<p>My son's college counselor is encouraging him to consider W&M. He's intrigued but has concerns. He wants to avoid a strong Greek system and he's concerned about a more formal and less diverse culture in a southern school. Also he's an OOS. He has strong SATs (2350); strong curriculum and grades but he's still out of state. He's also applying to Bowdoin, Haverford and Carleton by means of comparison, and Reed, which seems quite unlike W&M. Any insight is appreciated!</p>
<p>First, with a 2350 SAT, he is extremely unlikely to be denied admission, even OOS.</p>
<p>Second, W&M is an excellent school, on par with but different from UVA. It is a public research university, but comparatively small - around 6,000 undergrads, around 8,000 students total - with a correspondingly small average students:teacher ratio and class sizes. No giant lectures. Students and professors actually know each other personally. Basically, if Virginia were to ever officially designate a “Public Honors College,” it would be W&M. (The only older school in the Americas is Harvard; W&M is one of only two schools in the nation with a Royal charter, the other being Columbia.)</p>
<p>Going Greek is optional, not uncommon but there are plenty of students who are not interested in that. Their website indicates that about 1600 students (roughly a quarter of undergrads) go Greek.</p>
<p>W&M is well known as one of the great values in higher education for Virginia residents. Unfortunately for your son, being OOS means he would probably pay almost as much to attend W&M as he would to attend the small private LACs. The estimated cost of attendance for OOS students is over $50k/yr now. The OOS tuition surcharge is around $22k over the IS price.</p>
<p>The location and campus are beautiful. It is located in historic Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens amusement park is almost within walking distance, and it is a relatively short drive to Virginia Beach.</p>
<p>They have a very small number (7 per year according to their website) of competitive full ride merit scholarships (“1693 Scholars”), which OOS applicants are also eligible for. With a 2350, your son might be in the running for one; it’s certainly worth a shot! (And there is no separate application process: “While some of the variables that influence 1693 Scholar designations are quantitative, others are more subjective. These include students’ application essays, extracurricular involvements, leadership, letters of recommendation and evidence of intellectual engagement. In conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Admission, faculty members will administer the selection process. All students who apply to William & Mary through Early Decision (Nov. 1 postmark deadline) or Regular Decision (Jan. 1 postmark deadline) will be reviewed for the 1693 Scholars Program.”) </p>
<p>They have a much larger number of lesser merit awards (“Monroe Scholars”) as well. That doesn’t make them “affordable” for most OOS families, but every bit helps.</p>
<p>Hello. My son is a freshmen this year and we are from Seattle. He has been on campus for 5 weeks and there has been some adjustment to Virginia. The humidity was a shock for someone used to 60 degree weather. Not many freshman dorms have air conditioning which makes the first month uncomfortable. The people/students are extremely friendly and noticeably more polite than where we are from (and we’re pretty polite!) which is nice. Many people dress nicely and iron their clothes - he doesn’t and doesn’t feel uncomfortable about that but it’s just something different - less laid back then Seattle. He went knowing no one and since it is a state school many people already seem to have a group of friends to fall back on, which can make out of staters feel like the “new kid.” Diversity is there, but it is a different mix of backgrounds. Baldly put there are fewer Asians but more African Americans then our population here. My son was not interested in fraternity life and the partying that goes hand in hand with it. That rush process seemed to dominate his dorm the first few weeks with lots of drinking and staying out late. He (and many others) did not feel pressured to join in and that has calmed down a lot since rush is over. Also, to us William & Mary did not feel Southern, but compared to Reed (we looked there too) it certainly is. Many students come from NoVa (Northern Virginia i.e. Washington DC) which is not Southern at all. There is a nice mix of conservative and liberal attitudes and ideas which I think is so valuable so students can explore lots of different viewpoints.</p>
<p>I would highly recommend visiting the campus if possible. My son knew it was his first choice school after our visit. It felt right. The people, from admissions staff, to student tour guides, to random students on campus, all lit up while talking about the college. It is a little on the quirky side but not as out there as Reed. There are so many good things about it … Living in a different part of the country is a great experience and while he has been placed out of his comfort zone he has quickly adjusted and is enjoying it so far. His classes and professors are very good.</p>
<p>Something I noted about your college list - William & Mary is much larger than the schools you mention. We felt it was a nice size - not so big that you get lost but not so small that you get bored. It is also a public institution (unlike those on your list). Be aware that their funding has not kept pace (like all state colleges) and facilities (I’m talking dorms) are a bit more worn than many private schools we toured. I think we parents notice these things much more than the kids do, maybe because it’s our money! </p>
<p>I feel I should also mention that there are no direct flights from the PNW to Richmond/Norfolk/Newport News. Plus the airports are 20-60 minutes away from campus, which makes travel a little more difficult than if you were going to say Tufts where there are plenty of direct flights to Boston.</p>
<p>After 5 weeks my son feels like he made a good choice. If you have any specific questions I’ll check back.</p>
<p>Great posts from @FCCDAD and @YPTmom. If I might just add to FCCDAD’s comments about the Monroe Scholars program: the merit aid it provides is for summer study projects ($1K for the summer between freshman and sophomore years, and $3K for a subsequent summer). Here’s a list of the benefits of the program: <a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/monroescholars/prospectivestudents/incomingfreshman/index.php”>http://www.wm.edu/as/monroescholars/prospectivestudents/incomingfreshman/index.php</a> . </p>
<p>One of my ds was a Monroe, didn’t live in Monroe Hall, and probably never went to the lecture series. She did enjoy the chance to do a funded independent summer study. Her friends on campus were a mixed bunch - some were Greek, some not; some were Monroes, some not; some were nerds, some were jocks, some were preppy, some were politically extreme on both sides of the spectrum. Something for everyone in that student body, I’d say.</p>
<p>W & M students refer to TWAMPS - Typical William and Mary Person. Depending on whom you ask, you’ll get different definitions. Most W & M kids seem to have their stuff together and are intellectually adept and curious. They do like a good time, as well. I would not consider the Greek scene especially dominant (I think it’s still about 1/3 of the student body).</p>
<p>thank you all–we are also from Seattle and all three comments address everything I am curious about. W&M is visiting my son’s school next month and should provide more insight.</p>
<p>Agree other posts are very good and consistent with what I’ve observed. My NW child sweltered the first month, top floor dorm room with no AC. And she’s in pretty crappy housing and the food is bad compared to many of the other schools we looked at (Elon, Bucknell, Lewis and Clark, Linfield, WashU, USC, Chapman). But living somewhere different and meeting kids with different perspectives was what she was looking for. And the mid-size university setting appealed to her - small classes, engaged professors but not too small. Lots of choices and oppotunitiesfor research. W&M is much more diverse than in years past. Her friends include all kinds of kids-- really rich, really poor, kids who’s parents have been here for generations, and kids who are the first to go to college in their families, kids from Pakistan decent to Indian decent, as well as students from Africa and Europe. It is more formal- someone actually taught her how to iron this semester- but everyone’s enjoying borrowing her non-preppy clothes. Travelling home is super inconvenient and expensive, but mostly she will take train to NoVA, spend a night with friend and fly nonstop back to Seattle in the am. Try to avoid visiting homecoming weekend next Month as campus will be mobbed. And be aware it’s closed for break 4 days in October as well. 3 of 16 girls on her floor pledged this fall, so that’s pretty reflective of the percentage of greeks on campus. Be sure to get a sandwich at the cheese shop in Merchant Square (Or just bread ends and cheese with a side of house dressing for a picnic)- and then if your son goes there make sure he knows there’s a side window for locals to call in orders. And if you are a BBQ person Pierce’s pit BBQ is an institution known for it’s pulled pork sandwiches in the North Carolina BBQ style. (Full disclosure - I’m an alum and loved every minute of it.)</p>
<p>Not really a lot to add - I’d agree with the notion that W&M isn’t a typical “Southern” school (there are several definitions of just what that means – and W&M doesn’t really fit any of those stereotypes.)</p>
<p>You can’t really classify W&M students as being of a certain type - as noted, there are students of every background there. But I guess if I were to try to summarize the overall vibe, it would be “intellectual, friendly, accepting, creative, with a tendency towards ‘geeky-ness’”.</p>
<p>And, to sort of echo what someone said above - W&M was literally the last college DD visited - we visited a lot, and some seemed nice, usually with reservations, some she thought were first or second choices dropped off her list entirely. And when we visited W&M, that was it, she just knew, this was the place for her. Not that W&M is for everyone - no place is. But if anything written so far resonates with your son, then definitely worth a visit.</p>
<p>I guess I’d suggest reading some of the traditions, like here: <a href=“William & Mary Traditions | William & Mary”>http://www.wm.edu/about/history/traditions/index.php</a> read some of the blogs, here <a href=“http://wmblogs.wm.edu/”>http://wmblogs.wm.edu/</a> and perhaps the youtube channel, here <a href=“William & Mary - YouTube”>https://www.youtube.com/user/williamandmary</a> to get a sense of what the school is about.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman at the College this year and I’m also in greek life so I can vouch to both aspects of freshman life. The greek scene here is by no means overbearing, during the rush process a lot of people go out and party and it seems insane but once rush ends it all dies down. We don’t really have typical fraternities here, they’re all uniquely w&m, it’s really not uncommon to see a bunch of brothers in the library studying or not going to a party because they need to study. Everyone here is very studious, although as long as you join a club or organization, you’ll have a great social life! </p>
<p>We’re southern in that we’re incredibly hospitable. Being from farther south, I wouldn’t say we’re incredibly southern, however, we are a southern school. We’re laid back and the professors are simply astounding. Our campus is around 70/30 liberal to conservative (if you’re concerned about that), and in my opinion the school is really diverse. However, I came from a 90% white high school so take that with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>Being an out of stater isn’t too different from being an in stater because even in state people don’t know a ton of people here (NOVA excluded), because we’re so selective. I come from southern virginia and I only had 2 other people from my school come here so it’s a very open, “let’s be friends” kind of environment. I wouldn’t say everyone irons their clothes, but a decent number of people are very preppy, then there’s a solid number of hipsters on campus too of course. </p>
<p>If you’re into sports, there is a sports culture here…it’s just not big. I’m a HUGE sports fan and you can easily find some big fans here as well Our football team is currently ranked 12th in the FCS so we’re pretty good! Sorry, I’m pressed for time so I hope this is coherent. Hope this helps!</p>