William and Mary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll never fail to be amazed by the dumb things moms on here freak out about. Oh no how dare students eat at a 24 hour place right next to campus that's so quirky and weird they should be hanging out in a c*ke den in the basement of a frat house instead. Like please spare us your unwanted and meaningless judgement.

NP-Pot meet kettle, this sounds like unwanted and meaningless judgement the other way.

+1
No one was judging the late-night eating. So many overreactions here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is the perfect example of why people describe W&M as a place for “quirky” kids. Elite level tap dancing boy, nerf gun wars, and hanging out at the Wawa…

Hmm doesn't seem like this isn't not judging

[Anonymous]

*is not judging

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Involved with nerf club at WM. On Saturday nights, they take over academic buildings for elaborate nerf games. Some “pre-game,” but a lot are sober. A great way to socialize on weekends if drinking/ parties aren’t your thing. After that, a large group hangs out post midnight at Wawa with kids coming from Greek events.

Also very involved in a language house, a music ensemble and the WM orchestra (not a music major or minor).

Bikes everywhere and says the bus works very well. Only needs to a Uber rarely. Says they would prefer not to have a car on campus because biking plus bus works well, and parking is a mess.

Did a summer overseas and loved it. Planning to do a semester next year.

Loves the school and living their best life.

Gotta ask, why are kids hanging out post midnight at the Wawa???

It’s a WM thing.

https://flathatnews.com/2022/11/14/late-night-wawa-trivia/

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/wawa-love-letter

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/8-wm-students

Are they really hanging out at the Wawa, or simply buying their $6 hoagie at 12am and then sitting outside eating it.

It is directly across the street from the W&M campus. UPenn has 3 Wawa's across the street from various parts of campus (Wawa is HQ in Philadelphia) which are quite popular, but nobody is hanging out there.

Apparently, they really hang out at WaWa— often while eating Mac and cheese or whatever. And it’s a cross section of kids— from Greeks post parties to kids who are much nerdier/sober. Which is an issue the school tries to address periodically because of crowding and drunk kids puking/not on their best behavior. That said, it’s apparent the top grossing Wawa on the East coast. So the owners are getting some ROI.

My DC really like the mix mash of different kids hanging out together. She isn’t a drinker and goes to hang out with with friends (she likes to be the one to put in the group order on the app because she gets loyalty points and often her order is free). And she says it fun to find to run into a group of kids from her classes that she would not ordinarily hang out with outside of class and have a mix of drunk and sober kids continuing a class discussion from the prior week. I guess 1am discussions of Russian economic involvement in Armenia among kids who are varying degrees of sober at WaWa at 1 am is a very WM thing to do. Much more relaxed than class, obviously, and she says some interesting and funny takes when you add drunk kids to the mix. She ended up writing a final paper last semester that started as a 1am WaWa discussion.

Seems odd to me, but I guess every college has things, places, traditions, events that make it unique. WM obviously has a lot of traditions that are hundreds of years old (Convocation, Charter Day, ringing the Wren Bell, Yule Log, etc) and other ways to socialize. But weekend WaWa is also a real thing.

OMG. Sorry, but I cringed.
DP

Over what?

Some mean girls never grow up. And they go from looking down on their peers to looking down on their peers’ kids. And lead with “my kid is cooler than your kid,” rather than “isn’t it nice that your kid found a good college they love”. Sadly, these 55 going on 15 year olds tend to congregate on DCUM.

Nobody is walking around saying my kid is cooler than yours. That sounds like an insecurity of yours and says a lot more about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister went to an Ivy and I remember going to visit her. This combination of partying and having smart discussions at odd places is exactly what they were doing. Not sure why that’s considered quirky or why no one refers to that school as quirky. Seems normal that smart kids are still smart (for the most part) and interested in school even in campus hangouts, drunk or sober.

I was just hoping you could give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the early colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War the economic modalities especially of the southern colonies could most aptly be characterized as agrarian pre-capitalist…

[Anonymous]

If this type of social scene (nerf wars, midnight Wawa hangouts, esoteric academic discussions outside of class) sounds fun to your DC, be excited you have found a school that is a fit! My kid would be miserable. I am glad to know the “feel” of a school to steer them towards a good fit. No one wants their kid to be filling out transfer applications in the spring of their first year in college. The description of W&M actually really fits the 3 kids we know that attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this type of social scene (nerf wars, midnight Wawa hangouts, esoteric academic discussions outside of class) sounds fun to your DC, be excited you have found a school that is a fit! My kid would be miserable. I am glad to know the “feel” of a school to steer them towards a good fit. No one wants their kid to be filling out transfer applications in the spring of their first year in college. The description of W&M actually really fits the 3 kids we know that attend.

You’re right that getting a feel for a school is helpful, but I think what’s missing from this discussion is the “feel” that would be conveyed by other groups at the school. If you talked to the hard partying frat types (some of my best friends when I went there) you’d pick up on a whole different perspective. If you talked to the athletes, yet another, and so on. I guess some people are just more committed to the idea of pigeonholing schools based on limited exposure and perspectives. Can’t stop you from doing that, of course, but it’s worth pointing out that that’s what’s happening. The entire population of the school, or even the majority, are not engaging in the same activities, spending Saturday nights the same way, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this type of social scene (nerf wars, midnight Wawa hangouts, esoteric academic discussions outside of class) sounds fun to your DC, be excited you have found a school that is a fit! My kid would be miserable. I am glad to know the “feel” of a school to steer them towards a good fit. No one wants their kid to be filling out transfer applications in the spring of their first year in college. The description of W&M actually really fits the 3 kids we know that attend.

You’re right that getting a feel for a school is helpful, but I think what’s missing from this discussion is the “feel” that would be conveyed by other groups at the school. If you talked to the hard partying frat types (some of my best friends when I went there) you’d pick up on a whole different perspective. If you talked to the athletes, yet another, and so on. I guess some people are just more committed to the idea of pigeonholing schools based on limited exposure and perspectives. Can’t stop you from doing that, of course, but it’s worth pointing out that that’s what’s happening. The entire population of the school, or even the majority, are not engaging in the same activities, spending Saturday nights the same way, etc.

+1, it's really quite ridiculous and the norm rather than the exception here. UVA is "preppy frat bro", "Southern schools are filled with dumb MAGATS", "SLACS are filled with purple haired loons" etc. Not conducive to meaningful dialogue at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Involved with nerf club at WM. On Saturday nights, they take over academic buildings for elaborate nerf games. Some “pre-game,” but a lot are sober. A great way to socialize on weekends if drinking/ parties aren’t your thing. After that, a large group hangs out post midnight at Wawa with kids coming from Greek events.

Also very involved in a language house, a music ensemble and the WM orchestra (not a music major or minor).

Bikes everywhere and says the bus works very well. Only needs to a Uber rarely. Says they would prefer not to have a car on campus because biking plus bus works well, and parking is a mess.

Did a summer overseas and loved it. Planning to do a semester next year.

Loves the school and living their best life.

Gotta ask, why are kids hanging out post midnight at the Wawa???

It’s a WM thing.

https://flathatnews.com/2022/11/14/late-night-wawa-trivia/

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/wawa-love-letter

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/8-wm-students

Are they really hanging out at the Wawa, or simply buying their $6 hoagie at 12am and then sitting outside eating it.

It is directly across the street from the W&M campus. UPenn has 3 Wawa's across the street from various parts of campus (Wawa is HQ in Philadelphia) which are quite popular, but nobody is hanging out there.

Apparently, they really hang out at WaWa— often while eating Mac and cheese or whatever. And it’s a cross section of kids— from Greeks post parties to kids who are much nerdier/sober. Which is an issue the school tries to address periodically because of crowding and drunk kids puking/not on their best behavior. That said, it’s apparent the top grossing Wawa on the East coast. So the owners are getting some ROI.

My DC really like the mix mash of different kids hanging out together. She isn’t a drinker and goes to hang out with with friends (she likes to be the one to put in the group order on the app because she gets loyalty points and often her order is free). And she says it fun to find to run into a group of kids from her classes that she would not ordinarily hang out with outside of class and have a mix of drunk and sober kids continuing a class discussion from the prior week. I guess 1am discussions of Russian economic involvement in Armenia among kids who are varying degrees of sober at WaWa at 1 am is a very WM thing to do. Much more relaxed than class, obviously, and she says some interesting and funny takes when you add drunk kids to the mix. She ended up writing a final paper last semester that started as a 1am WaWa discussion.

Seems odd to me, but I guess every college has things, places, traditions, events that make it unique. WM obviously has a lot of traditions that are hundreds of years old (Convocation, Charter Day, ringing the Wren Bell, Yule Log, etc) and other ways to socialize. But weekend WaWa is also a real thing.

OMG. Sorry, but I cringed.
DP

Over what?

Some mean girls never grow up. And they go from looking down on their peers to looking down on their peers’ kids. And lead with “my kid is cooler than your kid,” rather than “isn’t it nice that your kid found a good college they love”. Sadly, these 55 going on 15 year olds tend to congregate on DCUM.

Nobody is walking around saying my kid is cooler than yours. That sounds like an insecurity of yours and says a lot more about you.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this type of social scene (nerf wars, midnight Wawa hangouts, esoteric academic discussions outside of class) sounds fun to your DC, be excited you have found a school that is a fit! My kid would be miserable. I am glad to know the “feel” of a school to steer them towards a good fit. No one wants their kid to be filling out transfer applications in the spring of their first year in college. The description of W&M actually really fits the 3 kids we know that attend.

You’re right that getting a feel for a school is helpful, but I think what’s missing from this discussion is the “feel” that would be conveyed by other groups at the school. If you talked to the hard partying frat types (some of my best friends when I went there) you’d pick up on a whole different perspective. If you talked to the athletes, yet another, and so on. I guess some people are just more committed to the idea of pigeonholing schools based on limited exposure and perspectives. Can’t stop you from doing that, of course, but it’s worth pointing out that that’s what’s happening. The entire population of the school, or even the majority, are not engaging in the same activities, spending Saturday nights the same way, etc.

DP - sure, but of the WM parents who have offered descriptions on this thread, there seems to be a very consistent theme. Which is good to know for both people who are interested in that and also for those who are not.

[Anonymous]

Not really. There is a little of everything there. Have you visited? Or just make assumptions based on reputation?

[Anonymous]

Daughter is a rising W&M senior (played lacrosse in high school and very social). She enjoys the smaller classes and academic rigor. Her social life in a sorority consists of mixing with the fraternities and athletic teams. - they also hit the local bars in close walking distance to campus. There are all types of students at W&M with some being "quirky" and others more mainstream. The one common trait is the students are all academic overachievers.

[Anonymous]

Every college has its component of "quirky" students I would imagine. The students I've met at WM I'd describe as talented, academic and interesting, not so much the way I define "quirky." Hopefully everyone agrees there is the right school for every student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this type of social scene (nerf wars, midnight Wawa hangouts, esoteric academic discussions outside of class) sounds fun to your DC, be excited you have found a school that is a fit! My kid would be miserable. I am glad to know the “feel” of a school to steer them towards a good fit. No one wants their kid to be filling out transfer applications in the spring of their first year in college. The description of W&M actually really fits the 3 kids we know that attend.

You’re right that getting a feel for a school is helpful, but I think what’s missing from this discussion is the “feel” that would be conveyed by other groups at the school. If you talked to the hard partying frat types (some of my best friends when I went there) you’d pick up on a whole different perspective. If you talked to the athletes, yet another, and so on. I guess some people are just more committed to the idea of pigeonholing schools based on limited exposure and perspectives. Can’t stop you from doing that, of course, but it’s worth pointing out that that’s what’s happening. The entire population of the school, or even the majority, are not engaging in the same activities, spending Saturday nights the same way, etc.

DP - sure, but of the WM parents who have offered descriptions on this thread, there seems to be a very consistent theme. Which is good to know for both people who are interested in that and also for those who are not.

The sample of W&M parents who post here is miniscule and doesn't tell you all that much. My older kid goes to W&M and is in a frat and seems to do the same kind of frat things that my other kid at JMU does His girlfriend is not in Greek life but likes to party on weekends, is fairly studious, likes going hiking/swimming/camping. I have only heard of a Nerf club at JMU, but I don't doubt there's also one at W&M. I have seen late night CC charges at Wawa for my W&M kid and late night CC charges at Sheetz for my JMU kid. Not sure what any of this tells anyone except that most colleges have kids of all kinds and they all tend to like 24 hour places with cheap fare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not really. There is a little of everything there. Have you visited? Or just make assumptions based on reputation?

Both. Like most people evaluating colleges.