W&M vs American

K9Leader
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:19:50 +0000

A W&M grad and dad here. My son just finished his sophomore year at W&M. American was one of the schools he applied to, was accepted, and got good merit aid (such that American would have been cheaper than W&M, which is OOS for us). His interests are in journalism and literature, and, although W&M does not have a journalism degree while American does, he still went with W&M, planning to major in English and just do a lot of work on the student newspaper (he is now News Editor). Of the five colleges he got into (W&M, AU, U. Delaware, U. Maryland, Ithaca College) W&M is the only one without a journalism degree; however, it was the right fit for him in terms of size, location, culture and atmosphere. It helped that both his parents are grads and he has been visiting there since he was an infant so he was already comfortable there. His second choice was Ithaca, and it was a close second - very good school of communications with a journalism degree.

We liked American - a city school but one with a defined campus and in a nice part of town. However, the congested feel of so much packed into so little area bothered him. He has a very good friend who goes there and is very happy.

He tells me that the IR program at W&M is very rigorous and most students in that program take longer than 4 years to graduate - they call them Super Seniors. He was actually going to room with one for next year, although he got a call from the roommate a couple of weeks ago saying he was not coming back to W&M (but gave no reason). I’ve heard and read that IR at American is very good, which makes sense, considering its location and all the resources it can draw from.

I agree with the others that you should look at the financial considerations. My son was fortunate that we are willing and able to pay the additional cost for W&M, although IIRC it was only a difference of $2K-4K. W&M doesn’t give much merit aid, especially to out-of-staters, because it doesn’t have to since it can still attract top students and because it doesn’t really have the money. The endowment is relatively small since it is a state school, but the state has drastically decreased its financial support over the past 10-15 years. Going forward, W&M has to start thinking more like a private institution.

If the cost is about the same or if the additional cost is doable for you, it comes down to personal fit and preference. Either one is a great choice and both offer a lot of other areas of study in case you end up going off in a different direction or want to branch out.