<p>They are two completely different schools and there are many pros and cons to each of them. I should’ve given my reasons earlier, but here they are now.
MHC has the advantage of the consortium and the other things that mtholyoke2010 mentioned.
UVA (not that you should base your decision on this) is considered a “Public Ivy”. It is certainly harder to get into than MHC, which makes it more respectable in many eyes. Additionally, it is more well-heard of and in a better location. About graduate placement, which I would think would be important to you, The Wall Street Journal studied the undergraduate backgrounds of entering students at “elite” graduate programs. UVA had 82 placements (2.6% of class) placed 33rd overall and third among all state-supported universities in elite graduate placement. No other state university on the Atlantic Seaboard (eastern most coast) had greater than 1/3 the number of placements as UVA. There is more history at UVA since it is nearby Monticello, etc. UVA also has many highly regarded graduate programs. Programs ranked in their respective fields’ top 10 by U.S. News & World Report include: Law, Tax Law, International Law, etc. If you want to go to Law School in the future, UVA might be the better option because it has its own law school and has a reputation as one of the ten most prestigious law schools in the nation.
Moving on to Business. There is another forum on here about business schools: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-texas-austin/671931-business-school-best-ut-bhp-notre-dame-uva.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-texas-austin/671931-business-school-best-ut-bhp-notre-dame-uva.html</a> Clearly UVA’s business graduate school is also well-respected. It is regularly ranked as being among the Top 15 business schools in the world. US News and world report ranked it #14 this year. I think this sums up the UNDERGRAD aspect of UVA business very well: [McIntire</a> School of Commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McIntire_School_of_Commerce]McIntire”>McIntire School of Commerce - Wikipedia)
There is evidence at UVA’s great record with getting kids into law school here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/326689-law-school-harvard-yale-uva-undergrad-representation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/326689-law-school-harvard-yale-uva-undergrad-representation.html</a>
The money issue should certainly be considered in the midst of this economic situation…but the decision is up to you! I am sure whichever school you end up at you will succeed. More than likely, you will end up going to graduate school for business or law no matter which undergraduate college you end up going to.
Good luck!!!</p>