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I am looking at a bunch of small liberal arts colleges and I came across Washington College in Md. because of their NHS Scholarship of 40,000. I know that this school is definitely a safety for me, but does any one know anything about this school?

Thank you

By Antigone (Antigone) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 07:45 pm: Edit

it's very small (1300 kids I think) and the campus is really old. The academics are average but challenging enough and there aren't TOO many programs. They have a steadt study abroad and extracurrics for everyone and I'm sure it's a pretty nice school but it's my safety too....

By Winterfresh (Winterfresh) on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 12:07 pm: Edit

My friend is a freshman there and she loves it. She says there's some things to do in Chestertown but most people go to Annapolis to have fun. There are many international students (especially Japanese, she says). 10% of the students are minorities which I guess is pretty good for a small school. The dorms are nice (her and her roommate were lucky to get the biggest room in their dorm!) and people are really friendly. That's basically all she told me about it. Also, if you apply EA or ED, you must visit the campus, it's like a requirement.

By Willywonka (Willywonka) on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - 08:26 pm: Edit

I'm a junior in high school and got a call from a Washington College student today to answer questions about the school.

Luckily, since it's an in-state college that seems to be appealing in several ways to me, I had already looked into it. The main thing that got my attention was the financial aid and unique location. I don't think it's in my top five for schools, or anything, but I may as well make a visit out there soon just to see what it's like.

I've got a friend in 12th grade who will be attending next year.

By Bohunter (Bohunter) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 01:43 pm: Edit

Washington College is a great small school, offering a lot of direct student-professor interaction and a safe environment. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is beautiful and the campus is clean and pretty. There are only 1300 students.

The college was founded in 1782, making it one of the oldest schools in the nation. It's founder, William Smith, is considered the father of American collegiate education. He was president of Penn, and founded other schools including St. John's, in nearby Annapolis, and Hobart and Wm. Smith Colleges in New York.

I am a freshman at Washington. I am a recipient of both the NHS scholarship and Financial Aid. The college is very generous.

This year, the college moved to the top hundred liberal arts schools in the nation, though anyone who knows the school well says that it is underestimated.

Any questions, ask me. I will try and help.

By Pattykk (Pattykk) on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 10:06 am: Edit

Thanks for the offer of help. How rigorous are the academics, and what are the strongest departments? What do you do for fun? Is there a lot of heavy drinking? How influential are the frats?

By Bohunter (Bohunter) on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 01:41 pm: Edit

The academics are fairly rigorous, but manageable. As a graduate of a competitive prep school, I have not felt any huge increase in expectations. The strongest departments are probably the English and Creative Writing Majors, followed by the Sciences, especially Psychology. There is a great Lit House where writers can apply for personal space to work in. There are also a bunch of writing scholarships, and a huge prize of $60,000 given to a senior each year for an outstanding composition.

I am a Business Major: this is also a good program. A lot of people are Political Science majors, or International Studies majors. These programs are strong because of our proximity to D.C. A lot of international students come here, too, and there is an International House where both international and American students in that major often live. (And no, they don't serve pancakes).

There are a lot of things to do for fun. There are a number of clubs, which you can look at on the college website. The college itself is in a quaint little town on a river, making all water activities popular. I am a rower on the crew team( I rowed in HS as well), and I also sail in my free time. The college has a great fleet of boats. If you do not know how to do these things, there are courses offered in them.

The social scene, as at any small college, is somewhat governed by groups such as teams, clubs, frats, but there is an overall friedliness. In a school with only 1300 students, nobody turns someone away from their party. Drinking is fairly prominent on the social scene, which will be true at any college, especially ones that are fairly isolated in small towns. For the over-21 crowd, there are local bars. Otherwise, people chill with friends on campus. The frat system is popular with students, but it is a totally different experience than you might have at a large university. Again, people are generally inclusive.

A good social alternative to drinking is to enjoy the central location of the college. A one and a half hour drive can get you to Philadelphia, Baltimore, or D.C. There are tons of fun things to take advantage of there, and you can always find someone to go with you.

Also, if you play a varsity sport like I do, there are training rules that will prohibit your friends from drinking 24 hours before practice(and practice is every day usually), and 48 hours before a competition. In other words, during season you are pretty much dry. It is not hard to find a crowd that doesn't drink too much, if you are worried about that. It is also easy to find crowds that do drink a lot.

There is little drug use on campus.

By 2dsdad (2dsdad) on Tuesday, May 04, 2004 - 10:03 am: Edit

My daughter applied to Washington College. We are from a western state a couple of thousand miles from MD and I believe she first found out about it through reading the description of the school in the Fiske Guide. Certainly no one around here has ever heard of it. From the beginning of the admissions process she has been interested in LACs, which are usually small and usually located in smaller communities, so the issues about the town and location have not been major factors for her. She visited the school twice, including an overnight on campus, and was very impressed with the faculty and students she met.

She is a member of NHS (and also a NMS finalist) and so was offered the 10,000/year. Of all the schools she applied to I think the Washington College Admissions Office took the most personal interest in her of any. For example, when she went for her overnight visit she was met not just by her student host but also by the AdCom member handling her application. They tried very hard to make sure that she got to see and do what she wanted on her visits and that not only my daughter's questions were answered but also ours.

My daughter may major in English/Creative Writing and she felt the department and support at Washington College was really good. She ultimately accepted the offer from Kenyon College, another small school with an English department with an excellent reputation, but was torn between the two. I would agree with an earlier poster that this college is underrated. I would encourage anyone to ignore the rankings and the lack of name recognition and go take a look yourself.