The University of Mary Washington

Date: Mar 29 2005
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm just finishing up my first year at UMW and I'm enjoying my time here. The number one thing I'd tell anyone thinking of coming here is that it's an "academics-first" school. No one comes to Mary Wash for the parties and the social life, but rather for an education which is affordable, and quite good. The professors are all friendly, knowledgeable, and available, and in fact, the administration is currently on a hiring drive to bring even more new professors to campus to bring the student-to-professor ratio to 15:1.

This school talks a lot about how hard the classes are, but they're honestly not too tough if you study and work hard at them. Regardless, it's not uncommon to have four grades (midterm/final and two essays) make up your grade for a class, so it can be difficult if you're not careful.
Mary Wash's social life is a bit lacking, but not terrible. The administration cracks down on underage drinking, as does the local police, and are known to break up parties in town frequently. Frats are not recognized by the school, although there is a lone unsanctioned chapter that throws parties regularly.

Despite these setbacks, there are usually several parties going on all over town that you can hit up (although Freshmen will need to make some upperclassmen friends since they can't bring cars…) on the weekends, and Fredericksburg itself is a big enough town that it has everything you'd ever need (mall, movie theatre, gigantic outdoor suburban shopping center etc.). If all else fails DC is a half hour away with everything you'd ever need.

Overall Mary Wash is a great school. It's not for everyone, you definitely don't get the stereotypical "college experience" that you'd get at a bigger university, which sometimes sucks. Regardless, it's definitely a quality university that's cheap and is academically challenging with small class sizes, and I'd recommend it to anyone other than people who want to party all the time.