OP - It really depends on what it means to your family to spend this money.

My VA kid was absolutely opposed to going to UVA. It was a bad fit for him, and it attracts a kind of kid who he doesn't much care for. He went to an OOS flagship that is a much better fit (but we don't have the $$ for full fees private).

Those are two very good private colleges and they do offer something UVA does not, so it really comes down to opportunity cost:

a) borrowing!!!! scary.
b) no funds to help with grand school?
c) will be living lean for 4 years, which might affect internships and other opportunities
d) other children....

we can't answer that.

Anonymous wrote:

so that's three kids I know of from NOVA who picked Davidson over U.Va. Since so many posters said U.Va is a "no brainer" as between these two schools, I guess we parents have no brains.

You're some of the lucky few who can pay for your kid to go to a super expensive school and pay for all the travel that it takes to send them there on top of that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP who first started this thread back in Feb of 2018. Sorry. . .

My S is in the second semester of his freshman year at Davidson and loves it. Small classes, close faculty interaction, good friends, and an overall very supportive school environment.

Yes, my wallet would prefer UVA, but he is very happy. And he has found the Pre-med advising services to be quite helpful (even for freshmen).

Onward and upward.

+1. Are you from NOVA? (DC goes there as well).

Indeed, we are!

so that's three kids I know of from NOVA who picked Davidson over U.Va. Since so many posters said U.Va is a "no brainer" as between these two schools, I guess we parents have no brains.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP who first started this thread back in Feb of 2018. Sorry. . .

My S is in the second semester of his freshman year at Davidson and loves it. Small classes, close faculty interaction, good friends, and an overall very supportive school environment.

Yes, my wallet would prefer UVA, but he is very happy. And he has found the Pre-med advising services to be quite helpful (even for freshmen).

Onward and upward.

+1. Are you from NOVA? (DC goes there as well).

Indeed, we are!

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP who first started this thread back in Feb of 2018. Sorry. . .

My S is in the second semester of his freshman year at Davidson and loves it. Small classes, close faculty interaction, good friends, and an overall very supportive school environment.

Yes, my wallet would prefer UVA, but he is very happy. And he has found the Pre-med advising services to be quite helpful (even for freshmen).

Onward and upward.

+1. Are you from NOVA? (DC goes there as well).

I am the OP who first started this thread back in Feb of 2018. Sorry. . .

My S is in the second semester of his freshman year at Davidson and loves it. Small classes, close faculty interaction, good friends, and an overall very supportive school environment.

Yes, my wallet would prefer UVA, but he is very happy. And he has found the Pre-med advising services to be quite helpful (even for freshmen).

Onward and upward.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread shows the importance of casting a wide net among reach, target, and safeties. Had the student applied to several liberal arts colleges that are not as highly ranked as Davidson - colleges that change lives, for example - the student might not be in the false dilemma of UVA or Davison. There are plenty of private liberal arts colleges that would have allowed the student to focus on studies and less on tuition.

The "colleges that change lives" (IMHO a marketing ploy) are very expensive LACs. OP clearly appreciates the value of in-state Virginia schools. But that doesn't explain why they applied to Davidson and Wash. & Lee. William & Mary would have made more sense.

I agree they are kind of comparing apples and oranges with UVA vs. W&L and Davidson (W&M would be somewhere in between). Perhaps the poster was suggesting that if they applied to schools similar to but less selective than Davidson and W&L, they might have gotten some merit. I know W&L gives quite a bit of merit with Johnson scholarships (about 10% of class), but those are very high stat kids, similar to Jefferson Scholarships.

Anonymous wrote:This thread shows the importance of casting a wide net among reach, target, and safeties. Had the student applied to several liberal arts colleges that are not as highly ranked as Davidson - colleges that change lives, for example - the student might not be in the false dilemma of UVA or Davison. There are plenty of private liberal arts colleges that would have allowed the student to focus on studies and less on tuition.

The "colleges that change lives" (IMHO a marketing ploy) are very expensive LACs. OP clearly appreciates the value of in-state Virginia schools. But that doesn't explain why they applied to Davidson and Wash. & Lee. William & Mary would have made more sense.

This thread shows the importance of casting a wide net among reach, target, and safeties. Had the student applied to several liberal arts colleges that are not as highly ranked as Davidson - colleges that change lives, for example - the student might not be in the false dilemma of UVA or Davison. There are plenty of private liberal arts colleges that would have allowed the student to focus on studies and less on tuition.

Anonymous wrote:W&L does not have a lot of students from Virginia, unlike UVA. W&L is Virginia’s most elite school. UVA is the most well known but very large.

W&L most elite?? You mean W&M!!!

If your kid wants to go to Med school- have them go to UVA and pay for Med school with the money you saved.

/end thread

Anonymous wrote:I hate the south so I wouldn't go to any of the 3. But UVA costs much less so if I was poor and lived in VA, I'd make my kid go there.

The south hates you, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MY DD was accepted at all three with aid. BTW congrats OP it wasn’t easy! The schools are very different. UVA is a great school but very large. Half of the class will be edited from the top spots just because of the size. But if big state school is what you want UVA is the ticket.
W&L attracts an elite crowd from all over the US. Big help if you are going into law business or any field where connections count. It’s the Potomac school of colleges.
Davidson is more or less the same but with a southern focus. The price was the same & DD chose Davidson.

W&L attracts an “elite crowd from all over the US”? That’s news to me.

Yes. It’s very highly ranked school of the 1%. Some people think that’s a drawback.

It’s a decent regional LAC, but that’s about it.

Oh look. Stupid is back.

W&L does not have a lot of students from Virginia, unlike UVA. W&L is Virginia’s most elite school. UVA is the most well known but very large.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MY DD was accepted at all three with aid. BTW congrats OP it wasn’t easy! The schools are very different. UVA is a great school but very large. Half of the class will be edited from the top spots just because of the size. But if big state school is what you want UVA is the ticket.
W&L attracts an elite crowd from all over the US. Big help if you are going into law business or any field where connections count. It’s the Potomac school of colleges.
Davidson is more or less the same but with a southern focus. The price was the same & DD chose Davidson.

W&L attracts an “elite crowd from all over the US”? That’s news to me.

Yes. It’s very highly ranked school of the 1%. Some people think that’s a drawback.

It’s a decent regional LAC, but that’s about it.

But one that somehow shows up near the top of the economic value added rankings:

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2015/04/29/a-new-kind-of-college-ranking-the-10-universities-that-will-increase-your-career-earnings-the-most/
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/college-rankings/#interactive
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2015/10/29/our-first-ever-college-rankings

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MY DD was accepted at all three with aid. BTW congrats OP it wasn’t easy! The schools are very different. UVA is a great school but very large. Half of the class will be edited from the top spots just because of the size. But if big state school is what you want UVA is the ticket.
W&L attracts an elite crowd from all over the US. Big help if you are going into law business or any field where connections count. It’s the Potomac school of colleges.
Davidson is more or less the same but with a southern focus. The price was the same & DD chose Davidson.

W&L attracts an “elite crowd from all over the US”? That’s news to me.

Yes. It’s very highly ranked school of the 1%. Some people think that’s a drawback.

It’s a decent regional LAC, but that’s about it.