<p>Just how much of a Southern feel does W&M have. With 2/3 of students coming from Virginia how would a Midwestern fit in at W&M.
How is the Classical Humanities department at W&M. What kind of reputation does it have.
How is the food at W&M. How flexible are the dining options for someone on a restrictive diet.
W &M admissions seem pretty tough. What factors besides GPA and SAT scores are important.</p>
<p>I'd say that W&M feels a lot like a typical private NE school, with better weather =P.</p>
<p>Regarding a southern feel... there really isn't one. 1/3 of the campus (half the instate population) comes from near DC (known as Northern Virginia... Northern VA has a completely different feel than the typical southern feel. ie, people from northern va never say they're from "virginia", always "northern virginia", and they don't like it if you refer to them as southerners =P). Most of the out of state students I know seem to have come from farther north, especially the NJ/NY area. If there is a southern feel to W&M, it's that the student population is very very nice, as in, the door will always be held open for you, and things like that.</p>
<p>I don't really have any info on the classical humanities department... sorry. I did take a Roman Civ class that the professor asked the most ridiculous questions on teh test and put out study guides of 430 and 800 questions...</p>
<p>Food, is ok. I mean, it's not home cooking, but it's solid as far as college food goes. We're getting a new company in at one of the dining halls, that's supposed to be very good. The food lion is an easy bike ride, and the bus also goes there, if you want to cook your own food sometimes.</p>
<p>W&M looks at the whole application. GPA and SAT will not get you in by themselves, nor will low #s keep you out. I believe that devotion to ECs is important, especially service related. Something like 75-80% of the W&M campus is involved in community service, and a ridiculously high percentage (I think it's like 10%) of graduates go into the peace corps.</p>
<p>Soccerguy is right; they look at the entire application. I had a 1270 SAT and a 500 Math IC, with much better scores on writing and history. My unweighted GPA, however, was stellar and I was very involved in several (not 4000!) ECs.</p>
<p>If you're passionate about what you're interested in, word hard, and communicate that well in your application, then you have a really good shot. </p>
<p>W&M seems more like a private school in this way. Their admissions criteria is what sets them apart from a place like UVA, which tends to pay more attention to numbers.</p>
<p>i am not sure that applies to out of state applicants. the admissions competition for out of state applicants if fierce, especially if the applicant is female.</p>
<p>In asking around, the perception I hear from parents who graduated themselves back in the 70s and 80s is that they view W&M as conservative and preppy, with frats being the major social scene. In talking to younger parents who have friends/siblings who went in more recent years, a couple have described the student body as having moved away from that towards the "boho," groovy end of the scale. What is the reality? And are many of the students tuned into politics at all? Didn't seem the case to me on a visit last year (during election season, I saw nary a sign for either presidential candidate, but maybe I wasn't looking in the right places)........Thanks!</p>
<p>As has been mentioned, most of the in-state population is from northern Virginia, which unlike the 70% of the state that is not northern Virginia, is not southern in language or culture. Regionalism is not part of the school culture.</p>
<p>As for ideology:</p>
<p>The survey is very helpful information. I much appreciate the info.</p>
<p>I think the admissions people take the same approach to out of state and in state students. That said, you are really competing against one group or the other for the limited number of spots. The out of state students with low numbers might not have numbers as low as the lowest in state students, but I do not doubt that the admissions department rejects some out of state students with higher numbers and accepts others with lower numbers.</p>
<p>I would say the political leanings of the school, from my impressions
as a student, are moderate, and slightly left leaning, which I would expect from the age group that attends college. I can tell you that there were about 15 people (of 50 in the whole dorm) who were watching the election coverage live in the lounge, and I'm sure many more in their rooms. But no, politics are not worn on the students sleaves. You will find discussions about current events and politics often if you wander around a dining hall though. The student body is definitely in tune to what is going on.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say W&M is preppy... I'd say there's way more t shirts than polo shirts..</p>