They’re extremely different though and in some ways, opposite.
UVA-Wise was created because UVA is a common good of the commonwealth and as such must recruit from everywhere in the state; in addition, following a residents’ petition (zero higher education opportunities), it was recognized that kids from Appalachia (originally poor&working class kids who had been conscripted in the Korean war, now top students who scored 1,000-1,200 on the SAT) needed a 4-year college rather than a CC and though they wouldn’t qualify for UVA right away, deserved a pathway to UVA if they showed potential, resilience, intellectual curiosity, and academic ability. HENCE, Uva Wise has evolved nowadays with full ride programs for scholars from specific towns and counties and a supported pathway to UVA. It does a lot of good in that community.
Oxford-Emory is more of a marketing choice and not at all a local residents’ wish nor a recognition of a public university as a common good: recognizing that 1) there are students in GA&the South who want a prestigious LAC and do not want to move North or West 2) that Emory still has their original campus they’re not doing much with (prep school, teachers’ college, athletes’ prep…) and 3) that some students transfer out of Emory Atlanta thus create a need for students to transfer in, Oxford was refashioned as an Emory-branded LAC experience. The academic level there is just as strong as at Atlanta, but way fewer majors are offered and the atmosphere is quieter.
The 2 don’t attract and support the same type of students at all. You couldn’t direct one kid to either one indifferently.
Imho, Emory-Oxford is very well suited to more introverted kids and/or kids who attended a high pressure HS, whereas UVA-Wise would be great for FGLI kids who have a lot of potential their environment didn’t allow them to fulfill yet and will need an adjustment period to perform in college.
10 Likes
Since you’re drawing some really helpful distinctions here… where would you say Richard Bland fits on the spectrum you’re describing? (Esp. since there’s a guaranteed-transfer pathway to UVA from there as well…)
2 Likes
My point was simply you start one place, a smaller place - with a designed path to the other…granted in half the time.
OP themselves noted people at Wise move to UVA and stay as a cohort (on their own).
That’s all. My comment was no deeper than that.
From OP above:
It is worth mentioning there’s about 100 year in wise students every year and they do stick together. They dorm together and are in the same classes, there’s also trips that the YIW coordinator puts together many times throughout the year like kayaking, hiking etc.
OP: Are you comfortable sharing your numbers (GPA, class rank, & any standardized test scores) ?
My thought is that your academic qualifications must be quite strong if you were admitted to William & Mary, therefore, you run a risk of being bored by lack of academic challenges at UV-Wise. This would be detrimental to your desire to prepare for law school/medical school.
William & Mary is both prestigious & academically challenging/demanding; this is the type of environment that will prepare you for law school. The University of Virginia School of Law is outstanding, but admission is difficult, therefore, the sooner that you get accustomed to engaging in a rigorous academic environment, the better prepared you will be for a challenging law school or medical school curriculum.
In short, consider William & Mary for your undergraduate years and the University of Virginia School of Law for your graduate school years.
6 Likes
Hey! To be honest my stats weren’t that strong, I go to a really gpa inflated high school. My class rank at the time I applied for UVA and W&M was 22/400ish, I am now sitting at 11/400 and I suspect by the time senior year ends I will enter the top 10. As for test scores, I didn’t submit those as they were below both schools average. My ECs included leadership in 5 school clubs as well as volunteering both abroad and locally. I also had a job. I consider myself an average applicant overall, maybe below average compared to my peers at my school. What may have made me stand out were my essays. I am willing to put in the hard work in college to keep up with my peers at both schools.
1 Like
Did you write a LOCI to UVA? I’m hoping that you get off of the waitlist! My DS just turned down his spot.
2 Likes
Top 5% class rank is impressive as are your leadership positions. Holding a job while being a full-time student active in several ECs is also impressive.
I could asses your application essay in a matter of minutes as to whether or not it had an adverse impact regarding admission to the University of Virginia’s main campus. I suspect that it did not as you were admitted to both William & Mary and to Virginia Tech.
P.S. If you really want Virginia this year, then you need to communicate that desire to the University of Virginia office of admissions. Have you visited in person and spoken with a UVa admissions officer ?
2 Likes
In their communications to waitlistees, they were pretty adamant that all they want is mid year grades. They said that it replaces a LOCI, so I did not submit an actual LOCI. Your kind words mean a lot though!
4 Likes
I encourage you to write a strong LOCI and emphasize that if you are admitted that you 100% will enroll. Really highlight that UVA is your dream school and that you have worked hard this year and anticipate moving up from the top 5% to the top 2.5% percent. Include updates on awards, leadership, and volunteering.
I’ve interacted with representatives last fall, but since my waitlist I haven’t reached out except sending my mid year grades and interacting with the Year in Wise representative. They don’t want a LOCI and they made that pretty clear, saying that the mid year grades replace a LOCI. I don’t know how I would go about speaking to admissions officers, I don’t wanna come off as desperate 
but I’m not against making my commitment to UVA clear
2 Likes
I was actually planning on doing writing one at first, and If I did I would definitely include what you mentioned. But Dean J herself said
“Please read the waiting list FAQs. These were linked in your letter.
We’ve never encouraged LOCIs and our instructions on this haven’t changed. The people who got in off the waiting list didn’t get in because of a letter. They got in because they were in the part of the list where we could make offers and their application was compelling upon reading it again with midyears submitted.
The people telling you do extra things have good intentions, but their advice will have you spending time and energy on activities that aren’t going to move the needle. Just follow the instructions and you are good!
Hang in there. The wait is going to be a few months, so it’s best to tuck thoughts of UVA away for a while.”
5 Likes
Although you are welcome to send additional letters of recommendation via your portal or the general admission email account, they should only be sent if they tell us something new that we haven’t learned about you yet.
Do you have any updates to share at all? Any awards or distinctions? Leadership positions? (my son deposited at a school at he is excited about, but he did send LOCIs to two Ivies)
At this point, you are just a stack of papers to them. When you applied they had no idea that UVA was-is your first choice. IF you have anything to share with them, now is your chance. I would also include specific classes, programs, and clubs that you are interested in.
Additionally, if there is a teacher that you have really connected with this year, ask them to write you a recommendation.
3 Likes
Honestly you should visit Wise before you decide. It is a beautiful part of VA but it is very rural and pretty poor. I have a friend from that area and was just up there with her.
I did see some people of color but most folks are white and it’s a pretty conservative area. Honestly I love the mountains and have been to other more populated areas of SWVA many times but I was ready to come home. It’s a really reallly small town region.
There are some drug problems in the community which could be interesting from a public health perspective. Read “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s all about the OxyContin crisis in that part of VA. Just won the Pulitzer Prize. Also a lot of coal mining historically and some public health issues linger from that.
I think I would choose William & Mary of those two choices. If you get great grades and hate it you could still try to transfer to UVA.
No interest in VCU? Good healthcare school. I like Richmond.
4 Likes
It’s similar in that it’s purposely designed as a way to lift up academically serious and motivated, often underprivileged VA students. I don’t know it well because it’s not typically requested in the ED/RD rounds nor is it typically on the NACAC list. My sense is that it serves a different population (Richmond+coastal counties v.mountains) though I don’t know where most of their students come from; generally more diverse than UVA-Wise and without 4 year degrees but with broader partnerships, though if I remember well it’s associated with W&M. In short, the comparison seems very apt.
I find it admirable that VA not only has a university system for all with 3 topnotch flagships but also two residential colleges (with possible full scholarships) designed to increase access.
6 Likes
Emory Oxford was a very bad comparison. Add the fact that Emory-Oxford is harder to get into than UVA itself let alone wise.
1 Like
You are all missing my point.
I was simply noting it was a “feeding” into the other, albeit at one year vs. two.
And OP noted that 100 kids move together and end up as friends / roomies on the UVA campus.
It was nothing more than that.
it wasn’t meant to be an academic comparison.
1 Like
For law school…the biggest metrics will be your LSAT score and your GPA.
For medical school…the biggest metrics will be your MCAT score, your GPA and your sGPA. That might get you to the next review of your application and then to the interview stage.
Most medical schools do not weigh the undergrad school name when considering your application. And most law schools don’t weigh your undergrad either.
But I’m not sure this matters. Did you mention law or medical school?
Read what @aquapt wrote about public health!
3 Likes
If you are seriously interested in med school. I would recommend not ruling out VT just because it has Tech in its name.
VT has its own medical school (though it’s 40 minutes away in Roanoke).
However, the Edward Via College of Medicine (VCOM) shares the VT campus in Blacksburg.
Additionally, VT Carillion med school has a special early identification program for students wishing to become doctors who come from disparate backgrounds (UiM or FGLI students) that provides 2 intense summers of enrichment that include a directed research experience at the medical school, MCAT prep, 2 sessions of 6 weeks each of clinical rotations at Carillion facilities and personalized advising by VT Carillion faculty. Students receive a stipend for participating in the program. (IOW, if selected, they are paid to attend the summer program.)
Other special opportunities for pre-meds at Tech include:
MEDS-E
MEDS-E targets freshmen, sophomore and junior undergraduates at Virginia Tech students who are members of groups Underrepresented in Medicine and are planning careers in medicine and research. A primary goal of MEDS-E is to expand the students’ network and increase their awareness of opportunities in the health professions, with a specific focus becoming a physician.
Health Equity Scholars Program
A partnership with three Virginia Tech Living Learning Communities (LLCs): Ujima, GenerationOne and Orion. This program provides experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students interested in healthcare living in the partner LLCs.
ProjectMED
A collaboration with HBCU’s that identifies and provides resources to prepare students underrepresented in medicine for undergraduate medical education.
10 Likes
My son’s first choice was UVA and he did the YIW option. He made a great group of friends from Wise (a lot from NOVA, Richmond, Hampton Roads areas) who transferred with him to UVA. He also rushed and joined a fraternity and several other clubs/sports groups as a 2nd year and is loving life in C’ville now. UVA was always his first choice and the YIW option was very positive overall for him and his friends. The year went fast.
9 Likes
Were there many people of color in his cohort? I only saw a few when I was in Wise recently.
1 Like