Reply to Too early to start thinking W&M/UVA?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Believe it or not (and in this area, I realize not) not every kid’s first choice is UVA. I have a TJ kid who has the stats to get in. Not even applying. Wants a nerdier cohort, and a much smaller school, so WM is the in state first choice. Male (which really does matter at WM), middle of the class, 1540 SATs. Should be in easily. Second choice is   Followed by VT with some grumbling, because they have a spec8alized program he is interested in.  But also looking at SLACs with strong physical science programs.

Point is, different kids want different things out of college. But, I would not start counting UVA/WM chickens freshman year— especially if you do not have a kid at TJ, where most of the UVA applicants, and nearly all WM applicants will get in. My DC2 is at a strong base school. Strong freshman year. No way I would make college predictions before at least another year of grades are on the books and we have SAT scores. [/quote]

You sound a bit defensive.  For plentry of kids, William and Mary is their first choice.  I did my undergrad there and UVA for grad school.  I wouldn’t trade that decision for anything.[/quote]

PP here d nice catch. I feel a bit defensive.  I wish we could afford to send DC to any $70k/ college they wanted, but we can’t.  Not with two kids and possible grad school down the line.    And we are in the donut hole and top SLACs have no merit aid.  I am a bit defensive about not being able to afford Williams, Amherst, etc.

[b]And I feel defensive about the fact DC wants WM, not UVA.  At TJ, WM is viewed by many kids as far inferior to UVA, and a safety school.  You apply to UVA and WM, and if you don’t get into UVA, you are stuck at WM.  I think this is ridiculous, and love the more LAC vibe, smaller classes, high percent who go on to get a PhD, etc.   But  if I tell a group of TJ parents my kid wants WM, they automatically assume it’s because my kid cannot get into UVA, rather than because DC likes it better.   It’s ridiculous.  But there you have it.  [/quote][/b]

I'd have to think both UVA and W&M are close to safeties for a lot of TJ kids based on the info I've seen.   UVA rejects a few more, but is accepting a pretty high percentage.  Given that, it would seem to me that a number may be choosing W&M.

Although it is difficult for me to understand, there seems to be a perception in some areas that W&M doesn't do science.  Perhaps it is the lack of an engineering program or a misperception of schools that are more similar to LACs.  If I recall correctly, though, W&M only trails Berkeley in per capita STEM PHD production from its undergraduates among national public universities.  It may not be a perfect indicator, but the schools at the top like Caltech and MIT definitely do science.

My wife got her science degree at W&M and graduate degree from UVA, and she though W&M science undergrads got more focus and better teaching.  This was a few years back.[/quote]

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