Hi, Ive just been accepted to William and Mary through the early decision process and I’m scared. As time goes by I’ve been dong more and more research finding really all the negatives about William and Mary. Like how students say the classes are extremely hard, and how homework will literally make you stay in the library for 24 hours. Im going to major in physics and supposedly the science classes at William and Mary are the definition of death. I knew William and Mary was gong to be a heavy workload, but I didn’t know it was overkill. Im not the party or hanging out type of person, I do my homework and sometimes I stay up until three in the morning while doing it, but Im getting the sense that I just wont be enough. Im obligated to go there, I just hope I can pass the hardest classes at a heavy workload school.
You have already proven to W&M (via your application) that you can handle it.
Don’t listen to other people on the internet. Yes, it’ll probably be hard, but you can handle it. You got in for a reason.
There was a survey in one of the papers that indicated W&M students spent 17 hours per week studying. UVA was 16, I believe. I don’t think one hour more is all that much and I don’t hear the same thing said about UVA. If you research any school thoroughly, your going to find negatives from someone. By the way, I think W&L was tops for studying in Virginia.
Planning to apply to W&M next year (I’m a junior) and wondering if I should go ED… Would you mind sharing your GPA and ACT/SAT scores? Would be super helpful!
This might be very surprising but I have a gpa of 3.53 and a SAT score of 1150. You should definitely apply for ED but I encourage you to do more research, though I’m happy for where I’m heading thanks to these guys! My advice to you is make sure your essay Is on point!!! Gpa and sat scores are just numbers, your essay has your voice in it. I did four revisions on my essay that I started my junior year and every revision I did I sat next to multiple different English teachers. Please please don’t over look the essay don’t just do two or three revisions that you, yourself, only looked at. My essay was sad, but yours don’t have to be sad, it can be encourging and uplifting. I hope I see you next year!!!
I’m a sophomore studying neuroscience and chemistry and have a 3.85 at W&M. I keep a study log, and I put in about 35 hours of solid studying per week on top of research, TA, tutoring, and sport club. With all of this, I basically have no time left to relax, but college is what you make it. I can guarantee you that W&M will be harder than your high school unless you are majoring in something very easy. Because of this, you will definitely need to work hard to get a 3.5+ GPA, because your high school GPA is only a 3.53. Although, I got the top grade in my Organic chemistry classes and I was a pretty average applicant (1400 SAT, nothing too special), so you can definitely surprise people if you work hard.
Hihi I’m a sophomore at the college double majoring in biology and economics and I can tell you that WM is definitely not something you can’t handle! Colleges are always hard but “24 hours in the library” simply are not thing because our library closes at 2am anyways most of the year, and if you manage your time well you will be fine. I have managed to have a social life, maintain my double major, end up on the deans list, and still have enough time to relax. YOU WILL BE FINE! Please don’t stress!! Hard science classes are ofc not easy, but they aren’t impossible and it’ll all be okay:)
^^On that note, watch the cool video the kids in the Bio department have up at the Bio department’s website. It is entertaining and dispels the idea that all they do is keep their heads in the books, with no time to breathe or smile.
W&M can look like they give out a lot of work, but it’s nothing if you have good time management and a lot of communication with the instructor. Some instructors, especially in the Computer Science department, make their assignments vague to force students to go beyond just cranking out the assignment and start asking questions and interacting with their peers and instructors. You’ll have nothing to worry about.
@PHY. My D didn’t get in and has scores just a little higher than yours - we are OOS, are you in state? Just wondering, thanks! Congrats! As someone said, they picked you, you can handle it!
Yes I’m in state. Thanks.
I’m guessing oos is out of state and D is daughter, at least I think.
I also think it’s important to note that W&M is a strong Liberal Arts school, so many students do not have strengths in the STEM field. Some of those complaints about the science classes being like death may have come from liberal arts students who only took a science course to fulfill core requirements. If you’re majoring in something STEM, you obviously enjoy science and won’t absolutely hate your classes.
I’m taking AP Physics C: Mechanics and E&M, I’m having a really great time here, though sometimes it can be really challenging, but your observation has to be right I completely agree with you
Hey current student here! First off congratulations on William & Mary. It’s a fantastic school and I have really enjoyed my time here. While I am not a physics major, when I was applying to colleges I was reading the same reviews as you probably are now and was wondering if I was cut out for the school. Fast forward three years later and I can say that some of those fears were exaggerated and that the workload is completely doable here. Yes I do have plenty of time for other things.
William & Mary is incredibly undergraduate focused and often professors will go out of their way to help you. They are extremely accessible and I have met several times with professors outside of class. If you take a look under William & Mary’s ratemyprofessor page for physics, almost all of them have a generally positive rating, which is incredible if you consider how the subject can be challenging.
Personally I know quite a couple of physics majors and they seem to have some of the most active social lives out of anyone I know. They are members of bands, leaders of clubs, active members of social justice movements, captains of intramural teams, and heck some go out even more than I do. So don’t sweat it. Yes it will probably be challenging at times, but if you made it in you can definitely do it.
While I am not a physics major, I have been doing some things with the physics department. I recommend checking out the Society of Physics Students and the Astronomy Club which does things like make liquid nitrogen ice cream and go stargazing ontop of the giant planetarium. Also William & Mary has an amazing International Genetically Engineered Machine (IGEM) team that took home #1 in the world last year, pretty amazing stuff!
Best of luck. If you wanna stay in touch or want me to help connect you to those other physics students or organizations, I would be more than happy to do so. Welcome to the Tribe!
I’m so glad I’m not alone. So I guess most incoming students don’t think their cut out for it. So fellow alumni I’m very glad to here that most of the professors have positive ratings I was getting a little worried. Looks like W&M may not kill me, but will just make me work hard while at the sametime have some space for other activities. I’m also surprised that W&M has a specific club for physics, my Highschool doesn’t have a specific physics club 
Well that just makes me more excited! I CANT WAIT TO START!! :::)))))))
@PHY. Oh yeahhhhh. There are so many new things to explore in college that there weren’t in high school. Even random ones just for fun. If you ever wanted to pick up American Sign Language or Russian musical instruments, now is the time. Some of my personal favorites: the cheese club, the ukulele club, and the NERF club. Last semester the salsa dancing club did a mixer with the cheese club appropriately titled “salsa con queso” which was a blast.
William and Mary does not appear in this Princeton Review ranking of 20 colleges at which “Students Study the Most”:
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=students-study-most
So, however challenging the excellent W&M may be, the workload should not be extreme by U.S. college standards.
Good luck to you, PHY…