Anonymous wrote:I don't think the Greek scene at W&M is very intense. I could see some people not wanting to attend a school with any fraternities or sororities, but not many who'd consider it enough of an issue to turn down W&M for UMW. I do think you can get a good education at UMW, but a W&M degree is more of an asset when job-hunting.

Do you know this for a fact?

I guess I'm the PP you're referring to, though all I have insisted is that Mary Wash. was definitely the college for ME, over W&M, UVa, and other VA schools. I said that I got an excellent education there, went onto a great grad school, and have had professional success. My friends who went there have had similar experiences. I'm not sure why you have this peculiar axe to grind, but when I say UMW was an excellent experience for me, and for many others like me, why on earth do you feel the need to put it in some sort of category? If you, or your child would choose a different school over Mary Washington, terrific! Obviously, another school would be a better fit. However, your bizarre compulsion to continue putting down UMW would be better served in another thread. Your negative and off-base comments aren't offering anything productive to the OP's original question whatsoever.

Anonymous wrote:We have close friends whose DD chose UMW over all other VA schools and U Chicago. She says she was tired of the constant cut throat atmosphere she experienced in her IB program. She was a superstar at UMW and says it was really life-changing. So yeah, not everyone wants to go to W&M or UVA. It's also a 17 yr old making the decision.

Good for her. Some people want to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Nothing wrong with that. What I don't get is the one UMW grad who seems to insist it's as academically rigorous as W&M or U.Va., much less a place like Chicago. It simply isn't, and neither the faculty nor the students have quite the same firepower.