<p>D has read a lot about how hard W&M is and is a little worried. She's an IB student who worked her butt off this year and cringes at the thought of spending every minute at the library for the next four years. Do kids go out and have fun? Or sit around an talk till the wee hours? Can kids have fun at W&M too?</p>
<p>Of course they can. They have to work hard, but a student who’s been successful enough in a good IB program to be admitted can certainly manage the workload at W&M. From the variety of ECs offered - arts organizations, service groups, sports on all levels, Greek life - you can see that W&M is about lots more than academics. And W&M’s wonderfully bright and varied student body is one of its greatest assets - so your d will make great friends and absolutely talk with them until the wee hours.</p>
<p>When my d1 entered W&M 10 years ago, the then-president of the College, Timothy Sullivan, made a great speech at parent orientation. He addressed the issue of grade deflation and spoke about the very few kids who’d graduate four years in the future with 4.0s. And then he said something like “But if your child was one of those few students, and they obtained those grades at the expense of exploring everything else possible from the College and their fellow students, their experience here will have been a failure” or words to that effect. (Hey, it was 10 years ago and I am getting addled.) It put into perspective what the College wants from and hopes for its students, most of whom are very bright. It’s not a place where students need to be grinds. They may need to let go of the idea of a 4.0, though.</p>
<p>Sorry - forgot to answer your question! :o Both my ds had jobs (12-20 hours per week), boyfriends, and some time-consuming ECs, and both managed or are managing to complete their work on time with good (or better) grades. The junior called me last Sunday and said she was on her way to Swem at 10 AM and expected to stay until 5. But that’s not every Sunday. If I had to guess, I’d say she studies maybe 2-3 hours most days outside of class? She’s lucky that her campus job is one at which she can actually spend most of the time studying.</p>
<p>lenscap - I think your D will (would?) be fine at W&M. She should remember that in college you are only in class for a few hours each day, so even if you go to class for 3 hours (3 classes on MWF or 2 classes on TR) and study for 3 hours, that is still less time that you would spend being physically at the high school. If you wake up at 8, go to class from 9-12, study from 1-5 (after an hour for lunch), that still leaves you the entire evening of free time to yourself! You would’ve already finished your hw in the 1-5 time slot, so it is really free time. Not like “free time” when you come home from high school.</p>
<p>That said, around midterms and finals, the school definitely goes into study and paper writing mode.</p>
<p>If your D wants a 4.0, she should probably go elsewhere, but if she can be content with a 3.5, she will have a blast at W&M. IMO at some point there are diminishing returns for the time you spend studying, but it is up to the individual student to decide what that point is for him or her.</p>
<p>Kids definitely go out, and do hang around and talk until late at night. There was always a group in my freshman dorm that was hanging in the lounge until 1/2am on school nights (helped that the lounge was the only part of the dorm with AC, lol).</p>
<p>Most of our tour guides will tell you that on average, they have 2-3 hours of “homework” per night (of course in college homework is reading/studying/writing so it’s not likely something they will turn in the next day). As soccerguy pointed out, most students are only in class 2-3 hours per day so that’s 4-6 hours per day spent on school which is likely less time than your student currently spends insides her actual high school (nevermind what time she puts in after school on homework). The academics are challenging and students won’t cake walk through W&M but students interested in W&M generally value academics and learning and look forward to a balanced college experience.</p>
<p>If all our students did was study there wouldn’t be 400 student-run clubs, 23 DI sports, club sports, IM sports, Greek life, etc.</p>