W&M Pros and Cons?

IzzoOne
Thu, 27 Apr 2017 16:29:57 +0000

@Farquhar You are certainly right that your experience is just that of one person. Niche is based on surveys from many students. If you want to claim that the survey is biased because they are all in essence indoctrinated, you are free to do that. I just don’t see much basis in fact because I don’t know of any schools/alumni/etc that don’t make claims.

Looking at Niche survey results, I see that institutions that are large and/or have more focus on research and graduate study tend to score lower on average on the measures of teaching quality and commitment. William and Mary, which is kind of between a LAC and research university fits into that spectrum (perhaps closer to the LAC side).

I have experience with UVA, W&M, Washington and Lee, and the University of Texas. If I had to rank them on the Niche teaching questions, there is no doubt in my mind it would go, highest to lowest, W&L, W&M, UVA, and UTA. That is the way they show up in Niche, and it aligns with the spectrum I described above. (Research universities certainly have other positive attributes, but that is another subject.)

You cite graduate school experience. Keep in mind that at research universities, the rough expectation is that professors spend 50% of time on research, 25% on graduate, and 25% on undergraduates. Since undergraduates typically outnumber graduate students, this means much more time is spent on a per student basis on graduate students.

Anyway, your viewpoint is valid. I just think you were a bit quick to dismiss a broader survey.