<p>I think that one really important question is how your D would handle being 3 hours away and having to be on her own. I have two sisters. One of them would do fine living at a college three hours from home while the other needs to be within 30 minutes of home, because she just needs that extra support. 3 hours isn’t that far, but if your D were to attend WM it would be a significant enough distance that she would be more “on her own” than going to UMD. It is good that you are open to what she wants to do, but I’m sure you know her well enough to know whether she would handle the distance thing smoothly. It is great you are going to admitted students day, I think that it will really help your D in coming to a decision. I wish I could give you a concrete answer of why WM would be better than UMD + scholarship or vice-versa, but the truth is that I can’t. However, what I can tell you as a WM grad is that the school is an amazing place to grow, learn, and succeed. One thing that you will find in common with WM grads is that we commonly feel an undeniable connection with William & Mary, even after we no longer live in williamsburg. Is it the campus, the personal relationships with friends and professors, the spirit of a college community which leans on each other in times of sadness and cheers collectively in times of jubilation, the traditions that could only feel intimate at a school that size, the professor who believed in you and challenged you to achieve excellence, or is it the fact that for the rest of your life you earned the right to say you were a graduate of the College of William & Mary? I think it is a combination of all those things. In the end, your D needs to do what is best for her.</p>