University of Mary Washington

[Anonymous]

Senior DD is looking at Mary Washington for an unusual major that’s very strong at UMW. Neither DD or our family in general are rankings snobs, so I’m not worried about the fact that she has the stats for higher-ranked schools. She’s much more concerned about the strength and opportunities within her major.

Can anyone tell me about the student body at UMW? Could a nerdy out-of-state kid find her people? How’s the school in general?

[Anonymous]

My best friend was a nerdy out of state kid at Mary Washington and definitely found her people there. I also have a friend who went there who is now a professional costumer for a major theater company. It just depends on fit.

[Anonymous]

I’m a Mary Washington grad from back when it was MWC. My dd, who is a HS senior, is planning to apply although she also has
some higher-rated schools on her list. Mary Washington is a great school with great professors and the focus is on quality undergraduate teaching. Students aren’t just a number there, and build relationships with faculty and staff who can help them in their career search or with grad school applications. UMW has some very strong and well respected majors. The students are smart and well-rounded, but don’t care as much about what others think concerning the prestige. They are the A-/B+ students who care about academics, but don’t want a pressure cooker environment but a friendly environment with excellent professors. It is a true liberal arts school that requires students to take classes in different disciplines in order to graduate.

[Anonymous]

My only concern about being an OOS kid there is the number of kids who tend to go home on the weekends. It's by no means everyone, but the campus definitely feels emptier on the weekends than some other schools would.

[Anonymous]

Is the unusual major the Historical Preservation major?

My DD is applying to MW plus some higher ranked schools. That said, its her second choice (right behind an ultra reach). We are in state, but her cousin, from Massachusetts graduated from there a few years ago and had not problem finding her people. I have a friend who is a UMW grad who holds a "Deputy Chief" position in the federal government and another who is an executive at a large well known company.
They all loved their experience at MW, which I found encouraging.

The one thing that gave me pause was their graduation rate which is lower than some other schools. It won't prevent my DD from going, but just something to keep in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My only concern about being an OOS kid there is the number of kids who tend to go home on the weekends. It's by no means everyone, but the campus definitely feels emptier on the weekends than some other schools would.

We are in state and looking at Mary Washington and this is my concern. Can anyone with a kid there in the past few years speak to this. The school is small and in a small town - seems like if even a small % leave, the school would be boring.

[Anonymous]

My friend’s SN kid almost went there. She is attending Randolph instead (freshman now) to take advantage of their 2-class-at-once program for students who struggle. But until they learned about the special program at Randolph, MW was their first choice. This is a very liberal “alternative” type kid who struggled socially in FCPS but thought they would fit in well at MW.

[Anonymous]

My wife went in the 2010s - from visiting it was a bit quiet on the weekends, although there were off campus parties and a surprising amount of campus run events/activities, more than the bigger school I went to. Plenty of your kids type of people at the time. Don't know about since Covid.

[Anonymous]

It's been a few years for me, but the Mary Washington students were always known for being down to earth and friendly. It's on the smaller side, and has more engaged professors than the larger universities, where most classes are taught by TA's.

It's not a party school, but there is plenty to do - kids hang out and have fun like anywhere else, and the campus has plenty of clubs and activities, but you won't find an abundance of wild keggers every weekend like you would at some other schools in VA. This is a good thing for some kids, and "boring" to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years for me, but the Mary Washington students were always known for being down to earth and friendly. It's on the smaller side, and has more engaged professors than the larger universities, where most classes are taught by TA's.

It's not a party school, but there is plenty to do - kids hang out and have fun like anywhere else, and the campus has plenty of clubs and activities, but you won't find an abundance of wild keggers every weekend like you would at some other schools in VA. This is a good thing for some kids, and "boring" to others.

NP. I’m another alum from when it was MWC. I absolutely loved my four years there; however, I do think the school has changed quite a bit since I attended (late 80s/90).

It was very much a school where parties were in abundance on the weekends, including “wild keggers” and the usual dorm parties found on most college campuses. The students were smart, mainstream kids. I think the demographics have changed quite a bit since then as the school seems to be quite left-leaning now. Not saying that’s good or bad, just an observation.

Most kids did not go home on the weekends when I was there, though for many of us, it was nice to have that option. Several of my friends were OOS, so definitely weren’t heading home often. Fredericksburg is a cute, historic little town with some nice restaurants and shops, but most action takes place on campus.

I loved the school because there was plenty of socializing/parties without any Greek scene and I received an excellent education to boot. It’s a hidden gem for the right student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Senior DD is looking at Mary Washington for an unusual major that’s very strong at UMW. Neither DD or our family in general are rankings snobs, so I’m not worried about the fact that she has the stats for higher-ranked schools. She’s much more concerned about the strength and opportunities within her major.

Can anyone tell me about the student body at UMW? Could a nerdy out-of-state kid find her people? How’s the school in general?

Very dear friend's son went there after getting waitlisted at UVA and VT and William and Mary, as an "average" gpa student at a governor's school who had SAT above 1400 (around avg at this gov school). He was bored out of his mind, said MW was ridiculously easy, similar to his 10th grade gov school year, before he did all the APs. He found the peers nice but not smart at all and not academically inclined. The plan the whole time was get the 4.0 for the first year and transfer. He got into all three as a transfer and graduated UVA 2 yrs ago. UVA was not super hard for him but was double the work of MW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Senior DD is looking at Mary Washington for an unusual major that’s very strong at UMW. Neither DD or our family in general are rankings snobs, so I’m not worried about the fact that she has the stats for higher-ranked schools. She’s much more concerned about the strength and opportunities within her major.

Can anyone tell me about the student body at UMW? Could a nerdy out-of-state kid find her people? How’s the school in general?

Very dear friend's son went there after getting waitlisted at UVA and VT and William and Mary, as an "average" gpa student at a governor's school who had SAT above 1400 (around avg at this gov school). He was bored out of his mind, said MW was ridiculously easy, similar to his 10th grade gov school year, before he did all the APs. He found the peers nice but not smart at all and not academically inclined. The plan the whole time was get the 4.0 for the first year and transfer. He got into all three as a transfer and graduated UVA 2 yrs ago. UVA was not super hard for him but was double the work of MW.

Good insight here ^^

[Anonymous]

It ranked #9 in Top Public Liberal Arts Schools-

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/top-public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It ranked #9 in Top Public Liberal Arts Schools-

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/top-public

Ain't many public liberal arts schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years for me, but the Mary Washington students were always known for being down to earth and friendly. It's on the smaller side, and has more engaged professors than the larger universities, where most classes are taught by TA's.

It's not a party school, but there is plenty to do - kids hang out and have fun like anywhere else, and the campus has plenty of clubs and activities, but you won't find an abundance of wild keggers every weekend like you would at some other schools in VA. This is a good thing for some kids, and "boring" to others.

NP. I’m another alum from when it was MWC. I absolutely loved my four years there; however, I do think the school has changed quite a bit since I attended (late 80s/90).

It was very much a school where parties were in abundance on the weekends, including “wild keggers” and the usual dorm parties found on most college campuses. The students were smart, mainstream kids. I think the demographics have changed quite a bit since then as the school seems to be quite left-leaning now. Not saying that’s good or bad, just an observation.

Most kids did not go home on the weekends when I was there, though for many of us, it was nice to have that option. Several of my friends were OOS, so definitely weren’t heading home often. Fredericksburg is a cute, historic little town with some nice restaurants and shops, but most action takes place on campus.

I loved the school because there was plenty of socializing/parties without any Greek scene and I received an excellent education to boot. It’s a hidden gem for the right student.

I also think Mary Washington has changed quite a bit and its reputation doesn’t seem as strong as it once was. I’m not sure what happened. I attended in the late 80’s/early 90’s when it was just behind UVA and W&M. Many of my classmates chose MW over JMU and Tech, and Christopher Newport wasn’t even a consideration back then. I hope that UMW will regain its status because it really does have a lot to offer. I think the change from a college to a university was a mistake and they tried to grow too quickly but it backfired.