These are both excellent schools, but to me it sounds like W&M is the better fit. It also comes at a lower cost, which is important given the possibility of med school.
Good luck with the decision!
I donât have a lot to add to the excellent posts by @3SailAway and @NiceUnparticularMan above describing the W&M culture. I can confirm that the TWAMP stereotype is pretty accurate. I will add that my son joined a fraternity Spring semester of his freshman year. It was not something he had any interest in prior to college. He met a lot of the fraternity brothers through a club sport and ended up rushing only that one fraternity. Greek life does have a presence on campus but it is not the crazy party culture that people associate with other schools. My son sometimes attends parties on Fridays and Saturdays. Due to Williamsburg noise ordinances, parties all shut down at 11 pm. The students will often go grab a late night bite to eat or hang out with friends in the dorm afterwards. When I spoke to him last weekend, he was staying in and watching Interstellar with some friends.
Hopefully some of the Wake parents can give you more insight about the prevailing culture there. In very general terms it is much more of work hard/play hard type of place. Greek life seems to play a larger role in the social life, and I consider it to have a much more pre professional vibe than William & Mary.
I hope you will report back after DFAS tomorrow. William & Mary is a very special place, but it (and Williamsburg) are not a fit for everyone. I will note that there is a lot more in Williamsburg now than there was 30 years ago and my son loves that there is so much within walking and biking distance from campus. Last time I was up there I commented to him that it was like going to school in the middle of the American pavilion at Epcot. He smiled and said " Yeah. Isnât it great?" 
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I have a student at Wake currently. I would say that it is a school for extroverts, not everyone is into the Greek scene, but most of the kids are very social. About a third of the men are in fraternities which isnât far off from William and Mary but I think Greek life generally plays a sizable role on campus. For those kids who are looking for other outlets, there are a number of club sports, popular volunteering and business co-ed fraternities and an active outdoors club.
One of Wakeâs biggest strengths is class sizes. Most classes, even for freshman, will be less than 20 kids. Intro STEM and business classes will be less than 50. Itâs almost impossible to not know your professors. Research opportunities are abundant and available to freshman.
One difference between Wake and William and Mary is that Wake has a medical school and hospital. There are plans to open a second campus for the medical school in Charlotte (while maintaining the Winston Salem campus), so it will be increasing in size. The medical school and undergraduate lab space in Winston Salem moved to brand new facilities a few years ago, converted RJ Reynolds warehouses. This provides additional research and shadowing opportunities.
You donât need to have any special honors at Wake to have a nice dorm. In the past decade theyâve built several new dorms and renovated all the others. Every freshman dorm has a piano in the lounge for students to play. The student gym facility is the nicest Iâve seen anywhere, including Duke and USC. For many students, ACC sports are a draw. Football, basketball and baseball games are popular spectator sports, and menâs soccer was ranked first in the country for a period this fall.
Congrats to your son on having two great choices!
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DS is a senior at Wake. Two members of his pledge class in his fraternity are going to medical school at WFU next year. I was with one of them tonight and had a nice conversation with him. Interestingly, his major is political science. He is obviously a very bright young man. I would say the extrovert description for WFU students is fairly accurate.
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W&M has an early assurance program with Eastern Virginia Medical School. If you have the prerequisites and maintain a 3.5 gpa and follow other requirements, youâll have assurance youâll get in to EVMS. At least thatâs how I read it
https://www.evms.edu/education/medical_programs/doctor_of_medicine/early_assurance_program/
Sorry this link should work!
William and Mary has two early assurance programs. One with Eastern Virginia Medical School and the other with VCU. Entrance into both programs is highly competitive. Students apply during sophomore year and must have a minimum 3.5 GPA to be considered. William and Mary selects 15 students who go through the application process for EVMS, of whom 5 will ultimately be accepted into the program. VCU accepts 2 per year out of 25 William and Mary applicants. The early assurance is binding on the medical schools as long as the students meet certain conditions but the students can still apply to other medical schools. I believe Wake Forest has a similar program with their medical school.
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Thatâs amazing - you hear about the schools you know nothing about and learn about them from posts like yours!! Looks like they become a part of Old Dominion later this year.
Thanks for providing.
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Thanks for clarifying with the additional information
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Wake Medâs early acceptance program for its undergrads. Early Assurance Program-Wake Forest University School of Medicine â Prehealth @ WFU
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