The College of William and Mary

The education is great. Faculty is supurb, you'll take over and make friends if you are interesting and excited. Therein lies the problem. This school tends to be the "safe school" of the smart Virginia publics. If your wild, fun, athletic, cool, or openminded and have good grades, you usually end up at UVA. If you are motivated by getting good grades, debating policy or literature, and like to get involved in random clubs like belly dancing because you don't have many previous interests, and you weren't very social in high school, you tend to end up here. Culture mongers that end up staying home watching Meg Ryan movies on saterday nights, yea we've got lots. People who stay out late on saterday drinking coffee and reading chemistry for the test in 2 weeks, I dated one. The greek system rules the school for social life. Pay 200+ dollars a semester to have your normal human interaction taken care of. The lack of bars and social scenes limits the parties to frat row and a few irregular off campus locales. We have lots of choirs and bands(such as marching not punk rock)and so many girls here are named katie or catherine or kelly that when i forget someones name, I have a 1/5 chance of guessing. Considering girls, they make up like 65%, but dont be fooled. The odds are good but the goods are odd.

As a bio major I got absolutely and unnecessarily pummeled until my junior year. I had taken lots of bio before getting here and coming in excited to learn more i got 2 worthless intro bio classes and a whole slew of chemistry shoved down my throat, all of which I have forgotten. These classes were extremely difficult, averages on the first test often were below 60 just to mess with us. Not to mention that sophemor year botany and orgo 2 were strategically placed so that we had to have an 8 AM MWF. This makes college hell. We've got a big post grad exceptance rate but thats because we are so whipped. I put in a lot more then i took out of these classes. Also upper level focuses much on making doctors, there are minimal classes for nature lovers and pre vets. It makes you well rounded in cellular/molecular stuff as well as ecology/zoology. Its designed for people who don't know what they want but are willing to do tons of work along the way. I think they say they say they wanna be doctors because its their default. I personally wanted to do zoology and have been shot down hog tied and dragged through the mud in my efforts to learn what i want to and get outside of the box. If you already know what you want to do, and are focused, get ready to get unfocused. No specialties here, bio major means memorise lots about things you dont care about, forget most of it and take your diploma that signifies youve been through the gauntlet. and I'm spent.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2004

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Social Life: F

This is the ideal school for a liberal arts major, or a technical major interested in liberal arts. The technical departments aren't as great as that at other schools. This is also a school for the "involved" type; in fact, community and campus involvement supersedes all else.

1st Year Female -- Class 2005

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Surrounding City: F

WHO IT'S FOR:

Those who are willing to study nights and weekends for the sheer joy of learning. Those who are looking for a great education and a thousand opportunities. Those who can tolerate the lack of a party scene. (This is by no means a 'party school'--go to UVA if you want that.)

WHO IT'S *NOT* FOR:

Those who aren't willing to spend the extra hour re-reading a research paper to check for glarings errors. Those who expect college to be a breeze, awash in alcohol. Those who need constant stimuli and a fast-paced life--Williamsburg doesn't offer much in the way of that.

STRENGTHS:
-Academic reputation--W&M is known as the queen of the "Public Ivy League" and with good reason.
-Cost to in-state (Virginia) students--an Ivy League education at a state school price.
-Professors--phenominal. Ask around for the best ones when you get there...students will be more than happy to point them out and tell rambling, funny stories about them.

-Students--are fantastic. Brilliant, witty, friendly, approachable, laid-back as a rule. Most are fairly tolerant...just don't bring up the subject of our current Chancellor, Henry Kissinger. Half the school loathes him and the other half doesn't know who he is.

-Tradition--the second oldest university in the country. (Curse you, Harvard!) Thomas Jefferson's (amongst others)alma mater.

-Off-campus Dining--being a tourist town, the area is home to a host of restaurants. The ethnic ones are the best, and not too bad on a college student budget.

-Campus scenery--great landscaping, set in a historic area. No twenty-storey concrete monstrosities on THIS campus.

WEAKNESSES:
-Cost to out-of-state students--you WILL be gouged for your fantastic education. Trust me. Unless you're a FAFSA rider, be prepared to pay through the nose for everything.

-Social Scene--I list this as a weakness not because I believe it to be so, but because it's a common complaint on campus. Williamsburg is pretty, but dead after 6.00 PM. No malls, clubs, or nightlife to speak of.

-On-campus dining--mediocre at best.
-Parking--Horrendous. I don't even have a car and I know how bad it is.
-Tourists--more prevalent than you'd think, especially in fall and spring. Quieter in winter. There's a reason we call them 'tourons'.

-Building maintenance--many of the buildings are falling to bits, and not just the oldest ones. The school is incredibly cheap, and cutbacks in the Virginia state budget have hurt the school considerably.

-Diversity--A good 2/3rds of W&M comes from NoVA (Northern Virginia, the area around Washington D.C.), and the majority of students are white or Asian, and middle to upper middle class. For a non-VA resident like me, it's frightening at times.MY OPINION: The College of William and Mary was my first choice school, and since I'm an out-of-state student I can say that I had a number of places to choose from. I wouldn't trade it for anything, though. I love it here.

2nd Year Female -- Class 2004

Education Quality: A+, Campus Maintenance: C-