<p>Do any of you parents know anything about W&M. The William and Mary forum is pretty slow so I thought maybe some of you learned about it on the search or maybe some of your children attend? How is the social life? How are it's International Relations / Public Policy program?</p>
<p>I'm instate with a 3.7ish UW GPA. About 6 APs and a few honors. In-state. Not looking for you to "chance me" or anything, just so you know.</p>
<p>We visited W&M recently when we were in VA on a vacation/business trip. IIRC the instate ration is 2/3 so you would probably have a good chance. Have you visited the campus? It's right next door to Colonial Williamsburg so you could tie it with visiting that.</p>
<p>My s narrowed his school choices to W and M and UVA. He chose UVA because they offered him an Echols scholarship but he loved William and Mary. He participated in a pre-collegiate history porgram the summer before his junior year and had a good feel for the history and international relations departments. He would have chosen W and M over Duke and Northwestern (his lesser choices to which he was admitted).</p>
<p>Nice place. I loved it when we visited. My daughter was less thrilled. She would have applied if she had not been admitted to another school ED, but it was not near the top of her list.</p>
<p>It's a bit nerdy, but so are many of the kids who choose to go there. Very academically oriented. Very friendly. Very safe. There's much less of a sports focus than at UVA, and probably less excitement generally. But it could be a great school for the right kid, and your stats are in the ballpark.</p>
<p>We visited W&M with my daughter and loved it. </p>
<p>My view of W&M is that it's a unique school with particular strengths, and either the school is a fit for you or it isn't. The academics are very strong, and some people would say that the school is TOO difficult. I work with a young woman who graduated from there, and she says it's rough on the psyche to work so hard and get low grades anyway! She feels that the school is tougher than it needs to be. So if you like working hard and being challenged, it's a great place to be. </p>
<p>I also heard from someone else (second-hand information alert!) that the frat/sorority scene is pretty dominant. My friend knows someone who tried to pledge to a sorority but was turned down. The experience left her with a bad feeling, and because the campus isn't that large, she kept bumping into her would-be sisters. It look her a while to get over that, but she eventually did and enjoyed going to school there. So how you feel about Greek life would matter a lot.</p>
<p>W&M has a beautiful campus filled with history. Can you spend some time on campus and talk to people who go there? I must say you Virginians are very fortunate to have such wonderful in-state public colleges! Best of luck!</p>
<p>You'd have to visit to see if it's a fit for you. D visited it and wrote it off her list for pretty much the same reasons she wrote off Davidson College. But then again she wanted the whole college experience, D1 football team and the likes. A friend's son and hated it and transferred the next year. Very tough to get into especially for a girl. D's friend was rejected with stellar grades and acceptances to top universities.</p>
<p>D applied last year and was accepted OOS.</p>
<p>We visited the campus last spring--though after classes were out so only summer students were on campus. </p>
<p>I was very impressed by the school. D less so--mostly because of its location and the lack of a social scene off campus. </p>
<p>Very pretty campus. The library is ranked among the best undergrad libraries in the country. Brand new Bio and Chem building. And what impressed me the most was the accessibility of the faculty. Adcom who worked with us was friendly, knowledgable and willing to spend time one-on-one. Also D was just walking through the bio building and knocked on a open door. The prof was quite pleasant. He spoke with her for about an hour about the department and the programs available. (He and d hit it off. He actually asked d if she wanted to: a)come work for him in his research lab and b) come work for him as a babysitter for his kids...)</p>
<p>All of students we ran into in campus town were friendly and enthusiastic about the school. (Of course, it turned out 2 of them were current or former tour guides.)</p>
<p>Amtrak station within easy walking distance of campus and the school runs shuttles to both the Norfolk and Richmond airports. </p>
<p>But, that said unless you have a car and are willing to drive, there's not a whole lot of nightlife in Williamsburg. And "campustown" is really a misnomer since it's actually more like the tourist shopping area for Colonial Williamsburg. That didn't go over well with D at all.</p>
<p>Ultimately, d decided on another school. (Because it showed her more love in terms of merit aid.)</p>
<p>I just now returned from Parent's (Family) weekend, reminded again of the beauty of the campus. D is a sophomore who chose William and Mary for its size, reputation, and location. It is certainly academically-oriented, but grading seems fair and all of the professors she has had are caring, competent, communicative, approachable, and helpful. (There was a thread a year or so ago that discussed whether or not its reputation for crushing workloads and grade deflation are deserved, and most of the current students contended that it's not nearly that bad). My D is not a social butterfly but has not had a problem finding social and other kinds of activities, both on and off campus, to keep her interested and occupied. She has no interest in sororities and doesn't feel like she loses anything because of this; on the other hand, she has several friends who are in sororities, so they don't seem particularly exclusive. This year, she seems to have more of a problem figuring out what to leave out of her social/organizational agenda to leave time for studying and exercise (and sleep).</p>
<p>Although my D is doing sciences (at least for now) it's clear that the college is heavily invested in IR. One of the lectures I attended this morning was by a professor in the Global Studies department, who is hopeful that area will be expanding also.</p>
<p>Good luck; hope you can visit.</p>
<p>"The William and Mary forum is pretty slow ...."</p>
<p>That's because the students are overwhemlingly introverts. Wonderful school though.</p>
<p>we visited W & M and thought it absolutely gorgeous. superior academics and tradition. my d was accepted, but chose UVA instead. she wanted a more diverse feel, and greater social challenge. ( she didn't care a whoot about the sports! :) ) she talked with high school peers who chose W & M and was unsettled by their desire for an insulated , more protected feel. she wanted the opposite. but the 2 schools are identical academically. the choice is really about the student's personality.</p>
<p>My S chose W&M over the three large state Us and some other excellent universities. He just liked something about it, and wanted rigorous academics and a nerdy peer group. He's a sophomore now. Because we've lived in NYC since he was four, W'burg is exotic to him!</p>
<p>I missed this thread when it came up last week because I was [having a wonderful time!] at W & M's Family Weekend. As the parent of a grad and a freshman, my impressions differ from some of the posters above. </p>
<p>I think the comments about the strong academics are very accurate. As to how difficult it is to do well grade-wise - that's true in many cases, though there was a thread on the W & M forum last year that suggested it's easier than is commonly thought. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-william-mary/428312-anyone-here-attend-w-m-now.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-william-mary/428312-anyone-here-attend-w-m-now.html</a> I think this has much to do with majors and individual professors. </p>
<p>My oldest d found all the social opportunities she wanted. She was in a serious relationship with a guy in a fraternity for 3 years, though she didn't pursue Greek life herself, and that was ... involving, I guess you could say. She was also very involved in a club sport, which sponsored parties and outings and other stuff. It seems true that there isn't as much going on off campus in Williamsburg as there might be in a bigger city, so kids who want off-campus social opportunities would do well to look elsewhere. My youngest d is outgoing, like her older sister, and actually has found more socializing than she needs or wants - so far, at least. </p>
<p>I really do have to disagree with the statement above that W & M students are "overwhelmingly introverts." I have never received this impression during many visits over our 8-year history with this school. It's certainly not in keeping with the Mug Night tradition at the Green Leafe - nor with the W & M Triathlon, which features as one of its events a naked run across the Sunken Garden. This struck me, on our last visit, as a very loooong distance to cover when naked.</p>
<p>I also have to disagree with the 'introverts' comment. One part of my family has three generations of women who have attended W&M since the 1940's. They are all very outgoing, and absolutely loved it there.</p>
<p>My sister, my oldest niece, and my favorite nephew (neither of whom is a child of my sister) are all graduates - three very different people, each of whom was truly happy there. All were very academically focused, and not one of them is an introvert. </p>
<p>It's a great school. Still, I'd agree with the other posters who've said that visiting is a good idea. W&M exerts a strong pull for some, but not everybody will feel it.</p>