<p>Okay, let me clarify my prior stance on the difficulty of WM: the academic program certainly isn't overwhelmingly difficult or anything, it's just the grading that can get to you. As the previous poster stated, most students are not struggling to pass, but one will generally have to struggle somewhat (depending on the class) to get an A or even a B at times. I think the fact that so many of us come into WM having received top grades in the past leaves many of us painfully humbled. I'm just trying to focus less on my GPA now...</p>
<p>Lok! Just post, and people can get a feel..</p>
<p>OOS, F, Athlete, chose WM over Dartmouth and SWAT</p>
<p>freshman, Econ major. average intelligence. i study about 4-6 hrs a day. i get in some fun in here and there. 5 classes. i'm thinking these are my grades, but if i bomb on the finals, well... so far, so good</p>
<p>a
a-
a
c
b+</p>
<p>It's a great school. i'm stayn' :)</p>
<p>Yeah, by no means is the school easy, but if you want to devote yourself to a class, you usually can pull off an A.</p>
<p>However-</p>
<p>I took a class this semester where the professor stated on the first day that he wouldn't give out grades higher than an A-. This is a bit ridiculous and irritates me, but you win some and you lose some.</p>
<p>edit:</p>
<p>Here is how this semester is looking for me:
1 B+ and 4 As,</p>
<p>I'm a chem major and oos male-I had 15 credits this semester</p>
<p>Two words:</p>
<p>Hans Tiefel</p>
<p>he's gone now...</p>
<p>I really wanted to take a class taught by him, but I didn't get the chance.</p>
<p>William and Mary has one of the higest suicide rates of any school in the nation.</p>
<p>until you can provide statistics to back that up, it's a popular myth.</p>
<p>who is hans tiefel?</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure there haven't been any comprehensive studies ever done on suicide rates in U.S. schools, not to mention those that have been done, on a small scale, have never referenced W&M. In fact, I think I can recall one suicide in the last 2 1/2 years at W&M, which is really not high by any means</p>
<p>I remember on my tour of the campus the guide said the W&M actually had a suicide late lower than the national average but then again he could have been pulling that out of his a$$.</p>
<p>the tour guides like like theres no tomorrow...when they talk as i walk by i hear some of the most factually incorrect/inconceivable things i've ever heard such as "the caf cost $80 million to renovate", but i do think that while we probably, historically, have had spurts of suicides, but nothing substantial</p>
<p>The panels from the Dean of Students have also kinda exaggerated during admited students day as well. For example, they explicitly said no suicides had happened during the school year, when three weeks earlier an e-mail was sent out about one having happened...so take it how you want to</p>
<p>there have been a few since I've been here. The ones that quickly come to mind are 2 KA brothers and the alum who killed himself in Tucker. I think there might have been one or two more also.</p>
<p>Hans Tiefel was an extremely challenging professor. Word was he was great, but he graded ridiculously hard.</p>
<p>Are we tour guide ranting? I heard a tour guide misidentify a building on campus. I believe they said they music building was home to modern languages.</p>
<p>The ones that quickly come to mind are 2 KA brothers and the alum who killed himself in Tucker</p>
<p>Those are the only ones that come to mind.</p>
<p>Word was he was great, but he graded ridiculously hard.</p>
<p>Legendary one might say. As he was oft (mis)quoted: "Even God wouldn't be able to earn an A in my class" ...or something to that effect. I wanted to take a course with him, but he retired my Jr year. So it goes.</p>
<p>To OP: The average GPAs at W&M and UVA are almost exactly the same. The difference is in the segment of population who does poorly bec they drink too much (UVA) or the segment that does poorly because they don't study as much as everyone else (W&M).</p>
<p>The average GPAs at W&M and UVA are almost exactly the same.</p>
<p>Right, but that doesn't really mean much, at least without the SD.</p>
<p>equal average gpas really doesn't mean anything whatsoever</p>
<p>Why is everyone so concerned about their GPA once they get in? So long as you are passing and getting something out of it, I don't get the big deal about wanting these fantastic GPA's. Do you think employers care? All they will look at is that you earned a degree from William & Mary. Now that is impressive. Not everyone will be able to say that. Enjoy your experiences and don't stress. This should be the time of your life! For goodness sakes you all are young, have some fun!</p>
<p>it matters to people who want to continue their education</p>
<p>as for me... I don't really care, as long as I do respectably.</p>
<p>marid, employers do care about your GPA for your first job. When you're up against people from equally respected schools say UVA for instance, GPA will matter.</p>
<p>Also, I want to attend grad school and GPA is, I think, the number one criteria for acceptance.</p>
<p>Skipping over just the raw GPA component, how fair is the grading? It's one thing to earn an A, it's another thing to know that it is impossible to get one. Does anyone have any information on that?</p>