College of William & Mary
Reviews

Great Friends, Great Academics

I'm an out-of-state student so I came to william and mary knowing no one. Orientation is done very well, and I soon found ~20-30 friends that I hang out with frequently. A lot of my friends back home talk about having trouble getting used to living away from home, but william and mary is very close-knit. Professors actually seem to care about the subject, and whether or not you understand something. Definitely an improvement compared to some other college's classes I've sat in on.

Limited School Spirit

The athletic events at William and Mary are fun to attend, but football and basketball games are not well attended. Students care more about academic excellence than the football team.

Earl Greg Swem Library

Studying at William and Mary is strongly emphasized. Everyone pushes themselves to work hard and get good grades. Those who go above and beyond are highly respected. We pride ourselves on our studying habits and our willingness to work hard to learn. We like to feel challenged. Our library, Earl Greg Swem Library, staff bends over backwards in order to help us to research whatever we need. The professors are always willing to help; just visit them during their office hours. The amount of workload depends on the professor and the course itself. Registration for classes can be a hassle; it becomes a campus wide event as each grade competes within its own class on certain days to get into the classes. For example, the seniors get top priority and have their registration first; they will compete with each other to get their own classes.

Everything I Wanted and More

I've found all the close personal friendships I hoped for in a smallish school like William & Mary as well as so much that I never could have expected. I anticipated the challenging yet rewarding academics but these surpassed even my estimates. The professors are extremely accessible and grant the school much of its charm. Opportunities for new friendships are endless and it is extremely easy to get involved in any kind of extracurricular organization. Basically, it boils down to a collection of amazing people learning from even more amazing professors all in a spirit of community that does well to distinguish the school from other oft-compared schools (UVA)

Safe Haven

At all times I feel a sense of security on William and Mary's campus, as well as in the surrounding area. I have never had to lock my dorm room, and feel safe traveling at night. With the nation's oldest honor code, students respect each other's belongings and act appropriately.

Underage Nightlife

There's usually something to do when nighttime rolls around. However some nights when nothing is really happening on campus, you could always go to the movies or just hang out with friends. Sometimes, I have to go the lab to do work and work with my peers.

Stuff to Do, but It Gets Repetitive

Williamsburg itself is probably the biggest drawback to the school, unless you really, really, really love the colonial period (which some students do admire). There are the local delis (bars), the infamous Wawa, New Town (shopping and movies), and other places to visit, but overall, you find yourself at the same locations a lot.

What is food?

Over the course of my time here, it gets progressively harder to convince myself to eat. Because I have classes during what would be considered "meal times" it seems to be impossible to ever get there when they serve food. They say hours are from 7am to 8pm or so, but there are intervals where they are not actually serving anything (thus by swiping in you waste $10.35). There is always salad and usually pizza, but one can only eat this so many times before wondering why they have a meal plan. The worst thing is the breakfast for dinner that happens at least once a week. Also, the lack of sanitation of silverware and cups is appalling. No wonder everyone's always sick.

Excellent

The classes here are top-notch. They're interesting, professors tend to rock, and though the core is a little excessive at times (3 History Classes!?) they're rather broad so you can take things at your skill level and that are interesting to you.

My one complaint is registration, I tend to have terrible luck with banner. Granted I always end up loving my classes anyway.

William and Mary: Too Safe?

I have never felt unsafe on campus at William and Mary, regardless of the hour. This is partly due to the "good behavior" of students and others around campus, but also due to the EXCESSIVE police presence. On tours, our tour guides brag about the police presence here, but since they do not have many useful things to do, they go out of their way to get involved where they do not need to; this also goes for police from the City of Williamsburg. Parties are hardly ever allowed to take place--the police jump on them immediately--despite how small many of them are, especially compared to other schools. One time, 6 of my friends were hanging out watching television and received a noise violation. Ironically, the police are actually a detriment to the safety of the area at times. I have heard of multiple situations where the police followed a "Steer Clear" van, the transportation service provided by William and Mary for intoxicated students. After reaching a stop, the police officers looked for visibly intoxicated students, approached them, and cited them for public drunkenness. This also happened to 2 others who were walking and were barely intoxicated--the police were just looking for an excuse to get someone in trouble. Later, they claimed that their reasoning was that "the 2 looked under 18 and, therefore, would have been out past curfew" (a very logical argument when located in a college town). Naturally, this has encouraged some students to drive drunk in order to avoid such run-ins with the police.

Meal Plans: an Unfortunate Necessity, at Least Once

As only a sophomore, I already regret getting such a large meal plan with 19 meals a week. The meal plans at William and Mary are a waste of money for someone with any time whatsoever to go off campus and put together a relatively healthy meal. Options on campus vary greatly from one dining hall to another, but within each one, meals get very repetitive. At the main dining hall, which is unfortunately my most convenient option, the food is of VERY low quality. Along with the repetitive meal options which include chicken patty sandwiches, meatloaf, and "breakfast for dinner," very strange options often arise, such as "beef-stuffed green peppers." The salad bar is limited and even the ranch dressing tastes weird. Remarkably, the pizza is actually one of the worst things offered, despite how easy it is to make pizza and the fact that it is made every single day for lunch and dinner. Silverware and dishes are often dirty, with white scum lines on cups and black scum in the cereal bowls. Cleanliness is hardly maintained when it comes to the food either. Between myself and friends, I have seen or heard of hairs in panini sandwiches, a blue Starburst wrapper in a piece of baked fish, a fingernail in baked apples, a grasshopper in the ice machine, and a piece of a plastic bag in a grilled cheese. Thankfully my stomach has been very tolerant, but some people even feel sick after eating at "The Caf." The meal plans are also extremely expensive and, in my opinion, unfair. The price for plans with 10, 14, and 19 meals a week is the same; the difference is the amount of "Flex" dollars that one gets along with the meals. Unfortunately, by having a weekly system, meals are naturally wasted each week. It is also very unclear which meal plans have "guest swipes" to swipe in a friend--thats right, you cannot even use an extra meal to help out someone else--so if someone loses or forgets their student ID, a meal costs $10.35. There is a large grocery store within a fairly reasonable walking distance of campus, so with any spare time, one should get a meal plan freshman year and try as hard as possible to avoid dining halls afterwards.

Pros and Cons

Finding someone attractive and laid back can be a challenge, but if you do they are bound to be intelligent and have a high earning potential. Gays and Lesbians have a lot better odds here than most other schools probably, our gay scene is pretty big proportionally. Most students are in relatively good shape (not partying much will do that...) On the downside the school is small enough that you pretty much know the relationship history and sexual past of most people. For how liberal the school is, students dress pretty conservatively and girls get a lot of flack for showing skin.

JOKE

The worst part of my experience at WM by far. There is some truth to the "it's as fun as you make it" philosophy but you have to work pretty hard to find fun places to go and cool people to go with. In retrospect, I wish I had gone greek because it's possible to establish yourself and have a good time without pledging but it would have been a lot easier. There are a total of 3 bars...but that is actually enough because so few students can make it out of the library long enough to enjoy themselves at night. On the plus side- most off campus parties and the bars are basically in walking distance.

Accepting

W&M is extremely accepting of every variety of sexual orientation. Our homecoming queen was a transgendered pre-op male> female a few years ago. There are also a lot of international students. I ended up with an extremely diverse group of friends but many people do stick to similar types. I love that it's a school that encourages individual expression and there are a lot of different student activist groups. There is a huge liberal presence, and conservatives/republicans are hated on sometimes.

Colonial Thrilliamsburg...

The College of William & Mary is in a bubble isolated from the community and society in general. Our close proximity to colonial williamsburg makes tourism the main priority of the area. This leads to a frustrating parking situation, expensive off campus housing with lots of regulations, and old rich neighbors who suck the fun out of everything. There are a total of three "delis" or bars where students drink and only about 25% of the students go out regularly so you see the same people all the time. Cops break up almost every decent party. It is certainly not a typical college experience. On the positive side, it's a pretty safe place to party and live and there is a sweet outlet mall close by.

Facilities Are Limited

William and Mary isn't a very big school. We have one main library, three main eating spots, and one rec center. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it handles the amount of traffic pretty well.

Friendly

In every organizations I have been in Greek and non-Greek everyone at William and Mary is for the most part a really nice and genuine person. I think people are somewhat shocked about how nice people are at the school but everyone is always willing to help you out or hang out with new people. I think that also goes for Greek life. Everyone ends up hanging out with each other the sororities in particular are never exclusive.

Greek Life

I think the Greek life is good at William and Mary. Joining as a Sophomore I often felt that Greek life would offer more parties and events to participate in, I don't think you have to be Greek to have a great time but I do think it makes a difference because an organization is planning events for you to go to when you are Greek.

Go Greek.

go greek if you're a girl, because you'll meet guys in fraternities who will tell you about parties going on. if you're a guy, definitely go greek so you can get into the parties once they become exclusive after rush!

Study Abroad

The study abroad office will help you find any academic program at a price you can afford in a country you want to study in. They are amazing!

Recreation Center

Great group classes. Variety of machines to choose from with great hours.

Professors

Most personal and dedicated instructors. Very inspirational.

Girls Vs. Boys

The females here are kind of lacking in the looks department. There are few good looking girls who are social and often times these girls get snatched up pretty quickly and are dating someone. They also don't really care about the way they dress. Lots of sweatpants and fewer miniskirts. The guys aren't nearly as bad. Girls/guys who participate in greek life are exponentially more social than those that don't. They are also a lot more fun.

Available but Neighbors and Costs Are Awful

There are lots of options for convenient rental houses off campus but landlords charge exorbitant amounts for small space and do not take care of their properties. The neighbors of most houses are awful and the relationship between the Williamsburg community and off-campus students is terrible.

Sports Are Not Top Priority

There are great athletic facilities and our teams are decent based on our school's size however, there is little support by the student body.