Reply to Is Brown worth the premium over William & Mary in-state?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The overwhelming majority of in-state admits to UVA or W&M can not get in to a "low Ivy".[/quote]

Top 25% at UVA and W&M have plenty of super-selective admits that recognized the value of staying in-state.[/quote]

Translation: their parents said they would only pay for state school[/quote]

This is true.  I graduated from W&M fairly recently and knew several in-state classmates who turned down Brown, UChicago, UT-Austin and other amazing schools because of in-state tuition or merit scholarships.  I know a few people at Brown as well and here's what I've seen as the main differences between the two schools:

- The biggest difference is the wealth.  Brown students are, on average, from richer families than W&M student.  I had a friend at W&M from a very rich family who found it hard sometimes to relate to people who weren't as well off, though this went both ways.  My friend would have fit in much better at Brown.
- Students at Brown are more likely to pound the pavement for what they want, as a result of both the opportunities they have on-campus and their own drive.  W&M students are more complacent, on average.
- As a follow-on to the above, W&M campus resources are nowhere near as plentiful.  While my friends at other schools can say that Christine Lagarde or another prominent speaker came to campus, and was followed by another well-known person the next week, if one prominent person came to W&M in a single year, it was a big deal.  There weren't any trips to museums or nearby activities that places like Brown would normally pay for.  This is a question of location, of course, but the lack of funding does not help.  There is lots of money for student research at W&M, however.

I'm not saying this to diss W&M.  I had an amazing time on-campus; there are obvious limitations at every school.  On the plus side, W&M has amazing faculty (who, even if they are woefully underpaid, are incredibly dedicated to their profession and their students), a beautiful campus and a lots of amazingly smart and kind students.  You can't go wrong if you go here and I don't think you'll miss out on any amazing post-grad opportunities by choosing W&M, but you will have to work MUCH harder for them to get your foot in the door than if you were at an Ivy League school.  [/quote]

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