UNC Chapel Hill or William and Mary?

eml2505
Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:16:10 +0000

You really compare apples with oranges here …

I’m a chemist by education, living in VA, graduated 20 years ago with a PhD. UNC is known worldwide for it’s good chemistry department (probably science in general, I don’t know). I visited both W&M and UNC with my son, and UNC was high on his priority-list (until he decided for an eng.-major). If my son had chosen to study Chemistry I would have been thrilled with UNC (and would have preferred to pay oos-$ over cheaper in-state options in VA).

Having said all of that, I can also say something VERY positive about W&M. One of my co-workers graduated from W&M in Chemistry, worked a year for me (to make some money) and then went on to graduate school to Northwestern. I met with him after the first year at Northwestern and he mentioned that W&M had prepared him perfectly for his graduate studies. The school is well-known for its rigorous curriculum and its thorough education. By the way - being paid for a graduate student in chemistry is normal … therefore they have to take a tutor-job in the lab or something similar.

W&M focuses on undergrad education - you’ll probably have more 1:1 contact with your professors, but less variety for R&D projects (simply because they don’t have that many professors at W&M). Competition for R&D projects will probably be similar in W&M and UNC (more professors at UNC, but also more students applying for projects).

Are you oos for both or are cost a factor? Evidently, you’ll have more of a ‘family’-feeling at W&M, simply due to size …