Need some insight into VA colleges/universities PLEASE! (Richmond, Lynchburg: credit, how much)

[itsajourney]

My daughter is planning to major in education. We are coming to VA & NC the week of August 15th to look at some colleges. We would like some insight as to which schools you think might be a good fit for her. We have been doing our homework, but no amount of research can provide insight from those who know best--residents of VA or students at Virginia Universities.

My daughter is an A student-taking all AP classes & will graduate in the top 2% of her class of 700+. She will have enough credits to enter as a sophomore if everything is accepted. She is friendly & out-going, but not a party girl--though she likes to have fun. She takes her academics and her job seriously and is very responsible. She doesn't want an all-girl school. She also doesn't want a very small school or a very large school. Nice size and easy to get around is her vision. She does have her own car for transportation.

She has wanted to be a teacher for at least 6 years now. If she does continue to pursue that--wonderful! However, should she at some point want to change direction, I would like to see her somewhere where she has plenty of options without having to change schools--unless she wants to. I could see her going into social services or perhaps business. She is very good at math and will have 4 years of German.

We would love to get some insight as to colleges & universities in Virginia which you think she might want to consider.

Thanks in advance for any insight into this.

[LynchburgLover]

There are so many colleges and so many opinions about what is "best". UVA, W&M, JMU, Mary Washington, Longwood, Radford, Christopher Newport all fit the above criteria. Randolph-Macon, W&L, U of Richmond, if you're willing to pay for private.

When we were doing the college search with my daughter, I found you really need to visit the campus, when students are there. The "feel" of a school is not something that can be found on a computer. Mine knew immediately where she felt comfortable and even though applied to (and was accepted by) seven distinctly different campuses never wavered from that "feeling". She'll graduate this coming Spring and has been happy the whole time. (And, luckily for me, the desired school offered a huge academic scholarship!) So, just keep visiting, show your interest and she'll know where she fits.

Best of luck to you.

[g3org3]

As much as it pains me (a Hokie) to say this, I'd recommend UVa or William & Mary.

[brooklynborndad]

I would suggest W&M. Vtech is great for engineering and some other fields, but a student with good stats like that can probably do better for liberal arts. UVA sounds like a bit big for her, and even with good stats admission is no sure thing. W&M is about 5,000 IIRC, pretty academically serious I think (though there is a 'greek' scene) has most things she would be interested in (though I am not sure if there is an education major).

You do not say what state you are from and what your financial status is. If you are focusing on out of home state publics, I presume either you are from a state with weak publics or are able to afford a fairly high tuition (while OOS tuition is lower than private tuition, mostly, usually state schools have less financial aid available than privates -well SOME publics that really want to draw OOS students have lots of aid (like Arizona State) I dont think that applies to the VA schools.

[CAVA1990]

My kids and their friends (recent college grads) tell me William and Mary has a high suicide rate and is not a very friendly environment. Also, the food isn't as good there if that matters and the dorms aren't great. I'd probably recommend either UVA or JMU if you want to do a state school here. She should really spend some time on the different campuses and talk to some of the students there.

[TN Lily]

Virginia is a big state with many schools.

You may want to check out the website, "Colleges that Change Lives."
Colleges That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time

Two of the schools on this list are in Virginia: Emory & Henry and Lynchburg College. At least those are two that I recognize as being in Virginia.

My family used this website and the book connected with the site when my eldest son selected a college. He attended Hendrix in Conway, Arkansas. It is truly a gem of a college.

Good luck in college shopping.

[onevthoki]

Originally Posted by g3org3

As much as it pains me (a Hokie) to say this, I'd recommend UVa or William & Mary.

LOVE this post!!! I'm a Hokie too!! :-)

Okay, in all seriousness, I'd say Longwood or Mary Washington.

[michele1993]

Averett University in Danville, VA graduates more qualified teachers than any other private college that I know of. They have small classes so your daughter wouldn't get lost in the crowd. They are a southern baptist college but they have very liberal views. The professors there really care about their students. Do I sound like an alumni or what. Actually I am, but seriously it is an awesome school. UVA and William and Mary are both good schools if your daughter wants to be in a lecture class with 100 other students. Averett's average class size is 20. They also have lots of financial aid, I only ended up paying for half of my tuition due to the grants. They have a food services department that is only a couple of years old and their newest dorms are less than 10 years old. Danville's economy isn't that great if your daughter is going to be looking for a job, unless she wants to work retail.

[itsajourney]

Thanks for all of the responses so far. In doing research on my end, I only found UVA rated highly for education. It is simply impossible to find out all of the info needed to make decisions in doing research--no matter how much research you do.

LynchburgLover-thanks for such an extensive list. I know exactly what you are talking about by going back to my experience in choosing a college. I had the same experience as your daughter and that is the advice I gave to my daughter. You will feel it and you will know....

We are going up the week of the 15th to at least see the campuses of the schools she is thinking about. I don't know how many kids we will find on campus at that time, but I know there will be people around to talk too. That is the only opportunity we have to take the entire week to go look. After school starts, my daughter's course load is comprised of 6 AP classes. She just cannot take a week of of school during the school year and hope to catch up with her workload. Once she narrows it down, if we need to take a long weekend to visit a couple of schools, that will be much more manageable.

Thanks g3org3--you will recover from the pain you suffered!

Also, thank you brooklynborn dad--re: our personal situation...moved to Florida 9 years ago. I've been ready to leave for 8 3/4 of those years. 4 kids-oldest starting high school when we moved here. No longer an option to move kids around at that point in time-at least from the perspective of our family. I've put in my time here and I am so out of here--ASAP. Florida has some good, solid schools; but our life is no longer going to be in Florida and my daughter has no desire to stay in Florida to teach. This is somewhat painful financially as she would get the Florida Bright Futures--just as her brothers did and that would give her pretty much a free ride here. I am self-employed and have diversified in so many ways that I can take my work with me wherever I go. Fortunately, husband has reached the point in his career that he can transfer fairly easily. Unfortunately, Florida is not a member of the southeastern region where students can sometimes get reduced out-of-state tuition with neighboring states.

CAVA-Wow, I love Williamsburg--I am surprised about the info you provided re William & Mary. I've been to Williamsburg many times, but have never taken time to visit the university...

TN Lily--I am not familiar with the link/book you suggested. I will definitely be checking it out! Thanks!

onevthoki-Familiar with Mary Washington, Not familiar with Longwood. Thanks!

michele1993-Thanks for your insight also. I've been thru Danville-not familiar with Averett at all. We will have to look it up...

[Coubr]

UVA is a nationally recognizable name on a par with Berkeley as an elite public university. Awesome school and wonderful environment. If she can get into UVA, it's really hard to beat. I grew up near Charlottesville. It is a lovely town, beautiful historic campus.

William and Mary is academically on the same level as UVa. They are both Public Ivies. W&M is smaller and doesn't have Division I sports and is not nearly as well known outside of VA, though. Don't much about the campus.

Virginia Tech is a good school that has been getting more selective over the last few years. They get a lot of winter weather in Blacksburg and it is really out in the middle of nowhere. It's a big school but it's pretty far from major cities.

Sweet Briar is an all women's college that is very selective. You would think Women's Colleges would be outdated this day and age, but it is highly selective so they must get a lot of applicants.

If she wants an urban campus, consider VCU. It is in downtown Richmond and is a pretty nice area.