College of William and Mary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your post reads as extremely defensive boosting of this school. “Academics are second to none”? Please. That just makes you sound silly.

NP.
You sound silly!

Great comeback!
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

Whoa! That's awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

Whoa! That's awesome!

Also for anyone who knows campus well, they're currently considering turning James Blair Drive and Landrum Drive (Jamestown Rd to ISC) into landscaped pedestrian promenades to make the space between dorms and academic buildings similar to Locust Walk at Upenn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

Whoa! That's awesome!

Also for anyone who knows campus well, they're currently considering turning James Blair Drive and Landrum Drive (Jamestown Rd to ISC) into landscaped pedestrian promenades to make the space between dorms and academic buildings similar to Locust Walk at Upenn.

That would be lovely.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this information. I have a student graduating in 2026 who is interested in W&M. This addresses some of our concerns, and I appreciate your insight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

Where?

In some sense, it is pretty much an arboretum already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

Where?

In some sense, it is pretty much an arboretum already.

Not sure, but a lot of people requested it during the comprehensive plan feedback phase

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are also working on a 100 year landscape plan which I thought was really interesting.

Yep! There's hope there might be an arboretum added

Where?

In some sense, it is pretty much an arboretum already.

They just put out a catalog of campus species.

https://wm.arboretumexplorer.org/map.aspx

[Anonymous]

If anyone is interested in looking at some of the most recent proposals the firm W&M is working with has put out they're all on these slide decks

https://wm1693.app.box.com/s/cn8l3qa5r7zk4660qa406q7lql0qsrtj

https://www.wm.edu/about/administration/senioradmin/operations/initiatives/masterplan/_rows/20250129_wm_landscape_ws7_final-pages-1.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP and PP with a current student, our Dd is seriously considering W&M. Do you have any sense of what campus life is like for a student who would not be looking to join a sorority? Are clubs difficult to get into?

DP; alum and parent of prospective students here.

Others have answered as I was going to, about it being easy to get involved in campus life even without getting involved in Greek life, so I'll just add another note in that vein. The idea of "belonging" is central to the W&M experience. In fact, it's the very first item in their statement of values. Cynics, I know, probably chafe at something as pedestrian as a statement of values, but I'm happy to report that cynicism doesn't really find a home at W&M. It's a place of earnest, genuine, happy, thoughtful people.

We're OOS, so the numbers might not end up working out for our family, but we're really hoping that W&M works out for our twins. To give some context, our oldest is a junior at UC Berkeley and is having about as good an experience as one could hope for — she's taken a number of interesting undergrad and grad-level courses, has been able to teach a 1-credit course several times, has held a campus job where she directed other students in research, is in a promising internship right now, and has received travel grants to travel and study across Europe. So by all measures, it's going well. But when it came time for our class-of-2025 twins to apply to schools this past fall, they didn't even bother with Cal, as the more engaged, more undergraduate-teaching-focused W&M experience was far, far more appealing to them.

I've never heard of an undergraduate teaching a course. Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP thanks for sharing. I didn’t need another reason to be on the edge of my seat waiting for news from W&M. But now I have several more.

Crossing my fingers for your DC! Go Tribe! (Signed—parent of a class of ‘29 DC)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this information. I have a student graduating in 2026 who is interested in W&M. This addresses some of our concerns, and I appreciate your insight.

Will be an excellent time to enter!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anyone is interested in looking at some of the most recent proposals the firm W&M is working with has put out they're all on these slide decks

https://wm1693.app.box.com/s/cn8l3qa5r7zk4660qa406q7lql0qsrtj

https://www.wm.edu/about/administration/senioradmin/operations/initiatives/masterplan/_rows/20250129_wm_landscape_ws7_final-pages-1.pdf

These are fascinating documents. I knew they were doing some cool things, but these absolutely blew me away. Makes me even more excited about W&M's future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP and PP with a current student, our Dd is seriously considering W&M. Do you have any sense of what campus life is like for a student who would not be looking to join a sorority? Are clubs difficult to get into?

Not OP or the PP, but we have a Junior daughter at William and Mary who is not in a sorority. Lives off campus now but was on campus until last year. From all reports from her, not being in a sorority hasn't hindered her social life at all. In a number of clubs, played two different club sports, and has a terrific friend group. I don't think the clubs were tough to get into, and I know that is an issue at other schools. I do think being aware of deadlines is important. The students go to games and, yes, to parties.