William and Mary feedback

[Anonymous]

DD is interested in premed, she will be the first person from our family to attend college, any experience with this college?

[Anonymous]

It’s a Tier 1 VA State School (along with UVA and VT in the areas of engineering and CS)

It’s probably the smallest top tier state school in the nation. So smaller classes and more professor interaction. It’s also one of the most expensive.

Less emphasis on Greek life and sports than many other state schools. Strong fine arts community. Students have a reputation for being “nerdy”. It’s definitely not a party school.

Well known and well respected. It is the second oldest college in the US. Especially well respected for international relations, government and history.

Getting in out of NOVA is hard. For borderline kids, visiting, interviewing and applying ED (demonstrated interest) helps a lot. High test scores can also give you a bump.

Slightly earlier admission for males because the applicant pool skews female (and the school itself skews female).

You would want to ask them about their med school admissions numbers.

[Anonymous]

I think the school is strong in Science. Try to talk to some pre-med kids there, to hear how supported they feel. We went to a panel, and were a bit turned off by the woman who (this was a couple of years ago) advised all of them. But that might have been a one off.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that the school is strong on political science, history, and global studies as well. I visited with DD in the Fall and she loved it. It is our top choice so far (she's a junior). Campus is beautiful and unique.

[Anonymous]

I've got a kid who is currently a sophomore there, and largely agree with the previous 3 posts. He went in planning to double major in Computer Science and Spanish (Hispanic Studies), but has ditched the Spanish major in favor of Math. Its relatively expensive for a state school, but still cheaper than private. He has had good direct interaction with several professors in different departments, which I think is a hallmark of the WM experience.

[Anonymous]

I love w&m - didn’t go there but many in my family did (I was a lazy HS student). One of the main cons I hear about it, though, is that the work is hard and grading is tough. I also hear that undergrad GPA a is very important for med school. That’s potentially a bad combination. So I would be concerned about pre med at W&M for that reason alone.

[Anonymous]

It's top in the country for Chinese, it has an excellent overseas program with Scottish and other universities.
I'd be thrilled if either of my kids attended.

[Anonymous]

Heard it’s where fun goes to die

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I don’t know where you got “tops in the country for Chinese” from. Do you have an accompanying cite for this claim?
UC schools (Berkeley, UCLA, Davis), Wisconsin, Indiana all are very strong publics for Chinese. Also, Pomona, Wake Forest, and yes, Notre Dame and WashU out of the privates, among others.

[Anonymous]

It's for a certain type of kid. My DD toured it and didn't like it at all. Not to say it isn't an excellent school, but wasn't for her.

[Anonymous]

Read previous threads, OP
I remember that “What’s wrong with William and Mary” one

[Anonymous]

I am at UVA but all the students in the graduate program from W & M are absolutely delightful and smart and driven but not in the borderline insane way that kids that did UVA undergrad are.

My experience is limited and my sample size small, but I've always thought of the kids that W & M turns out to be just wonderful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is interested in premed, she will be the first person from our family to attend college, any experience with this college?

It's a great school for premed or prelaw for Virginians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love w&m - didn’t go there but many in my family did (I was a lazy HS student). One of the main cons I hear about it, though, is that the work is hard and grading is tough. I also hear that undergrad GPA a is very important for med school. That’s potentially a bad combination. So I would be concerned about pre med at W&M for that reason alone.

That's the reputation, but the undergrad GPA is no different than schools like UVA and has had very significant grade inflation. The average undergrad GPA was a 3.33 in 2014 (compared to a 3.32 at UVA in 2013), and I'm sure it's higher now.

https://www.gradeinflation.com/Williamandmary.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love w&m - didn’t go there but many in my family did (I was a lazy HS student). One of the main cons I hear about it, though, is that the work is hard and grading is tough. I also hear that undergrad GPA a is very important for med school. That’s potentially a bad combination. So I would be concerned about pre med at W&M for that reason alone.

That's the reputation, but the undergrad GPA is no different than schools like UVA and has had very significant grade inflation. The average undergrad GPA was a 3.33 in 2014 (compared to a 3.32 at UVA in 2013), and I'm sure it's higher now.

https://www.gradeinflation.com/Williamandmary.html

Gotta remember that UVA has an engineering school + UVA is work hard, play hard.