<p>What is there to do in town? Where is the nearest airport or train station? Are there restaurants? Movie theaters? Everything I have read has said rural and nothing to do. Is that true?
What do students do for fun?</p>
<p>The nearest airport is probably BWI or Reagan National. The closest Amtrak station is New Carrollton. I can't answer you're other questions. My daughter was briefly interested in St. Mary's, which sounds like a great public LAC, but decided that Washington College was a better Chesapeake Bay option for someone from Upstate NY.</p>
<p>Washington College is also on our radar. Would love to hear about your daughter's experiences this year.</p>
<p>The nearest airport is BW, which is about 1-1.5 hours away depending on traffic. </p>
<p>When prospective students visit St. Mary's, they usually drive down via a route that doesn't pass through Lexington Park (our home town), which Imakes them think that the school is much more isolated than it actually is. The town is 10 minutes away from campus and is actually quite substantial. There is a movie theater, and plenty of good restaurants. There's a couple of great Mexican places, an Italian restaurant, a good sushi place, plus all the big chains like Panera, Fridays, Olive Garden, etc... </p>
<p>It's not a walking town, however, and there aren't many 'cultural' activities, so people tend to stay on campus, except to go out to eat, or make target runs. On the weekends, the college shows movies, brings in comedians, lecturers, etc...There's coffeehouse music once a week. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm never bored. If you want to go explore art museums, go clubbing, and try a new restaurant every weekend, you will be disapointed, but most people do fine.</p>
<p>shelley -- I think I was unclear. My daughter is a high school senior. She looked at both Washington and St. Mary's because she loves the Chesapeake Bay area and was looking at LACs in the 1500-3000 ungrad population range. She was initially interested in visiting St. Mary's when we drove to Washington and William and Mary last Spring, but decided to pass up a visit during that trip. She eventually decided to apply to six schools, among them Washington College. </p>
<p>My D loved just about everything she experienced at Washington during her visit, and had a great interview and tour (she has kept in touch with our tour guide via e-mail). She applied EA last month and was recently notified of her acceptance and was offered a generous merit award. Washington does not, however, have the resources to match the potential largess of the other schools on her list. My dauighter won't be making a final decision until she hears back from the other schools -- and we receive the FA packages. She also would like to spend an overnight this Spring if possible.</p>
<p>Neither Washington nor St. Mary's is for everyone. Kids who have grown up in the city or who love suburban sprawl might feel the "isolation" of Chestertown and St. Mary's City is too much to overcome. The kids my D met at Washington College were from Baltimore, Philadelphia and North Central NJ and had no problem with it however.</p>
<p>St. Mary's is a very unique campus and has one of the most community like student bodies I have ever witnessed. By offering a range of different housing options on campus that become more attractive as students progress through the years, the school is able to keep most of its upperclassmen on campus.</p>
<p>The student body has a very active student government and a wide range of student programming so there are always many things happening on campus. While in a rural area, it's location is a true asset in my opinion. Safety is a great advantage and at what other school are there fleets of kayaks, sailboats, and windsurfers for students to use for free. It's unique location often causes students to refer to it as Camp St. Mary's. In addition, the food on campus is quite good.</p>
<p>Little is known about public liberal arts colleges, yet St. Mary's is a great example that shows that you do not need to pay ridiculous private tuition rates for high quality academics at a small liberal arts college.</p>
<p>From a St. Mary's Alum</p>
<p>UMMBen, what year did you graduate?</p>
<p>my parents and all of their friends were class of 83 and 84</p>
<p>I graduated in 06</p>