College of William and Mary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

My daughter was not in a sorority, but was still very involved with various activities and clubs. Clubs are not exclusive like at other schools. Certain performance groups will have auditions, but generally you can participate in what you would like. The school has a club fair during orientation where you can sign up for groups of interest.

Thank you, PP. In fact, my DD is very interested in the performance groups. Hopefully, she’ll find a place!

Since this is nominally DC, I have a follow up question:

How have you/your student found the academic advising?

Maybe someone answered this before but if not, our daughter has had an excellent experience with her advisors.

[Anonymous]

completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an alumnus of William and Mary, I wanted to share my thoughts on this forum as to the direction of this University. To those of you who know the school, I welcome your thoughts and comments. As well, I see the college now trending upward again, not down as some other posts have suggested.......

For years, except for fundraising imo I believe the college rested too heavily on it's reputation/history and was not the change agent it needed to be to keep up its strong appeal to many of today's students. Admission is still highly competitive but there are kinks in the armor. How did the administration let the food get so awful and not address their aging dormitories for years? Athletics have also declined over the years and we now play in a sports conference where we lack natural rivalries with many of the other institutions. We had a chance to add a medical school with a merger of EVMS and the college administration didn't pursue it further even after the state general assembly approved funds for a study. Adding a medical school would have enhanced the college and complimented their strategy to become a R1 category which they recently obtained.

Academics have not changed and are second to none but if you read you feel otherwise as the undergraduate rankings in recent years don't reflect this due to the significant changes in ranking methodologies. Specifically to USN&WR changes in metrics, how does the number of Pell Grant recipients or number of research articles published properly grade the quality of the undergraduate institution when you have removed metrics such as class size, student selectivity and alumni giving? In addition, the state has been cutting the colleges budget for years along with others. VT and JMU have been able to grow their enrollments to offset the funding declines but the college doesn't have the bandwidth or want to grow this fast.... Compare this to Florida where the governor made it a priority to significantly increase state funding for colleges which has propelled UF and FSU in the rankings. This is like a one two punch for the school.

I do believe the current President and Athletic Director are aggressively addressing these issues. Some have criticized the President including the current Faculty in recent years specifically for the new data school and her style of governance but I believe she is the change agent the college needed. The college hasn't approved a new school in 50+ years until now with the new data school and undergraduate degree in marine science which will be tuition free.

The college is now going through a significant capital outlay to build new dorms and renovate the others. There are six new dorms and two renovated dorms coming online in fall of 2025 as well as a new new Dining Hall. This is just the first phase of this capital project on housing. They have also replaced the food vendor. There is a new addition to the Muscarelle Art Museum, new music building, new Phi Beta Kappa Hall and an addition to the Integrated Science Center. The basketball arena is being renovated and a sports performance center is being built. The college just secured $150MM in endowment gifts to establish a undergraduate marine science program and a new School of Data Science is opening in the Fall. The school just recently completed a successful $55MM fundraising campaign for the athletics program and the AD is doing a great job in my imo.

Thanks for your insights. I agree that W&M is still a great choice. Virginia is lucky to have so many great in-state schools, and W&M has always been one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

Good but mediocre?

[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 should just label the trees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

That's not really the takeaway from OPs post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

Kiwis are green but purple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

That's not really the takeaway from OPs post.

+1

[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

Where?

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

They should just label the trees

They did. See link above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

The president and board are well aware changes are needed

The board reviewed prior discussions from November, emphasizing the unique position the College is in compared to other elite public institutions and private universities. They noted that while the College is smaller than many public Ivy League schools, it is less academically rigorous than most private Ivies.

Many board members viewed this unique position in comparison to other colleges as unstable and underlined the need to grow the College.

College President Katherine Rowe emphasized the need to expand without physical disruption and the subsequent objective of preserving an intimate learning process. Rowe also repeated the goal of “National Preeminence” that the board wishes to bring to the image and ranking of the College.

“We must be more attractive,” Rowe said. “We need more demand.”

The board also discussed the financial advantage of degree specialization, as it improves the College’s academic diversity and draws in more applicants. The new Batten School of Coastal and Marine Science was particularly positively noted, as the College is one of the only universities in the commonwealth of Virginia to offer a degree in marine science.

https://flathatnews.com/2025/02/19/board-of-visitors-renames-kinesiology-department-highlights-student-athlete-success/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you email the board of visitors instead of word vomiting to an anonymous forum, which accomplishes nothing?

Seems that the first response to every post is from someone super snarky who clearly has nothing else to do with their time than comment and condescend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:completely agree with OP. W&M is basically resting on its reputation from the past. Education is good but mediocre.

OP didn’t say that at all.

[Anonymous]

I’m not the PP but I agree. William & Mary has fallen off. I would put other schools in VA well ahead of W&M which was not the same case in the 90s.

[Anonymous]

Random people weighing in anonymously who may or may not have any experience with the college is odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

My daughter was not in a sorority, but was still very involved with various activities and clubs. Clubs are not exclusive like at other schools. Certain performance groups will have auditions, but generally you can participate in what you would like. The school has a club fair during orientation where you can sign up for groups of interest.

Thank you, PP. In fact, my DD is very interested in the performance groups. Hopefully, she’ll find a place!

Since this is nominally DC, I have a follow up question:

How have you/your student found the academic advising?

Maybe someone answered this before but if not, our daughter has had an excellent experience with her advisors.

PP here. Thanks very much for adding your DD’s experience. My DD is looking forward to getting started at W&M this fall. Sounds like a great fit for her.