he could read responses to best and worst thing about your school on UNIGO