Anonymous
01/17/2026 16:52
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Have had kids at both of these schools. Similar in size, but that’s about it. In terms of facilities and buildings, William & Mary is leaps & bounds behind Wake- it’s where you can tell the difference between a public and a private school. Whoever said Wake is more country club is spot on. Lots of wealth on that campus, whereas W&M is more economically balanced as a state school. Campus populations reflect that- not a lot of folks at W&M is wearing Golden Goose and driving Land Rovers, which seems to be the standard at Wake.
Not a lot to do for social scene at W&M with no sports teams that are great and bars in the Burg not liking college kids.
Both academically rigorous.
You can't walk anywhere from the Wake campus to stuff though. W&M has four bars right next to the stadium that are packed full of students every Thurs-Sat.
There is a bar called the Filling Station walking distance from upper classmen housing and of course, Reynolda Village across the street from Wake with a restaurant, doughnut place, coffee, ice cream, etc . And there is a huge development going up right now next to Wake’s stadium called the Grounds which will add more restaurants, bars and apartments within walking distance of campus. It will be complete within the next year or so. Winston Salem is also a small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurant downtown or elsewhere around town that are less than a 10 minute uber ride away.
I looked up the bar and it looks like it closes at 10pm. Not really true nightlife. If you have to Uber to the next city over I feel like that doesn't really scream "hopping college town" which is fine but certainly not the way you described it. Safety wise there are for sure benefits to bars and clubs not requiring a drive to get to.
You sound a bit clueless, Wake is in Winston Salem, a city with a population in excess of 250,000. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the SAME city. If you are trying to argue that there is a better social life at William and Mary, good luck to you, no one is buying that.
Wake up. Wake is in the middle of a sleepy suburban area. If you have to drive everywhere it doesn't count. Is George Mason a super fun social college because it's in a county of 1 million?
Good college towns have fun things to go within WALKING distance of campus. Do you think UVA would be just as fun if everyone had to go downtown instead of having the corner? You can't even get to the Wake football stadium on foot.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 16:40
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Ones in Virginia and the other is in North Carolina
Anonymous
01/17/2026 16:05
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Have had kids at both of these schools. Similar in size, but that’s about it. In terms of facilities and buildings, William & Mary is leaps & bounds behind Wake- it’s where you can tell the difference between a public and a private school. Whoever said Wake is more country club is spot on. Lots of wealth on that campus, whereas W&M is more economically balanced as a state school. Campus populations reflect that- not a lot of folks at W&M is wearing Golden Goose and driving Land Rovers, which seems to be the standard at Wake.
Not a lot to do for social scene at W&M with no sports teams that are great and bars in the Burg not liking college kids.
Both academically rigorous.
You can't walk anywhere from the Wake campus to stuff though. W&M has four bars right next to the stadium that are packed full of students every Thurs-Sat.
There is a bar called the Filling Station walking distance from upper classmen housing and of course, Reynolda Village across the street from Wake with a restaurant, doughnut place, coffee, ice cream, etc . And there is a huge development going up right now next to Wake’s stadium called the Grounds which will add more restaurants, bars and apartments within walking distance of campus. It will be complete within the next year or so. Winston Salem is also a small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurant downtown or elsewhere around town that are less than a 10 minute uber ride away.
I looked up the bar and it looks like it closes at 10pm. Not really true nightlife. If you have to Uber to the next city over I feel like that doesn't really scream "hopping college town" which is fine but certainly not the way you described it. Safety wise there are for sure benefits to bars and clubs not requiring a drive to get to.
You sound a bit clueless, Wake is in Winston Salem, a city with a population in excess of 250,000. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the SAME city. If you are trying to argue that there is a better social life at William and Mary, good luck to you, no one is buying that.
DP. Both are pretty sleepy towns.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:59
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Have had kids at both of these schools. Similar in size, but that’s about it. In terms of facilities and buildings, William & Mary is leaps & bounds behind Wake- it’s where you can tell the difference between a public and a private school. Whoever said Wake is more country club is spot on. Lots of wealth on that campus, whereas W&M is more economically balanced as a state school. Campus populations reflect that- not a lot of folks at W&M is wearing Golden Goose and driving Land Rovers, which seems to be the standard at Wake.
Not a lot to do for social scene at W&M with no sports teams that are great and bars in the Burg not liking college kids.
Both academically rigorous.
You can't walk anywhere from the Wake campus to stuff though. W&M has four bars right next to the stadium that are packed full of students every Thurs-Sat.
There is a bar called the Filling Station walking distance from upper classmen housing and of course, Reynolda Village across the street from Wake with a restaurant, doughnut place, coffee, ice cream, etc . And there is a huge development going up right now next to Wake’s stadium called the Grounds which will add more restaurants, bars and apartments within walking distance of campus. It will be complete within the next year or so. Winston Salem is also a small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurant downtown or elsewhere around town that are less than a 10 minute uber ride away.
I looked up the bar and it looks like it closes at 10pm. Not really true nightlife. If you have to Uber to the next city over I feel like that doesn't really scream "hopping college town" which is fine but certainly not the way you described it. Safety wise there are for sure benefits to bars and clubs not requiring a drive to get to.
You sound a bit clueless, Wake is in Winston Salem, a city with a population in excess of 250,000. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the SAME city. If you are trying to argue that there is a better social life at William and Mary, good luck to you, no one is buying that.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:58
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
But obviously if you're rich enough maybe hundreds of dollars a semester in Uber rides is just a write off
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:55
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Have had kids at both of these schools. Similar in size, but that’s about it. In terms of facilities and buildings, William & Mary is leaps & bounds behind Wake- it’s where you can tell the difference between a public and a private school. Whoever said Wake is more country club is spot on. Lots of wealth on that campus, whereas W&M is more economically balanced as a state school. Campus populations reflect that- not a lot of folks at W&M is wearing Golden Goose and driving Land Rovers, which seems to be the standard at Wake.
Not a lot to do for social scene at W&M with no sports teams that are great and bars in the Burg not liking college kids.
Both academically rigorous.
You can't walk anywhere from the Wake campus to stuff though. W&M has four bars right next to the stadium that are packed full of students every Thurs-Sat.
There is a bar called the Filling Station walking distance from upper classmen housing and of course, Reynolda Village across the street from Wake with a restaurant, doughnut place, coffee, ice cream, etc . And there is a huge development going up right now next to Wake’s stadium called the Grounds which will add more restaurants, bars and apartments within walking distance of campus. It will be complete within the next year or so. Winston Salem is also a small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurant downtown or elsewhere around town that are less than a 10 minute uber ride away.
I looked up the bar and it looks like it closes at 10pm. Not really true nightlife. If you have to Uber to the next city over I feel like that doesn't really scream "hopping college town" which is fine but certainly not the way you described it. Safety wise there are for sure benefits to bars and clubs not requiring a drive to get to.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:50
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
W&M is nerds, Wake is rich kids.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:49
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How about Richmond?
Probably more like Wake than W&M.
Richmond is about half the size.
I believe Wake and W&M consider each other mutual peers. Richmond considers both of them its peers but neither have it listed. But UofR is an actual liberal arts college and the other two are research universities with a liberal arts focus.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:47
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Have had kids at both of these schools. Similar in size, but that’s about it. In terms of facilities and buildings, William & Mary is leaps & bounds behind Wake- it’s where you can tell the difference between a public and a private school. Whoever said Wake is more country club is spot on. Lots of wealth on that campus, whereas W&M is more economically balanced as a state school. Campus populations reflect that- not a lot of folks at W&M is wearing Golden Goose and driving Land Rovers, which seems to be the standard at Wake.
Not a lot to do for social scene at W&M with no sports teams that are great and bars in the Burg not liking college kids.
Both academically rigorous.
You can't walk anywhere from the Wake campus to stuff though. W&M has four bars right next to the stadium that are packed full of students every Thurs-Sat.
There is a bar called the Filling Station walking distance from upper classmen housing and of course, Reynolda Village across the street from Wake with a restaurant, doughnut place, coffee, ice cream, etc . And there is a huge development going up right now next to Wake’s stadium called the Grounds which will add more restaurants, bars and apartments within walking distance of campus. It will be complete within the next year or so. Winston Salem is also a small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurant downtown or elsewhere around town that are less than a 10 minute uber ride away.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:41
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How about Richmond?
Probably more like Wake than W&M.
Richmond is about half the size.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:09
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:W&M is like 1/3 Greek now, it for sure has a pretty big presence on campus
26%
They haven't updated the numbers for this year, but both frats and sororities had record recruitment numbers for the last couple decades. I was told it was at about 30%.
https://www.wm.edu/offices/studentaffairs/news/record-growth-strengthens-panhellenic-community-at-william-mary.php
Nothing to be proud about IMHO.
Maybe if you hate Greek life. The growth of a very social community is good for the campus as a whole. Far more people who actively pick schools with Greek life than those picking schools without it.
DP. Greek life helps when there's not a whole lot else to do. Williamsburg is a snoozefest for a young adult.
W&M is 30% Greek, Wake is 50%, OP's kid WANTS Greek life, how is this at all relevant to the thread besides trolling?
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:07
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:W&M is like 1/3 Greek now, it for sure has a pretty big presence on campus
26%
They haven't updated the numbers for this year, but both frats and sororities had record recruitment numbers for the last couple decades. I was told it was at about 30%.
https://www.wm.edu/offices/studentaffairs/news/record-growth-strengthens-panhellenic-community-at-william-mary.php
Nothing to be proud about IMHO.
Maybe if you hate Greek life. The growth of a very social community is good for the campus as a whole. Far more people who actively pick schools with Greek life than those picking schools without it.
DP. Greek life helps when there's not a whole lot else to do. Williamsburg is a snoozefest for a young adult.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:05
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:W&M is like 1/3 Greek now, it for sure has a pretty big presence on campus
26%
They haven't updated the numbers for this year, but both frats and sororities had record recruitment numbers for the last couple decades. I was told it was at about 30%.
https://www.wm.edu/offices/studentaffairs/news/record-growth-strengthens-panhellenic-community-at-william-mary.php
Nothing to be proud about IMHO.
Maybe if you hate Greek life. The growth of a very social community is good for the campus as a whole. Far more people who actively pick schools with Greek life than those picking schools without it.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:03
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Lots of crossover of applicants at Wake, W&M, Davidson and Richmond. Mine got in 3 of these. Not being top kid is going to be a tough admit at any of these schools. Davidson does t have sororities, but eating houses. I have a very happy kid at UR and one headed to W&M. I think you can find your people and your place at any of these schools. Def some differences though so visits with kids on campus to see the vibe will be key. Demonstrated interest is also pretty important. Good luck.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 15:01
Subject: what's the difference btw William & Mary and Wake?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:W&M is like 1/3 Greek now, it for sure has a pretty big presence on campus
26%
They haven't updated the numbers for this year, but both frats and sororities had record recruitment numbers for the last couple decades. I was told it was at about 30%.
https://www.wm.edu/offices/studentaffairs/news/record-growth-strengthens-panhellenic-community-at-william-mary.php
Nothing to be proud about IMHO.