Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake colonial town is exactly right description of Colonial Williamsburg. I mean it's a tourist trap after all.

W&M will have a stronger peer group but that also means stiffer competition. At the same time, Pitt is a large school with 16k+ undergrads, has a well-regarded medical school so I imagine the competition there will be strong as well. She'll have more teacher interaction at W&M but Pitt might have more TA resources and research opportunities

Once upon a time these two schools were multiple tiers apart in terms of undergraduate student body - W&M competed with the likes of Berkeley and top SLACs while Pitt competed with Delaware and Binghamton. Today the schools are more similar in student quality.

Ultimately if she wants Pitt, she should go to Pitt. W&M already has plenty of students that don't want to be there but go due to the rank/"prestige".

This isn't accurate. Read the Common Data Set. WM kids have almost identical stats as UVa, so higher than Pitt. It's still a better school. That being said, if your kid isn't interested you certainly shouldn't push it. What would you do if she got in? Force her to go to a school she doesn't like? That would be a disaster.

W&M had higher scores than UVA 20 years ago, now it's slightly lower and UVA is more difficult to get in.

Pitt meanwhile was similar to U. Delaware, etc., now it's higher.

That does not mean W&M and Pitt have the equivalent student bodies. It means that W&M and Pitt student bodies are more similar today than they were 20 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:If W&M is an option, so is UVA. I would think a kid who likes Pitt would like that more than W&M.

Also, IMO, if she definitely wants to do premed, she should go to the easier, not harder, school. GPA matters.

Anyway, she should go where she wants, not where you want, if the $ work out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake colonial town is exactly right description of Colonial Williamsburg. I mean it's a tourist trap after all.

W&M will have a stronger peer group but that also means stiffer competition. At the same time, Pitt is a large school with 16k+ undergrads, has a well-regarded medical school so I imagine the competition there will be strong as well. She'll have more teacher interaction at W&M but Pitt might have more TA resources and research opportunities

Once upon a time these two schools were multiple tiers apart in terms of undergraduate student body - W&M competed with the likes of Berkeley and top SLACs while Pitt competed with Delaware and Binghamton. Today the schools are more similar in student quality.

Ultimately if she wants Pitt, she should go to Pitt. W&M already has plenty of students that don't want to be there but go due to the rank/"prestige".

Um, wut?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake colonial town is exactly right description of Colonial Williamsburg. I mean it's a tourist trap after all.

W&M will have a stronger peer group but that also means stiffer competition. At the same time, Pitt is a large school with 16k+ undergrads, has a well-regarded medical school so I imagine the competition there will be strong as well. She'll have more teacher interaction at W&M but Pitt might have more TA resources and research opportunities

Once upon a time these two schools were multiple tiers apart in terms of undergraduate student body - W&M competed with the likes of Berkeley and top SLACs while Pitt competed with Delaware and Binghamton. Today the schools are more similar in student quality.

Ultimately if she wants Pitt, she should go to Pitt. W&M already has plenty of students that don't want to be there but go due to the rank/"prestige".

Um, wut?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake colonial town is exactly right description of Colonial Williamsburg. I mean it's a tourist trap after all.

W&M will have a stronger peer group but that also means stiffer competition. At the same time, Pitt is a large school with 16k+ undergrads, has a well-regarded medical school so I imagine the competition there will be strong as well. She'll have more teacher interaction at W&M but Pitt might have more TA resources and research opportunities

Once upon a time these two schools were multiple tiers apart in terms of undergraduate student body - W&M competed with the likes of Berkeley and top SLACs while Pitt competed with Delaware and Binghamton. Today the schools are more similar in student quality.

Ultimately if she wants Pitt, she should go to Pitt. W&M already has plenty of students that don't want to be there but go due to the rank/"prestige".

This isn't accurate. Read the Common Data Set. WM kids have almost identical stats as UVa, so higher than Pitt. It's still a better school. That being said, if your kid isn't interested you certainly shouldn't push it. What would you do if she got in? Force her to go to a school she doesn't like? That would be a disaster.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M is a terrible choice for premed.

Pitt's an excellent choice for premed.

Anonymous wrote:Direct admit to Pittsburgh medical school was in October.

Anonymous wrote:If W&M is an option, so is UVA. I would think a kid who likes Pitt would like that more than W&M.

Also, IMO, if she definitely wants to do premed, she should go to the easier, not harder, school. GPA matters.

Anyway, she should go where she wants, not where you want, if the $ work out.

Anonymous wrote:W&M is a terrible choice for premed.

Anonymous wrote:W&M is a terrible choice for premed.