I was accepted into these three colleges and am not quite sure where to go.
I am interested in a variety of things: psychology, philosophy, economics, global studies, marketing, business and entrepreneurship and data science. I am not sure what I am going to major in yet but I will be most definitely planning to go for an MBA after undergrad. Which school will give me a better chance of getting into a good MBA school? I want to start a company while I am in college so I am looking for a school that will be able to support me (advice, facilities, etc.). What are their relative reputations and prestige? I am not into sports or Greek life at all and I prefer intimate classroom settings where classes are held in discussion/seminar style. I want to be intellectually challenged but still have the time for a social life and for extracurricular activities. I play the violin so I would like to have private lessons and be involved in the orchestra or strings ensemble. I’m not really into parties; more of a let’s go out at 2am to get some fast food with a few close friends. While I am interested in business, I also want a learning environment where people learn for the sake of learning and not just for their careers - I look forward to intellectual discussions over meals. I am politically liberal but I want to be in a place where both conservatives and liberals are equally present to expose myself to new perspectives. As I am an international student, I don’t have the chance to visit either but all campuses look beautiful in pictures.
Both are great schools. William & Mary is quite a bit smaller and more intimate, while UNC is a bit larger with some social scene being marked by athletics (especially basketball). Both are in great towns. UNC is probably better known than W&M, but both have great academic reputations. I would say that UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School is more elite than W&M’s Mason Business School and is pretty difficult to get into requiring a 3.5 -4.0 GPA along with extracurricular activities related to business. I am not familiar with the difficulty of getting into W&M’s business program. UNC’s business school has a wide variety of majors while W&M may be a little more limited. UNC is a bit more like W&M’s big sister, UVA in both size and breadth of the school and business school.
Both schools can get you into a good MBA program, however work experience is key for the more prestigious and elite MBA programs. Also, some (including myself) believe if you have an undergraduate business degree, most of the MBA is redundant. Maybe if an MBA is important, do something like Econ and Math for undergraduate as they are great backbones for an MBA specializing in something specific. Both schools are great and and part of the original Public Iveys (and I know some hate that term) but they are different, especially in size. Visiting is always best, but absent that do the best you can with research on what makes each school great and what fits your personality.
From reading three paragraphs from you, I would think W&M is a good fit for you, but you really need to do the research to see what you like the best. Politically you would fit in fine in both places. US universities are typically more liberally biased than the general population.
If you could visit both, you’d probably get a pretty good idea based on your preferences, but it looks like you will not going to be able to do that. I’d say UNC is going to feel more like a relatively large state flagship school (which it is). Some people like this because there are big time athletics, and more programs and activities. William & Mary is going to feel more like a mid-sized liberal arts focused school. Dartmouth and Brown come to mind for comparison purposes. It will be more residential (75% or so of students live in campus housing) and more focused on undergraduate education vs graduate education.
Based on your description of your interests, I’d say you sound like you might be a bit closer to William & Mary, but it would be nice if you could get some other views. You might be able to contact the admissions offices and ask to talk/correspond with other international students. They might help you out.
I thought that question would come. W&M is a smaller more liberal arts focused school. Your comments regarding not being focused on sports or Greek life (and UNC having a pretty big sports focus) and smaller seminar classes plus violin made me think the smaller school may be a better fit. Again, only based on three paragraphs from you so a snap judgement more than anything. You can succeed in both places and there are plenty of people who pay no attention to any sports at UNC so there is a place for everyone. I used to live in the DC area and now live in NC. My D is a junior at Chapel Hill and absolutely loves it and wanted nothing to do with a smaller school like W&M, but I really like Williamsburg and W&M campus being one of the oldest in the country. Good luck and I think it really comes down to which one you like best from the information you have.
Both are great schools for academics and for getting into grad school. I don’t know that one or the other would have relatively more prestige. Your interests or desires for student culture do seem to lean towards William and Mary (sports for example, and more intimate/academic discussions). I am not sure about support for starting your own business, as W&M is 1/3 of the size and in a much smaller town.
A lot of people (if not all that I have talked to) have said that W&M is a better fit for me although Chapel Hill is so difficult to give up just because of the prestige and the fact that I was out of the range for their average applicant (especially considering I’m out of state). But thank you so much for your comments!
An additional point to consider is that William and Mary is much more undergraduate-focused than UNC. When people think of a university’s prestige, often the famous professors and renowned law schools and other graduate programs are influential. Most universities with large graduate schools make use of the grad students as teachers of introductory classes. This is not the case at liberal arts colleges, and it is not the case at William and Mary. (I don’t know specifically about UNC, but I attended University of Virginia, which is a very similar school, and had many courses taught by grad students. It’s true at Harvard, for that matter.)
The US News and World Report rankings are definitely influenced by graduate school prestige. They do have a little-noticed ranking of “Best Undergraduate Teaching” at national universities. Take a look at that list - you’ll see little William and Mary in the top rank along with schools like Princeton, Dartmouth, Stanford, Brown, and Rice. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching
It is hard to fly to the part of Virginai where William and Mary is located. I might consider Chapel Hill for ease of travel, given that you are international. Raleigh is a big international airport for North Carolina.
Here is UNC’s orchestra ensemble https://music.unc.edu/undergraduate/ensembles/uncso/
North Carolina is a mix of Republicans and Democrats, Chapel Hill leans liberal but Raleigh is conservative
and nearby.
Virginia is more conservative,and William and Mary in particular
is conservative. The two liberal areas of Virginia are U of Virginia/ Charlottesville, and Washington DC area.
@Coloradomama Is conservatism at W&M overwhelming? I love the entrepreneurship support that Chapel Hill has but highly dislike the large lecture and impersonal classes. So it’s kind of a toss up for me with W&M and Chapel Hill.
@Empireapple Thank you! I love all three schools and I am most definitely enjoying this “problem”!
@brownpoodle Even though the classes at W&M are smaller compared to Chapel Hill, are they discussion-based?
As a Lafayette student, I’ll help give my perspective. Because of the design of our common course of study, it is very easy to double major, so you would be able to pursue a number of the things you mentioned. I would also advise that you check out our international affairs major website. This major is interdisciplinary, so would allow you to take classes in economics, political science, etc. In terms of your interest in entrepreneurship, check out our Dyer Center for Innovation. Its a new, but fast growing program. They actually have a business plan competition that gives students business advisors for the chance to win a stipend to start a business. For greeklife, about 30% of our student body is affiliated, so it is not a majority by any means. It is also more popular among females than males. Lafayette has extremely small classes, over 50% of our classes are fewer than 20 students. This is possible because we are entirely undergraduate, whereas the other two schools are not. Students at Lafayette are very engaged in extracurriculars, and you would have a good balance between challenging classes and being able to pursue interests like violin. Lafayette also is leaning liberal, but has a represented conservative student population as well. Considering you’re an international student, I think you would be happy to find out that Lafayette was recently ranked by Forbes the 19th best college in the country for international students, and UNC and W&M were not on that list. I will be honest though that we do not have a business major, so most students interested in going into business/getting an MBA, major in economics or get a finance certificate.
Lafayette is a terrific school. Probably a little preppier, and Greek life is more dominant, but not hugely so. The climate is a little colder. It’s probably a bit more difficult to get to than Williamsburg.
Obviously the most notable difference is the size. It’s one third the size of W&M.
I was accepted into these three colleges and am not quite sure where to go.
I am interested in a variety of things: psychology, philosophy, economics, global studies, marketing, business and entrepreneurship and data science. I am not sure what I am going to major in yet but I will be most definitely planning to go for an MBA after undergrad. Which school will give me a better chance of getting into a good MBA school? I want to start a company while I am in college so I am looking for a school that will be able to support me (advice, facilities, etc.). What are their relative reputations and prestige? I am not into sports or Greek life at all and I prefer intimate classroom settings where classes are held in discussion/seminar style. I want to be intellectually challenged but still have the time for a social life and for extracurricular activities. I play the violin so I would like to have private lessons and be involved in the orchestra or strings ensemble. I’m not really into parties; more of a let’s go out at 2am to get some fast food with a few close friends. While I am interested in business, I also want a learning environment where people learn for the sake of learning and not just for their careers - I look forward to intellectual discussions over meals. I am politically liberal but I want to be in a place where both conservatives and liberals are equally present to expose myself to new perspectives. As I am an international student, I don’t have the chance to visit either but all campuses look beautiful in pictures.
I don’t think that W&M is considered a conservative campus…I don’t think I’ve seen it described as overly leaning either way. And W&M is quite prestigious, I can see how maybe its less heard of internationally because of the size, but it’s a highly regarded school here. Not trying to push you…you have great choices…but just trying to help give info!
