Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s difficult to argue that the school that educated Thomas Jefferson and Jen Psaki doesn’t have some solid claim to prestige.

This one has to be satire?

Yeah couldn’t you find a different second choice? Odd combo.

Perhaps Jen Psaki frequents this forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s difficult to argue that the school that educated Thomas Jefferson and Jen Psaki doesn’t have some solid claim to prestige.

This one has to be satire?

Yeah couldn’t you find a different second choice? Odd combo.

The answer is yes. New poster, no connection.

Anonymous wrote:It’s difficult to argue that the school that educated Thomas Jefferson and Jen Psaki doesn’t have some solid claim to prestige.

This one has to be satire?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think of it as a top state school. Not prestigious, but a great value in state. My 4 kids all refused to even apply. None of their friends applied either. It doesn’t appeal to a lot of kids. I also know of 3 kids that applied out in the last 2 years. All parents mentioned the same thing - miserable social experience and stressed out student body. YMMV

This. Wonder how true the rumors are though...

If that was true you would expect students that don't graduate, alumni that are unhappy, etc. What you have, though, is a school that is in the top 2 among public universities in 4 year graduation rate and tops among all public universities in alumni giving rate. If you look at survey based or influenced ratings, like Princeton Review, William and Mary is #4 for Happiest Students, #14 for "Their Students Love these Colleges", and #15 for Best Quality of Life.

W&M has a 95% retention rate--percent of freshmen who return for their sophomore year. 85% of the freshmen class graduates from W&M in 4 years, and 90% of them graduate in 6 years. IOW, their transfer-out rate is pretty low.

By comparison:

97% of UVA freshmen return for their sophomore year, 89% graduate in 4 years, and 95% graduate in 6 years.

93% of VA Tech freshmen return for their sophomore year, 65% graduate in 4 years, and 86% graduate in 6 years.

Anonymous wrote:I think of it as a top state school. Not prestigious, but a great value in state. My 4 kids all refused to even apply. None of their friends applied either. It doesn’t appeal to a lot of kids. I also know of 3 kids that applied out in the last 2 years. All parents mentioned the same thing - miserable social experience and stressed out student body. YMMV

My DH is a teacher at a NoVA public high school that sends kids to W&M every year. Many of his students love it there. My own kids have friends who went there and loved it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, I must say that the recent Flat Hat article on involuntary hospitalizations fof students had no good feels to it. Seeing that article turned my child off completely after hearing rumors about mental health challenges on campus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think of it as a top state school. Not prestigious, but a great value in state. My 4 kids all refused to even apply. None of their friends applied either. It doesn’t appeal to a lot of kids. I also know of 3 kids that applied out in the last 2 years. All parents mentioned the same thing - miserable social experience and stressed out student body. YMMV

This. Wonder how true the rumors are though...

If that was true you would expect students that don't graduate, alumni that are unhappy, etc. What you have, though, is a school that is in the top 2 among public universities in 4 year graduation rate and tops among all public universities in alumni giving rate. If you look at survey based or influenced ratings, like Princeton Review, William and Mary is #4 for Happiest Students, #14 for "Their Students Love these Colleges", and #15 for Best Quality of Life.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in CT and it was certainly considered prestigious there. I had no idea it was a public school.

This reminds me, two years ago, I was in San Diego for work, and my colleague and I were both navigating the admissions process with our kids. Her child -- a US history buff -- really wanted to go to W&M, what with so much of the countries history walking distance from campus. My kid was looking at it as more of a general liberal arts school with STEM research opportunities. And I casually mentioned how lucky I am to have it at in state tuition. My colleague was surprised to find it was was not a private school, as (to her) it felt like one. In the end, her kid ended up at a UC school (don't remember which one). Mine is at W&M.