<p>Sorry - I posted this in the 2011 forum and it was meant to be posted for this forum–for all those on the fence whether to choose UVA.</p>
<p>I attended a very enjoyable reception yesterday in NYC for the UVA Law Alumni Association. The featured speaker was a classmate of mine in law school (Tom Ostertag) who is now general counsel to Major League Baseball. In introducing Tom, Dean Jeffries noted that when Tom as attending law school, he ran the North Grounds softball league. Dean Jeffries then mentioned the often over-looked career advancement opportunities which may arise from playing softball in law school. While the Dean was joking, of course, his comments highlight the fact that UVA is truly a place to where you can work hard and play hard as well.The joint focus on classroom and extra-curricular activities at UVA is, in my opinion, one of the best reasons to attend UVA.</p>
<p>I 100% agree with this post. This is true both at the undergraduate level and in the law/business schools, and is absolutely a reason to pick UVA over other peer schools.</p>
<p>Untilted: I thought Cornell is really fun… my AP Bio teacher attended cornell at undergrad and grad school, and he talked A LOT about cornell campus, his interesting stories (including excessive drinking :P, basketball, throwing fish in Harvard’s game, etc.)</p>
<p>sigmacentauri, if your best friend wants to go to UMW assuming he or she got in UVA as well, then your friend is nuts because UVA is a zillion times better, period.</p>
<p>He didn’t apply to UVA as he coudn’t get in. He’s gotten in to MWU, GMU, and JMU and is waiting on VT. If he gets in to VT he’ll go there but if he doesnt he said hell go to MW. I keep trying to tell him GMU would probably be better but oh well.</p>
<p>Mary washington is in this weird space. It’s in that gap that’s below UVA and W&M but above VT and JMU. It’s not a bad school and has a fairly interesting campus with some of the most accessable proffesors ever. It’s just not as great a party or academic institution as UVA, which is why I’m trying to transfer. Also, it has no Chinese. Mary Wash has a very distinct feel to it. If your friend is considering going, he or she should visit and sit in on some classes before deciding. I find it is very love it/ hate it.</p>
<p>Perhaps I should chime in again with another observation that supports my original post. When I attended law school at UVA, one of the most pleasant experiences I had was the complete absence of competition among the students. If I recall correctly, 1 out of every 8 students had gone to Harvard undergrad, 1 out of every 7 had gone to Princeton and 1 out of every 6 had gone to Yale. Clearly there were some well credentialed and talented students there. However, all of the students in my class knew that because they would be graduating from UVA Law, they would get jobs just about anywhere they wanted without the need to bury another classmate to get the job they wanted. This was just the opposite situation as has been described to me by the vast majority of my peers at other law schools. What does this have to do with work hard, play hard. Everything. The absence of a cut throat atmosphere in the classroom left you free to work as hard as you should but also let you enjoy your free time with your classmates out of class as well, without the fear, feeling of guilt or thinking that while you are playing softball, the rest of your classmates are all in the library studying. Study groups were common with the hopes of all doing well despite the class being graded on a curve. I do not know how to convey this sense any better than this.Now, some 29 years after I started there, I can’t tell you who was in my torts class but I can tell you who was on my softball team. I also can’t tell you I remember my graduation speaker but I can tell you every member of the Ralph Sampson, Jeff Lamp softball team whom we beat en route to winning the University championship. For those of you who may not recognize those two names, look up in JPJ Arena next time you are there. While it may be the “motto” of other schools, I can attest to the fact that it is “mainstay” of the UVA experience.</p>
<p>MW has a better student body than JMU, that’s for sure. But sigma, as with suggesting that your friend should go Mason, I would go with it only if money were a real issue. VT in my opinion is good if you want to go there for engineering and hard sciences, but otherwise, it’s JMU ish.</p>
<p>MW has a more selective admissions process and, from what I’ve heard, a more active and motivated student body. I’m only basing this on the 3 people I know who trasfered from JMU to here.</p>
<p>JMU is no worse academically than UMW has has a vastly superior party scene. I’d go to JMU over UMW in a heartbeat if those were my two options.</p>
<p>Again, it depends on the area of study and the person. If you’re interested at all in business, JMU is the place to go. If it’s English or History, UMW is the superior. JMU has a party scene and UMW does not; that’s the difference.</p>