How does UVA’s admissions selectivity compare with William & Mary?

The biggest practical difference is that UVA’s larger national and out-of-state applicant draw makes admission feel more competitive, while William 6 Mary’s smaller scale and Virginia-focused identity can make it a somewhat less extreme reach for a well-qualified Virginia applicant. That does not make William 6 Mary easy to enter: both schools attract students with strong grades, demanding coursework, and substantial involvement outside class. Neither should be treated as a safety based solely on being a Virginia resident.

Acceptance rates alone can blur the comparison because the applicant pools are not identical. UVA receives especially broad interest from students across the country and internationally, and its out-of-state admissions process is notably difficult. William 6 Mary also has a highly academic applicant pool, but students often apply because they specifically want its smaller undergraduate environment, campus culture, and liberal-arts emphasis rather than simply adding another widely known public university to their list.

For a Virginia senior, residency matters at both institutions, but it does not eliminate selectivity. Strong performance in the most rigorous courses available at your school, sustained achievement, and a clear sense of contribution to each campus matter more than trying to infer odds from a single published rate. A student who is plausible for UVA may still be denied by William 6 Mary, and the reverse can happen, because each reads applications in the context of its own priorities and institutional needs.