<p>The buzz at my sons high school about William & Mary is that it is filled with very smart kids who study way more than he is used to and that it is very academically competitive. This makes him apprehensive about attending, should he be lucky enough to get in. Current students, can you please supply a brief review of your experience at the college and a description of what kind of student body you feel the school has?</p>
<p>It is true-- William and Mary has a very intelligent, intellectual student body, and there is a lot of studying involved to maintain good grades. However, this is simply representative of the type of school W&M is-- a prestigious, public ivy league school. If your son is a strong, smart student with a desire to learn, he should be fine. W&M has over 400 clubs and organizations and a very involved student body, which helps to balance the intellectual atmosphere.</p>
<p>i’m not a current student, but forgive me if I give this a shot…</p>
<p>W&M has tons of very smart kids. That said, it is not unique in that regard. Every excellent college is full of smart students. Logically, it makes sense that if you want to be at the top of a group of smart students, it takes more effort than being at the top of a group of average students (a local HS).</p>
<p>It is not overly difficult to get B’s… the average GPA is about 3.2. There is a reason that W&M has the reputation of a difficult school and that the kids study a lot… because the expectations from the professors are pretty high. I didn’t study a lot at W&M and I left with over a 3.0 (though not by a whole lot). I think in the last decade the most students to graduate in one year with a 4.0 has been 2, and there are often fewer than that, sometimes none.</p>
<p>But it is not all academics… 40-50% of the student body shows up for football games. W&M students do over 300,000 hours of community service each year. 25% of W&M students are involved in social fraternities or sororities. The intramural sports scene is very active. The bar scene is always full right next to campus (21+). There are tons of student organizations, spanning everything from a world champion Model UN team to a Quidditch team. Club sports are active as well.</p>
<p>The campus does go into academic overdrive during midterms and finals.</p>
<p>IMO the campus is generally full of people that are (1) smart, (2) passionate about something [everyone is different], and (3) fairly humble [I was friends with some Monroe and Murray Scholars and PBK inductees and I didn’t even know they had those awards until I found them on the website].</p>
<p>hope that helps a little bit… just one person’s opinion.</p>
<p>This is awesome. I would love to hear from more students. I plan to have my son read these posts to put his worries at ease. I am sure that the same can be said about most colleges and that is the point I hope to get through to him. I don’t know why the students at his high school make negative comments about this wonderful college but that many of them are searching for a college experience that is less academic and more relaxed. They are all in study overdrive at this point in their life and I assume hoping for some relief, but that is not what they will find at any school if they are hoping to be successful.</p>
<p>I can guarantee that your son will find something to like at W&M. I’m a current junior, and it’s been a great experience (from day one, for real).</p>
<p>There’s <em>huge</em> diversity in terms of people who go here and activities to do. I volunteer at a college-owned coffee house, DJ for the radio station, play intramural basketball, serve on a Student Assembly Committee, and have a job with the college - and I still have plenty of time to study and hang out with friends. I’m not in a Greek organization, but some of my very good friends are - the atmosphere here is very non-judgmental and laid back.</p>
<p>There’s plenty of parties if you’re into that (and plenty of drinking of course, but no one I’ve met here would <em>ever</em> pressure you to drink if you don’t want to).</p>
<p>Kids here are very smart, and very serious about academics, but they’re not stuck up or arrogant. I’m necessarily generalizing about all of this, but the people here at really the best part. I’ve had more great professors than I can count, and every professor I’ve had was more than happy to help when asked.</p>
<p>The only caveat is that Williamsburg itself is a pretty dull town, Colonial Williamsburg is only interesting for so long and there’s a limited amount of stuff to do. There’s 3 long-standing bars and a few new ones, movie theaters, etc. There aren’t any serious concert venues (but there is a pretty good music scene at the college itself). Richmond and Norfolk are both about an hour away, and can make for good weekend destinations if you’re bored of the town.</p>
<p>Don’t be intimidated. I came in that way to realize that its just like highschool only everyone is one year older. People here really aren’t that much smarter on average… there are a few gems of truly brilliant kids but its not too amazing a student body as a whole.</p>
<p>People are interesting and all have their own quirks which you will come to know and love.</p>
<p>Go for a visit on a nice Spring day. Your child can see for himself what the students are like and what they are doing on a typical day.</p>
<p>In high school, I coasted through the IB program with very little studying. I wasn’t challenged and I was miserable. If college was like that, and my classmates were unmotivated and bored, I would transfer out immediately. Luckily, WM is a school full of people who work insanely hard and really care about their classes. But I wouldn’t say it’s too difficult-- even with my kind of lousy study skills I managed a 3.9 GPA first semester. If the idea of being challenged academically makes your son apprehensive about the College, then maybe he wouldn’t be such a great fit.</p>
<p>Plus, it’s a GREAT feeling to be pushed outside of my academic comfort zone. WM makes me work so much harder than I used to, but I also value every assignment more and every A I receive feels like winning an Olympic medal.</p>
<p>But I do want to say that we don’t JUST study. I’m involved in a club sport, various other student organizations (both academic and social), and am a Sharpe Scholar, and most of my friends and I still find time and energy to do our work. We have a lot of fun, and there are so many great ways to relieve the stress of academics.</p>
<p>Wow! Lots of info here! I will be in WM in the fall!~</p>