<p>I would say that IS and OOS, UVA and W&M are both about the same in terms of how hard they are to get into. I know lots of people who were match/reaches and got into one or the other, top students for whom both were essentially safeties (IS obviously) and got into both, and students who had them as big reaches and didn’t get into either. W&M is harder for OOS girls from the PA area, while UVA tends to end up admitting slightly more boys. So with either one it is going to depend somewhat demographically whether it was harder to get into, but I would say their incoming classes as similar. I do not view either UVA or W&M as “forcing” comparisions, it comes up naturally at either as top IS students have usually been thinking about the two for a couple of years. There are some obvious comparisions and some big differences. In Va most people I know consider them about equal. Outside of Va most people have heard of them but I’m pretty sure they aren’t as focused on it as any Virginian or certainly the schools themselves will have you believe. Inside Virginia, you have to be careful who you talk to, because everyone has an opinion on where the “prestige factor” is higher, and they usually base it on which one they went to/which one their kid attends/which one gave them a lanyard once. </p>
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<p>This is my perception also. I liked that aspect better because I found it a little more accepting and embracing, but I certainly know some odd ducks at UVA, not to mention some very buttoned down people at W&M, and I don’t think UVA is as preppy as some people make it out to be. But some groups at W&M definitely seem a little more outwardly quirkly.</p>