Hi OP. I am a William and Mary grad and my kid is there now. If you have any particular questions about the school, I'm happy to answer them. I had a great experience there.

If you want some advice, one of the big advantages of being in state is that you might have the ability to visit many of these, particularly once you and your kid narrow the list down a bit. I really think that's one of the best ways for your child to get a feel for what different size schools feel like, what each one has to offer, and what kind of location they would like. Depending on where you live in VA, I would think most of these would be easy day trips. One of the nice things about W&M and UVa is that they are both very close to interesting historical landmarks, so it wouldn't have to be just a trip to see schools.

Good luck with your search! We're really luck in VA to have so many options, but I can see where it could be overwhelming to get started if you don't already have a personal connection to a school or friends who have kids there.

OP, if you are serious, and not a troll.

Virginia has three public universities that are selective and among the best in the country:
1) University of Virginia at Charlottesville, which was the lower acceptance rate of them.
2) Virginia Tech, a large university known from engineering and STEM.
3) College and William and Mary, a former liberal arts college that has added more professional programs but no engineering.

These all offer in-state tuition rates and these colleges are well respected throughout the USA.

Then there are several decent public universities that are more regional in nature, some are commuter schools, and many have good professional programs. They are generally much easier to get into than the three above-

James Madison University
Virginia Commonwealth U.
U. of Mary Washington
George Mason U.
Old Dominion U.

Then there are smaller public colleges and universities and each will have strengths and weaknesses and they are all pretty easy to get into.

A unique one is Virginia Military Institute which one of the few state military colleges that often have students become officers in the military.

There are also so HBCUs for black students. Hampton U., Norfolk State, Virginia Union and several others.

Virginia has a lot of smaller private colleges, but not many large private universities. They are typically liberal arts colleges.

Two are well known and very selective:
Washington & Lee University
U. of Richmond.

They are very expensive but do give out need based and sometimes merit aid for really top students. The other liberal arts colleges that are private are generally expensive but will give a lot of aid out to students as well. These little schools comprise most of the schools on your list. They are generally very, very small. Often smaller than many NOVA high schools.

Then if you are religious, the only real Catholic college is Marymount University in Arlington, VA. But there are more in neighboring states and two in DC. It is not difficult to get into Marymount.

Then if you are a like a fundamentalist, there is Liberty University, founded by a former televangelist. It is very well funded but very conservative. The only students I know that go there were home schooled kids whose parents were very religious. A more recent one is near Virginia Beach called Regent University. They have a good reputation in fundamentalist circles and a poor reputation outside of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids graduating from college and high school senior graduating and...you need to know your kid's major and minor before anyone can possibly answer this question. Believe it or not, schools are good at different things. You need to know what your kid wants to do before you ask which school.

OP's post is ridiculous but this is NOT true.

+1

I think this site would work better if reporters and AIs could be open about what they are without getting in trouble and would disclose that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids graduating from college and high school senior graduating and...you need to know your kid's major and minor before anyone can possibly answer this question. Believe it or not, schools are good at different things. You need to know what your kid wants to do before you ask which school.

OP's post is ridiculous but this is NOT true.

No, it is true. Schools excel in different areas. You need to look at the specific program your kid wants to pursue first. That is the thing that kids your kid a job, a path, actual hands on research as an undergrad going to conferences to present posters, etc. I don't want my kid watching other, older students do research, I want my kid DOING research as a freshman and getting practical application. Is the department an R-1? If the department sucks, then you're wasting time and money. People "out there" know which schools excel in any given field. Put your kid at a place where the field excels, school name second.

complete BS. Go to a college that excels in all or most areas instead. In Virginia there are several "levels" of these" : William and Mary UVA VT JMU VCU would be the top 5 as far as broad success across many areas

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest, UVA is the only real university in VA.

UVA and University of Virginia-College at Wise

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids graduating from college and high school senior graduating and...you need to know your kid's major and minor before anyone can possibly answer this question. Believe it or not, schools are good at different things. You need to know what your kid wants to do before you ask which school.

OP's post is ridiculous but this is NOT true.

+1

The world is full of givers and takers. OP is queen of the takers. Ballsy to come here with such a ridiculous and ill-conceived question and expect people to respond.

Some quick ways to narrow the list:

Large college or small?

Rural, small city, urban?

Weather?

Religious or secular?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids graduating from college and high school senior graduating and...you need to know your kid's major and minor before anyone can possibly answer this question. Believe it or not, schools are good at different things. You need to know what your kid wants to do before you ask which school.

OP's post is ridiculous but this is NOT true.

No, it is true. Schools excel in different areas. You need to look at the specific program your kid wants to pursue first. That is the thing that kids your kid a job, a path, actual hands on research as an undergrad going to conferences to present posters, etc. I don't want my kid watching other, older students do research, I want my kid DOING research as a freshman and getting practical application. Is the department an R-1? If the department sucks, then you're wasting time and money. People "out there" know which schools excel in any given field. Put your kid at a place where the field excels, school name second.

Its very silly. The most sensible students go into college with an open mind. Who knows what they want to do in life at 17?

That is the thing that *lands* your kid a job,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids graduating from college and high school senior graduating and...you need to know your kid's major and minor before anyone can possibly answer this question. Believe it or not, schools are good at different things. You need to know what your kid wants to do before you ask which school.

OP's post is ridiculous but this is NOT true.

No, it is true. Schools excel in different areas. You need to look at the specific program your kid wants to pursue first. That is the thing that kids your kid a job, a path, actual hands on research as an undergrad going to conferences to present posters, etc. I don't want my kid watching other, older students do research, I want my kid DOING research as a freshman and getting practical application. Is the department an R-1? If the department sucks, then you're wasting time and money. People "out there" know which schools excel in any given field. Put your kid at a place where the field excels, school name second.

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest, UVA is the only real university in VA.

Not honest, at all.

I’m with the PPs who mentioned Randolph-Macon and UMW. One is private and one is public, but RMC gives everyone a grant and the state gives $5k to the college for each VA resident, so the price for both was pretty much identical for instate residents. Both have a similar feel and are small and nurturing and will have a good community. My kid chose RMC. We also liked Christopher Newport, but it didn’t have what my child wanted to study. So look for fit and size. You can’t go wrong with any state school and there’s a strong bunch of privates.

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest, UVA is the only real university in VA.

There is that poster!

Let’s be honest, UVA is the only real university in VA.