William and Mary: Academic rigor?
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Anonymous
| We are new to VA. Curious about the academic rigor for W&M. Anyone with experience watching their kid from NoVa go there and feel successful, supported academically? Is it competitive? Is it a grind culture? Our tour was rather flat on academics, more look see / ooh aah to the campus & the fixation on the new building/ stem programs. Our DC might not even get in, given stats, but would like to know what the learning and study culture is like. TIA |
Anonymous
| By reputation, William and Mary is pretty rigorous from an academic standpoint. But my 2024 grad generally found the classes to be not too hard, and he did very well. |
Anonymous
| This has been a productive thread. |
Anonymous
| So the main school that people are going to compare W&M with is UVA, as they're generally seen (depending on what you're looking for) as the top two public schools in Virginia. In terms of incoming class, they're pretty equal, academically, as seen by the Common Data Sets. The most recent year we have both data sets is 2024–2025, where we see 25th/50th/75th percentile SAT scores for UVA of 1410 / 1470 / 1520, and the same scores for W&M of 1400 / 1470 / 1530. (That's with roughly 45% reporting for both schools.) So in that regards, they're pretty much dead even. |
Anonymous
If you think your kid’s stats might not be enough to get in, then the level of rigor is more than sufficient for them. |
Anonymous
| W&M has a very solid academic reputation, but it’s not considered cut-throat, and students also have a reputation for being kind. It’s really ideal in so many ways! |
Anonymous
Academically, the university provides ample support. This includes not only academics, but also real, social and emotional support for those in need. W&M truly tries to support the whole student, not just the academic learner. Student services is really helpful and willing , as far as mental health counseling services, provided on campus or with referrals to appropriate experts where appropriate. |
Anonymous
Only 45% reporting is not even close to representative of the whole student body. |
Anonymous
|
W&M is a rigorous academic institution that seeks out curious and inquisitive students. It is not a cutthroat school and kids genuinely care about one another. Not a rah rah big sports school like UVA and Greek life exists but isn’t the be all end all type of thing like at some schools.
There will be W&M haters on DCUM as is the case for UVA as well. Better admit chances if you ED. Tougher admit for women than men. |
Anonymous
|
W&M is a rigorous academic institution that seeks out curious and inquisitive students. It is not a cutthroat school and kids genuinely care about one another. Not a rah rah big sports school like UVA and Greek life exists but isn’t the be all end all type of thing like at some schools.
There will be W&M haters on DCUM as is the case for UVA as well. Better admit chances if you ED. Tougher admit for women than men. |
Anonymous
| I think of W&M as the best "academic arbitrage" value out there. Fiske lists W&M at their highest tier for academics — along with only 13 other midsize schools (at least in the book I have access to) — and because of how USNWR changed their ranking algorithm a few years ago, W&M dropped on the National Universities list significantly. But (as has been noted a ton in threads here) the things that really matter for undergraduate education didn't really change at W&M — there are still full professors advising students, fantastic professor/student connections, research opportunities for undergrads (even freshmen), and professors committed to undergraduate teaching. In some ways, I think it's a shame that the USNWR rank for W&M is lower than it would be their algorithm were different; in other ways, I think that dynamic serves it well, as people focused on prestige-over-everything chase other schools, and I think the school is much better off for it. |
Anonymous
Despite being named after a King, the school itself is very progressive. William & Mary is committed to fostering an inclusive environment for LGBTQIA+ students, as well as BIPOCS, providing resources and support to ensure they feel safe and respected on campus. The university has policies in place to protect against discrimination in any form, but especially based on race, religion (or lack of), or sexual orientation and gender identity. |
Anonymous
| W&M's excellent academic reputation is well known beyond Virginia. The tour guide shouldn't need to convince you that they have an excellent academic experience there. |
Anonymous
Oh, absolutely! OP here - I want to know what this means in terms of grind for kids who are the AP, intellectually curious type from NOVA & whether the students there feel in competition with one another. Others seem to indicate that culture doesn't exist, but kids do get challenged academically. Again, no way to know if DC could make the admissions, but we worry about burn out. We see kids in junior year burning out and we don't want our kid to feel this way in college. |
Anonymous
Correct. They deflate more than elite schools for sure, and the courses themselves are challenging. The professors give more C range grades than are given at elites but they remain the minority often around 1/3 of any given stem course. There is no regurgitation of homework problems to get an A and one must invest a lot of time studying for the more difficult courses. Anyone who is borderline to get in should expect 3.5 Gpa and that will be with hard work. |