<p>I got admitted to UVA for Fall08. I decided not to go and I’ll tell you why:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>HUGE (think over 100 to 300) classes for the majority of classes taken before you get to the high level classes for your major. This was not true for all intro and mid level courses, but was for my area of concentration (sciences.)</p></li>
<li><p>Many people needed to take buses to the building their classes/food were in from the dorm. Otherwise it would be a 20+ minute walk, not fun in rain or anything other than nice weather. Not relevant to me but if you don’t have a car at UVA you’d likely need/want one.</p></li>
<li><p>Too BIG. The place is huge, a negative for me.</p></li>
<li><p>Weather. No real snow, no real seasons, too warm the majority of the school year. Fall is my favorite season and it lasts about a week. I hate hot weather. </p></li>
<li><p>Didn’t like the “just a number aspect”. I guess this is related to #1.</p></li>
<li><p>Little individual attention in departments. And high number of people to compete with for research assistant positions.</p></li>
<li><p>TA’s. Lots of them. </p></li>
<li><p>Even though I finally qualify for in-state tuition, it seems like a lot to pay for with few seminar style offerings.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also it’s my understanding that Mt Holyoke has a high admit rate to the top law schools in the US. </p>
<p>I loved Mt Holyoke because it was basically the opposite of my list!</p>