I grew up in CA and went to W&M back in the day. I live in NorCal now. I remember telling people where I was going and getting responses like “what did you say? Loyola Marymount?” No one had heard of it. Four people from my Catholic high school went to Stanford my year, though.
Now, W&M is definitely on the list of prized schools. People lament how hard it is to get in. I see license frames and sweatshirts from time to time. I checked my old high school’s matriculation, no one got into Stanford, one kid is going to W&M! Go Tribe!
Most students in our public high school happily end up at Cal State or UC schools, lots to private West Coast schools, and maybe 25% elsewhere including regional publics - Az, Nevada, Oregon and WA.
P.s. There weren’t state schools in 1693, so gotta cut W&M slack on the naming issue. It was named after the crown, which was not a bad thing in pre-revolutionary days.