<p>I'm not sure if the original poster on the previous thread was looking for a party school, and didn't get one, or was looking to coast through college, and didn't get that either. I'm expecting to work hard in college, and have a good social experience as well that doesn't necessarily involve going to frat parties.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear opinions of other prospective students or current students.</p>
<p>if W&M was terrible, kids would be running to transfer ASAP. They are not. W&M students, from my experience, seem to be very happy there. Have you visited? gone on a tour? talked to any current students in person?</p>
<p>Don’t let one grumpy person ruin your excitement.</p>
<p>i’ve done all of the above, actually. I visited and went for a tour, and visited again to shadow a student. </p>
<p>I definitely love WM and I’d be amazing if I got in. I’m at a high stress point of the year, and reading that thread was a little intimidating, because its a huge decision for me and i don’t want to second guess myself.</p>
<p>I’m happy to hear that from your experience people are happy there. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. It’s perfectly normal to feel that way. I read the same thread right before I made my decision. Needless to say, I had same feelings of doubt. But you know what? It was extremely moralizing to see how many people stepped up to say how much they loved the school and all the great experiences they had. I came here anyway and after almost 3 months, am extremely happy with my decision. Take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>The best part of the school, in my opinion, are the people. There are some extremely kind and accepting people here, all gathered in one place. The things they say about the strength of the community are really true and already some of the people in my hall have become some of my closest friends. Moreover, just about everyone here is really smart or passionate about something. That means I can have really cool discussions about social issues that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to back home and I am constantly learning from others. This happens even with strangers or with people you’d never expect. To put it simply, people care.</p>
<p>If you are not into greek life, it’s honestly not a big deal. Neither am I. There is plenty of other things to do. AMP or Alma Matter Productions holds non-alchoholic events that are actually pretty well attended by students. Among some of the recent ones: concerts by MKTO, screenings of movies, zombie apocalypse (you get armed with nerf guns), glow in the dark dodgeball, and many other things. The Outdoors Club, in my opinion, is also a highlight. They have cool trips into the mountains (at least 2 trips every month) for like 5-10 dollars. And there are plenty of other organizations on campus. Often, they have their own mixers/parties/formals, so you’re not missing out. Plus, if you have a friend in greek life, you don’t have to be in it yourself to go to events. </p>
<p>If you have any questions about any aspect of social life or any specific organizations, let me know. As you can tell, I am enjoying my time here. But hey, I hope other people can contribute to the conversation too. Good luck with your application and enjoy the rest of senior year! I hope to see you among the ranks of the tribe because it really is an awesome place to be.</p>
<p>Any school will have some students who regret choosing it. For some, it wasn’t like they expected it to be; for others, they didn’t enjoy the experience as much as they had expected to.</p>
<p>W&M seems to have fewer such regretful students than most. A very high percentage return after freshman year, and a very high percentage graduate on time (4 years).</p>
<p>If you go and find you don’t like it after all, you can transfer out. Some people do. There’s no shame in finding and admitting that it’s not the right place for you.</p>
<p>I do think it is important to emphasize that wherever you go (or anyone else for that matter), much of the experience is what you make of it. If you fly by your four years with a negative attitude or without getting yourself out there and exploring all the opportunities you have, then you are going to have a hard time wherever you go, whether that be Penn State, Harvard, or William and Mary. </p>
<p>Freshman retention rate is a great measure of students’ satisfaction rate, but if people are really limited by physical barriers to transferring, like the OP of the other thread seemed to be suggesting, then I think it is important to look at happiness and student satisfaction as an independent variable. While I am not the biggest fan of rankings and I do have some qualms with their data collection methods (what happens when you take a stats course), the Princeton Review does collect “happiness” ratings of students every few years or so. Back in 2010, W&M was ranked 12th happiest students. If that doesn’t say something about how much students enjoy it here, then I don’t know what does.</p>
<p>Adding on to that comment, there is literally an abundance of activities right before finals week that helps students relieve stress. I think the college gets that many students do take academics very seriously and definitely works to accommodate those students while taking everything down a notch.</p>
<p>To name a few things going on this week: dog petting therapy, free hot chocolate and pancakes (with bacon), a chipotle delivery service (yes, even to swem), yoga nights, drum circles, singalongs, game nights, comedy shows, and of course- the last day of classes which is known as “blowout.”</p>
<p>Heck, I might have to force myself to sit down and study. There’s many resources available for you that I think some students should take advantage of more. On the party scene, my roommate goes out almost every weekend and comes back in the morning hours, so there’s clearly one to keep him satisfied ;)</p>