The College of William and Mary

Date: Jul 18 2001
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
William & Mary, like any other school, has strengths and weaknesses. Here are a few from each camp.

Strengths:

Solid, challenging academics

Large portion of student body is friendly, highly intelligent, and broadly knowledgeable—you learn from other students nearly as much as you do from the professors

Low-cost (relatively) for the highest quality education you can find outside of the Ivy League

Despite its reputation, the College does have a decent social atmosphere—while not party-happy, most students make lots of friends, and it's the perfect size—small enough that you can make yourself known, large enough that you never stop meeting new people

Excellent Undergrad Business, Pre-Med, English, History, IR-Government, and Religion programs.

Strong student-run organizations—clubs, sports, service frats, religious groups are all well-established.

College has an enormous amount of history, tradition, and a respected name, known for its rigorous academic nature

The acapella groups kick major booty.

So do professors Clemens, Tierney, Peterson (Govt); Schoenberger, Wheatley (English); Strong, Hoak, Axtell (History); Holmes & Finn (Religion); Johnson (geology); von Baeyer (Physics).

You get to learn in the same place Thomas Jefferson did (The Christopher Wren building), and make fun of UVA.

Campus golf. Don't worry, you'll understand—it's played with tennis balls and lots of beer.

Beautiful, gorgeous campus and surrounding area

Weaknesses:

The school has a wealth of administrational problems (not academic—profs are great, bureaucrats aren't). Partly that's because of funding issues, but also because they rarely (if ever) fire anyone for anything short of the most egregious activity.

Campus parking, food services, and the Residence Life (dorm room upkeep, etc.) are all just a hair above intolerable

The Registration/Academic Status system frequently fails (after two years the college still hasn't gotten around to approving my AP credit for transfer), and when it does, the administration tends to put priority on its own rules and red tape, not the students

Williamsburg is a tourist town, not a college town—there are tons of restaurants and trinket shops, but you have to drive for a half an hour to get to a mall or a multiplex.

Grades: the average GPA is 2.7 here (I'm a 2.8 right now, and that's more out of luck then skill), and the courses are extremely demanding. Whatever you do, don't overload.

The Health Center says you're probably pregnant, no matter what you claim your problem is.

The Flat Hat (the weekly student newspaper) in a word, SUCKS.

Student Government is populated by hordes of irritating, pretentious egoists, just like high school.

I'm Hispanic, and while the college has tried to encourage diversity, the campus culture groups are ridiculously inept. Ditto for the Young Democrats and College Republicans.

Most of the campus is pretty apathetic about culture, religion, and (surprisingly) politics. Unless you're majoring in something related to those issues, most folks don't care. Last semester I had to go into a long explanation for a NOVA (Northern Virginia) WASP student who couldn't understand why the Israelis and Palestinians don't get along.

Social life? What social life?

Williamsburg: The Place Where Fun Goes to Die.

And that's from Professor Clemens.

To sum up: you'll meet interesting people, have fun (but not have kicking parties), learn a ton in a gorgeous setting, and, at least once during your tenure here, decide to set fire to the Parking Services Ticketing building. You will eat lousy food, but eat with cool people. You will hate the Registrar's office, and love your Professors. You will be in cutthroat competition for the Florence Summer program. You will love most of it, and hate some of it, but mostly, you will learn. Visit the campus and check it out.

Tribe Pride,

BTD