Miscellaneous

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
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<p>Is there a thrift store that is easily accessible from campus? A Target or another comparable store? How about a grocery store? I have heard of a farmer's market in CW, but is it accessible, cheap and open during school?</p>

<p>How easy is it to get around the city without a car? I know that public transportation is free for students, but is it actually used by students? Is it convenient?</p>

<p>Does the College operate shuttles to the airport (especially Norfolk) or do we have to make arrangements ourselves? </p>

<p>How bike-friendly is the city? If I decide to ride my bike somewhere of campus (say several miles) can I be confident that I won't be run down by a tour bus?</p>

<p>Is academic advising easily available or am I going to have to fight for some help figuring out my schedule? I have heard negative things about the administration (red tape eliminated only with a machete). Also a major complaint seems to be of a stagnancy that pervades campus (apparently from the top-down). I apologize for how vague some of this is but I wonder if these concerns are legitimate or not. None of these complaints have reached me first-hand, but I just need to know what to expect in the fall. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>An addendum:</p>

<p>How much spending money do you think is necessary for a freshman to have? I guess it would depend on my current lifestyle, which I can only describe as fairly frugal, but this is relative. A general idea would be nice, though.</p>

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<p>There are at least 3 thrift stores in Williamsburg. The closest is in the shopping center on Monticello Ave.</p>

<p>Grocery Stores: the closest is Bloom on Richmond Rd (10-15 minute walk, very short drive). There is also a Bloom on 199. There is a Ukrops in a shopping center (not the same on as the thrift store) off Monticello (bus goes here). There is also a Harris Teeter, but I’m not sure where that one is.</p>

<p>Target: there is a Target in the shopping center with the Ukrops (on the bus line). There is also a WalMart further away off 199 (~10 minute drive)</p>

<p>Farmers Market: is right across the street from the Wren building. Obviously, for most of the school year it isn’t open, but it is there at the beginning and end.</p>

<p>Public Transportation: as you said, buses are free to students. Students do take the bus to target. If they want groceries, they will usually go to the Bloom on Richmond Road, if they can’t get what they want in the Students Exchange (known as the ‘sex change’) in the bottom of the Sadler Center.</p>

<p>Airport shuttles: on breaks, especially fall break and spring break, you can reserve a spot on vans that run to the airports. They might not run during exams, as people leave at all different times.</p>

<p>Bikes: well… if you bike on the road, you are biking on the road. I biked to Jamestown from campus on Jamestown Road, and that was fine. A nice place to bike is the Colonial Parkway, which you can get to in about a 5 minute ride from campus. The Colonial Parkway is unmarked and 3 lanes wide, so there is plenty of room to pass. It’s a little rough though, so I don’t know if it would be road bike friendly. There is a cycling club that rides fairly seriously, and I never heard anything about them getting hit by cars. (A kid on my freshmen hall rode with them)</p>

<p>If you want academic advising, it will be there for you. You could talk to almost any professor. Alternatively, there is an academic advising office. I actually only know one person who went there, but they sat down with him first semester of freshmen year and mapped out a schedule for all 8 semesters for what he wanted to do. Personally, I never talked to anyone about advising, aside from getting a professor to sign off on my major declaration forms.</p>

<p>Money… you need money for what you want to do. How often are you going to eat off campus? Eating off campus twice a week costs more than never doing so? You can spend $0 during a week since all your meals, housing, etc is taken care of. Or, you can spend $ hundreds by going to the outlets.</p>

<p>Banks… you didn’t mention this, but there is a Wachovia on Richmond Road before you get to the Bloom, definitely walking distance (there is also one by the Ukrops/Target… not walking distance). There is a Sun Trust in Colonial Williamsburg, 5 minutes from the Wren Building. I think there is also a fairly close BB&T, but I don’t swear to that.</p>

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<p>For academic advising for freshmen, you are assigned a professor in one of your interest areas to talk with you about classes and opportunities for research and just everything in general. I got the department head of one of my prospective majors which was enormously helpful, and he was helpful in general too. I was really pleased with how it worked out - I’ve heard horror stories from friends at other universities. From my understanding I will keep the same adviser until I declare my major in the spring of Sophomore year, when you ask a professor in your major to be your adviser. Because my current adviser is already in one of my majors I could end up having the same one all four years.</p>