Current hs senior wondering what the general reputation of Washington and Lee is. Acceptance rate is pretty low around 16 percent and Linkedin shows a strong network among BB especially since undergrad enrollment is under 2.5K. Would this be considered a semi-target on par with Midd and Clarmont Mckenna? Need some unbiased opinions as I am looking for the pros and cons of going there.
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Why not UVA?
Didn't get in:(
.
I’d ask the Washington and Lee alumni currently working in banking. But it’s a great school. I almost went there. I’d have to imagine it’s pretty comparable to any of those top liberal arts schools, when it comes to post grad employment.
My thoughts as well. Been reaching out to current students.
Most underrated school for IB placement, in my personal opinion. Have come across a lot of W&L alumni in the South, within IB and PE
Does this also go for NYC placement?
Punches above it's weight in IB recruiting but certainly not a target. Maybe a semi-target in the South
That said, are you white? 90% of the student body is white and a good 1/3 to 1/2 of students are legacy children of wealthy Southern families (i.e. legacy of slaveholders). I know multiple kids from there who are great guys, and I know others who are incredibly racist (I say this as someone who thinks wokeness is a sickness) because their families raised them that way
If you're not part of that white, wealthy Southern cohort I'd frankly look at other options on the table -- the world is only becoming more diverse and going to a school that is >90% white is not going to prepare you well for the world post college IMO. I realize I'll get MS for this, but this is just the honest truth from my observations
Haha definitely a fair point. Everything I read online has said this to some degree, and obviously the school is named after Robert E Lee. Will def keep that in mind.
I know multiple W&L kids, for the most part they are incredibly cliquey and do not talk to you if you're not white. Very much a bubble to go there vs. being out in the real world post college
From what I’ve seen, there are a ton of WL folk in southern IB. Not completely sure about NYC placement but def punches above its weight in south.
Don't do W&L bro, I remember talking to a girl who went there who when drunk said she's hate it if her kids married someone who wasn't white. Don't get me wrong, everyone's free to date how they want but even so I think it speaks to a mentality that is probably pretty close minded
I'm originally from Northern Virginia and I hate W&L. It's a top school with a deep and interesting history. It has an attractive campus. I hate W&L because the alumni are super insular--they definitely punch above their weight class because they recruit and hire each other in a way I've never seen before. I've never seen a group of alumni bring each other up the way this alumni base does. It's like the entire school is a fraternity, past and present. That's cool in a way, but man is it an ugly behavior in the real world--but it works.
Also, it's inevitable that if you graduate from W&L that the name of your alma mater will be changed. It's not a matter of if, but when. It only takes a vocal 1-2% of the campus and a woke administration to change the name. So, that'll be annoying for your resume when you're 30. Given the current trend, they'll probably completely change the name, too, dropping both Lee and Washington. Then you'll be going to Jesse Jackson College.
Even this is changing with regards to the alumni base behavior -- I used to work at a firm with a ton of W&L grads and they kept recruiting more & more W&L grads for a long, long time. That is, until late 2010s when diversity became way more important and these W&L guys were rendered toothless since sr. leadership and HR decided they NEEDED to diversify.
Spoke with a buddy there recently, and of the intern class it is now only 10-15% W&L kids (used to be ~50% when I first started at the firm). Of grads hired from the market in past 3-4yrs there have been 0 W&L kids. Gives you a sense of what's happening. The W&L alumni are needing to keep their mouth shut because speaking up against diversity will shed a very bad light on them. And this is a structural trend because allocators are demanding diversity on investment teams, so it's not like investment teams themselves can just decide to not do it (for anyone taking institutional money that is)
I have no doubt that their high level of insularity will persist in the South, but if you want to work anywhere else in the country (Northeast, Midwest, West, etc), W&L's alumni base influence will only decline in the coming years.
Maybe? Because of the nature of my job, I'm on Wall Street regularly visiting top investment teams that are almost universally white (with some rare exceptions).
Grew up a wealthy international student, went to Uni in the states though, and work here now.
In general, even if you're european, I'd avoid southern preppy schools like the plague. They live in a different world, and their elitism isn't even worth partaking in (unlike Oxbridge, Ivy Leagues, Ecoles, Boconni, etc) You're not going to fit in at that school if you aren't remotely southern protestant american.
Does very well in the South, but otherwise would avoid unless you fit that wealthy, white, Southern profile dude. You'll never penetrate into their 'inner ranks' but always be an outsider. Have a buddy who went there who did not fit this profile and this is what he said
Also W&L has gotten some bad press over the years for its nearly entirely white student body and having 'Lee' in its name. It's also not very well known so you're not getting a name-brand rec there. Not a school I would attend in 2024 if I were you
So basically what I'm hearing is the recruiting is mid for NYC and the culture is racist.
Very underrated as an IB placement school, WL is a legitimate target school for some firms. The alumni connection is much better than bigger schools and they will go to bat for you. The biggest advantage is that you are competing against a much smaller candidate pool given that the class size is ~500 students, and there are legitimate spots for WL students at various firms. 100% the best liberal arts school target.
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