William & Mary:
Surrounding city: Walking distance from Colonial Williamsburg, a major tourist attraction in the area. They have fireworks on major holidays, an ice rink in the winter, carriage rides, museums, dog parades, apple cider stands, historical reenactments, picnic places, ghost tours, and the world famous Cheese Shop.
In addition, next to campus are several restaurants, including new places like a ramen and boba place, a Precarious Beer Hall, several bars and delis, Mellow Mushroom (great pizza), and more. The town is fairly accessible and students get to use the bus or trolley system for free. There are two movie theaters, go cart places, escape rooms, Ripley’s Musuems, laser tag places and more. There is also the famous President Head Park (look it up, its pretty amazing) in Williamsburg.
Busch Gardens Amusement Park – which has roller coasters and a water park is also located right in Williamsburg. Its also about 2.5 to 3 hours away from DC, with a bus and train station right there.
Student body: The vibe is smart, down to earth, humble, and hard working. Students are very engaged and the campus has a very active vibe, whether that means civic engagement or engagement with topics outside the classroom. It is very common to find students involved in multiple clubs and have really deep discussions. Every student has something that they are passionate about – and it shows. It’s a medium sized college with very small class sizes, giving it a LAC feel and very teaching focused curriculum.
Prestige: Second oldest college that has produced four presidents, two time World Cup winner, famous actors, comedians, and several high ranking world leaders including the current Chancellor. Need I say more?
Climate: Very warm, which I found energizing coming from the northeast. Weather is typically sunny and some may even describe it as humid – with occasional downpours. April is like the perfect month in terms of balance of the weather.
Coastal: Like I said, several beaches nearby including College Creek, Yorktown Beach, to the slightly farther Virginia Beach if you’re interested. A common spring break destination is the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
Medical School: Very high acceptance rate to medical school, research and hospital volunteering experiences common. They also have an early acceptance to med school program.
I talk more in depth about my experiences in my thread here: