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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DS just got a postcard from William and Mary indicating he will likely be accepted.  He's already been accepted to UVA early action and a few other schools out of state, but he leans towards William and Mary. He  likes history, likes the size of the place, got a good feel when he visited, really liked the guy he interviewed with and the class he observed. He knows UVA is a great school and liked his visit there, but it just didn't click quite as much for him.  The few people he has talked to who have gone to William and Mary have loved it (2 girls and 1 guy), but he also gets the message--mainly from those who haven't gone--that it's a real grind.  He's not a nerdy kid or particularly "driven" beyond the typical reasonably high-achieving NOVA kid--generally studious and athletic with several strong social groups. He works hard but likes to go out with friends, have down time etc .  His GPA and test scores put him around the upper quarter of both schools, but some of his acquaintances have expressed surprise that he wouldn't choose UVA.  My advice to him is to go with his own gut, but I would like some feedback from parents of kids--especially boys-- at William and Mary on whether it's significantly harder than other similarly ranked schools and whether their kids feel like they are having fun. He will be going to both "accepted student days" before his decision, so this is more I think for my own reassurance.

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Based on what I've seen, the people who think it is a good fit really enjoy it there.  Four year graduation rate is one of the highest and the alumni giving rate is I think the highest for national public universities.  These are probably indirect indicators of satisfaction.

Regarding the perception of thinking it is a grind, I can think of a couple of data points.  First, if you look at a site called gradeinflation.com, you can see that it does not have grade inflation (almost all schools have grade inflation) and actual GPAs are quite high (same as UVA).  (The easiest grading schools are usually highly selective ones like Brown.)  There was also a survey from a couple of years ago by one of the state newspapers on amount of time spent studying at state universities.  The time spent at W&M in a week was within an hour of W&L and UVA, if I recall correctly (W&L was highest, then W&M, then UVA).  That is a very insignificant difference, really.[/quote]

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