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I'm very interested in William and Mary...but it seems like I've heard a lot of mixed reviews. I think there's no doubt that it's a beautiful school with great academics, but what is the real social atmosphere there? I've heard everyone is a little geeky and there's practically no social life, but I've also heard of typical drunk frat boy types there. I know every school will have a mixed crowd...but does anyone have a definite opinion about the general social scene there? thanks!

By Possiblymaybe (Possiblymaybe) on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 08:15 am: Edit

yes, i have heard of that mix. my experiences just come with hearing with what other people say, but i'd have to say that it's fairly conservative socially. most of the people are academically oriented and study often, but they don't exactly hibernate in some box studying all day

i'd like to say some more out of the box thinking in the school, but otherwise, it's a pretty good school.

By Girl (Girl) on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 12:34 pm: Edit

W&M is located in Williamsburg.
Williamsbug social scene? nil.
The school is far off from any real town/city, so that infringes on the ability of the students to really get out places. When I visited there, the student guide told me that while you 'don't really have to join a sorority', much of the school's party scene revolves around it.
It is a fantastic school academically and has an absolutely gorgeous campus, but it doesn't have that social high life some like at schools. Good luck!

By Macsuile (Macsuile) on Monday, July 05, 2004 - 10:41 pm: Edit

Here are some stats on William & Mary:

- Second oldest U.S. university
- Oldest U.S. law school
- Birthplace of Phi Beta Kappa
- Thomas Jefferson's alma mater
- Most selective U.S. public university
- Third highest SAT scores in the South (only Duke and Rice are higher)
- Highest entering freshman GPAs of any public university (Berkeley is close)
- Fastest growing public university endowment
- Outstanding accounting, biology, chemistry, history and physics departments

As you can see, William & Mary has an amazing academic tradition. Yes, the grading scale is somewhat deflationary and the course offerings are not as extensive as some other schools, but William & Mary is a school high on tradition which doesn't subscribe to fads where everyone graduates cum laude and there is a supermarket of course offerings. The school is committed to the British university model which is human-scale as opposed to other university models which focus on research and increasing enrollments. W&M may not be for everyone but a degree from there has timeless substance, something you can't find from most other U.S. schools which are constantly trying to reposition or recreate themselves.