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I don't really know that many. thanx

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 04:50 pm: Edit

The University of Virginia, William & Mary, Georgetown, Washington & Lee, Johns Hopkins, the Naval Academny, U Penn, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Haverford are all considered to be excellent shcools depending on what you are looking for. There are many more fine schools in the mid-Atlantic States. Expand your search a few hours further from any of these and you open up the entire state of North Carolina and much of the New York/Southern New England areas.

It would be much harder to narrow school choices in these areas than is would be to find enough options.

By Eliot_Ness (Eliot_Ness) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 04:56 pm: Edit

take a look at U of Maryland - College Park, Penn State, Lehigh, Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, so many good schools on the east coast altogether

By Billy14_007 (Billy14_007) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 10:07 am: Edit

How is George Washington University, in D.C.? Is that a good school?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 11:54 am: Edit

It's a very "trendy" school right now - people are applying there as an alternative to Georgetown, which has become much harder to get into. As a result, admissions to GW have gotten tougher as well.

Top programs at GW - political communications (a combo of journalism and poli sci), international relations, poli. science, international business. Sciences and math are weak. The overall academics are decent - they do have an honors program.

GW is very expensive - and not that great with financial aid. Thus, it tends to attract well-off students who sometimes, from what I've heard, can be snobbish.

The campus is very urban - right in the center of DC.

By Billy14_007 (Billy14_007) on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 09:20 am: Edit

Well how about history for a major?. It seems you know a lot about the school. How is the campus?. thanx

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 11:26 am: Edit

The campus is very urban, right in "downtown" DC very close to the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and Capitol area. A lot of the housing is in renovated hotels but they have a housing shortage so many upperclassmen live off-campus.

GW has a good history department. Other schools in the area you mentioned with good history departments include: William and Mary (excellent history program), UVA, Washington and Lee, and Mary Washington College - all in Virginia. Johns Hopkins, believe it or not, also has a good history department. I know this because my daughter is also interested in majoring in history and these are the schools in that area most frequently mentioned by her history teachers.

By Billy14_007 (Billy14_007) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 02:31 pm: Edit

Oh thank you carolyn, that helped a whole lot. What do you know about William and Mary. I heard of that school but I know nothing about it.

By Fiza (Fiza) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 10:57 pm: Edit

W&M- harder to get into than UVA, amazing education, very rigorous- rumoured highest suicide rate of any college, very cool and driven students - I HV A FEW FRIENDS THERE AND GOING THERE SOON (CLASS OF 2007)

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 06:07 pm: Edit

William and Mary is a terrific school - excellent for history and most social sciences. Many consider it a "public ivy." It is hard for Virginia residents to get into, even harder for out-of-state students, but if you get in, you'll get a good education at a relatively low price whether you're in or out of state. SAT ranges are verbal: 620-710, math: 610-700. Out of state students will need to be on the top end of the scale. They receive about 8,000 applications a year, accept 40% - again, that number will be lower if you're out of state.

An alternative that is often overlooked is Mary Washington College in Fredricksburg Virginia - it's also a Virginia state school, very good academics, attracts many out of state students (low cost compared to private schools), very liberal arts focused. Smaller school - about 4,000 undergrads, beautiful campus. Receives about 5,000 apps a year, accepts 55% - SAT ranges are verbal: 570-660, Math 550-630. They have a very interesting program in historic preservation - one of the few schools in the country to offer this on the undergraduate level but general history and social sciences are also quite good.

By Fiza (Fiza) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 05:01 pm: Edit

hey what else do you know about Mary Washington. Like what are their specialties? i want to apply but dont know much about it since it is VERY underrated!

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 07:49 pm: Edit

Mary Washington has a strong focus on the liberal arts - strong programs are History, political science (it's close enough to DC that some students get to do internships), international affairs, biology and English. The school is just about to become a university so it's growing and will probably offer more study options in the future. US News & World Reports rates it quite highly (not first tier I don't think but it always seems to be highlighted somewhere in the USNews report) as does the Fiske Guide.

I've seen the campus - it's in a suburban area of Fredricksburg, Virginia, which is a quaint historic colonial town. About 45 minutes to D.C., depending on traffic. Lot's of red brick colonial style buildings, trees, beautiful older-style dorms. Once you find a dorm room you like, you get to stay in it for the rest of your time at the school. MW is not a huge party school - the Finch guide says "Although there are are parties both on and off campus on any given weekend, alcohol does not dominate the social scene and there are no frats or sororities." MW has a very "private school" feel for a public school - they have some neat traditions on the campus and about 4,000 students. There are some good international study options available through the school.

The Fiske Guide says its a "best buy" school for both in state and out of state students (about 45% of students are from outside of Virginia).

One potential negative for some may be that the male-female ratio is skewed heavily - more females than males.

web site is www.mwc.edu

By Billy14_007 (Billy14_007) on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 10:50 am: Edit

Hey thanx Carolyn, I will check out Mary Washington.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 11:45 am: Edit

No problem - another school in the U-Virginia system that I've heard good things about is James Madison in Harrisonburg. I don't have first hand knowledge but here's what Kaplan says about it: 13,000 undergrads, 29% from out of state, another "best value" school. "Exceptional programs set in a comfortable, amiable environment...consistently ranked among the top two or three public regional universities in the south. Liberal arts, music, business and technology are particularly strong. Average class size is 29. Lovely 472 acre campus,complete with its own lake, is situated in the beautiful Sehnandoah Valley only 30 minutes from West Virginia. Congenial and laid-back atmosphere. Freshman retention rate of 90 percent. It has all the resources of a large university, yet it has the availability and friendliness of a small college." 14,000 students applied, 9,000 accepted, 3200 enrolled. Average sat verbal 540-620, math 540-630, average gpa 3.5. Again, reasonable tuition for both in-state and out-of-state residents.

By Billy14_007 (Billy14_007) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 04:00 pm: Edit

Great. But do you know any colleges more closer to Maryland. How is UMD-College Park. Or maybe even St.Mary's College in Maryland. I know very little about that school.

By Wobudong (Wobudong) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 04:20 pm: Edit

Washington and Lee (Va) and Bucknell (Pa) are both excellent.

By Billy14_007 (Billy14_007) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 12:54 pm: Edit

Isn't Washington and Lee a party school?. That is what I heard.

By Scr_1525 (Scr_1525) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 06:13 pm: Edit

A ton of my friends have been checking out WIlliam and Mary, because of its academic rep. But they say when they went down for a visit, the campus didn't live up to thier expectations. Im not sure if it's true, but that is the impression they gave me, just thought I would add.

By Batman (Batman) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 11:32 pm: Edit

Just want to correct Fiza's earlier comment about W&M being harder to get into than UVA. Both are extremely hard to get into and a lot of applicants try to hedge their bets by applying to both. Thus, not much difference in either school's applicant pool.

SCR, not sure what it was that disappointed your friends, but most of the people I know have the opposite reaction about W&M. Can you be more specific?

By Nvadad (Nvadad) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 02:42 pm: Edit

Virginia Tech - especially for engineering and CS

By Fiza (Fiza) on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 01:21 am: Edit

well actually i am in a school in northern va where ppl apply to both and im not QUITE sure how much more difficult it is but they got the crem de la crem from our school. PREFECT APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOW GOING TO ATTENG. and uva got pretty close to perfect. i know becuz i personally have tons of friends who got in at both. then again one of my friends was waitlisted at both and then was accepted and is going going into W&M...she wasnt TOO excited about uva anyway but im not sure if they took her off the waitlist.

they both had impressive waitlists thats for sure. just my two cents. im not trying to say im right and then just making it up but it is after all ur choice to accept it as true or not...

By Fiza (Fiza) on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 01:22 am: Edit

ps william and mary has a smaller student body or so i think so they accept LESS people..?

By Baybcuzimathug (Baybcuzimathug) on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 01:55 am: Edit

I know all about the W&M wait-list...needless to say, I'll be attending Mary Washington in the fall.

By Richen (Richen) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 04:34 am: Edit

Swarthmore, U Penn, CarnegieMellon, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. That's about it in my books anyway!

By Anotherdad (Anotherdad) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:34 am: Edit

Buth UVA and WM have excellent reputations academically, but I have heard a number of complaints about the WM campus, and UVA is suffering a bout of embarrassing incidences of intolerance. But whatever negatives are heard is not discouraging applications from here in N. Virginia. The top students apply to both (the applicant pool is identical) and discover that unless they have taken the hardest courses, have very good SATs, and GPAs over 4.0, they do not get in. Unless you are a near perfect student, think about VaTech, James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth, and Mary Washington. They are all decent schools, and are drawing a lot of students who once thought they were shoo-ins at UVA and WM. (Mary Washington has a reputation as a semi-commuter school for N. Va. students who bail out during the weekends.)

By Valpal (Valpal) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 04:20 am: Edit

Anyone have any opinion on some of the smaller Liberal Arts colleges in Virginia? Specifically, I'm thinking of Hollins, SweetBriar, University of Richmond?

By Macsuile (Macsuile) on Monday, July 05, 2004 - 08:15 pm: Edit

Here are some stats on William & Mary:

- Second oldest U.S. university
- Oldest U.S. law school
- Birthplace of Phi Beta Kappa
- Thomas Jefferson's alma mater
- Most selective Virginia university
- Third highest SAT scores in the South (only Duke and Rice are higher)
- Highest entering student GPAs in Virginia
- Fastest growing university endowment in Virginia
- Best physics, history and biology departments in Virginia

As you can see, William & Mary is really our best Virginia university. Yes, the grading scale is somewhat deflationary and the course offerings are not as extensive as some other Southern schools, but William & Mary is a school high on tradition which doesn't subscribe to fads where everyone graduates cum laude and there is a supermarket of course offerings. The school is committed to the British university model which is human-scale as opposed to other university models which focus on research and increasing enrollments. W&M may not be for everyone but a degree from there has timeless substance, something you can't find from most other U.S. schools which are constantly trying to reposition or recreate themselves.