William and Mary College Admission
William and Mary College Undergraduate Program
William and Mary College Application

The Facts

The College of William and Mary is a small and prestigious public liberal arts college located in the historical town of Williamsburg, Virginia.  The school is home to over 6,000 undergraduate students, and approximately 2,000 graduate and part-time students.  The college is divided up into several smaller undergraduate schools, including the schools of arts and science, business administration, and the school of education (which students are only allowed to transfer to after their freshmen year.)  Although a large number of majors are offered at William and Mary, some of the most popular with students include majors in business, psychology, English, government, and biology. 

Admission to William and Mary has always been incredibly competitive, and the administration is continually raising the bar for applicants.  Last year, over 11,000 students applied and only about 3,400 were actually accepted.  Eventually however, only about 1,325 actually enrolled for the coming Fall semester.  The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1260 to an impressive 1440, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 30 to 32.  Furthermore, over 85% of those admitted were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of 4.0.  (Impressive, no?)

Students say that the pressure and competition at the College of W & M is extremely intense, and most students don’t really have social lives, they just spend their weekends holed up the school’s library with their
noses in a book.  Perhaps some of this intense competition is due to the small class sizes; the school has a small student to faculty ratio of 12:1, and it is rare to find an undergraduate class with more than 20 people in it.  The teachers are remarkably accessible, and maintain long office hours to be available to their students.

The Social Scene

The town of Williamsburg is lovely and quite historical.  The college is actually the second oldest in the country and boasts America’s oldest academic building.  Students love the sense that they are walking on important historical ground, and the campus maintains a hushed sense of reverence.  The college is not, by any means, a party school.  There are fraternities and sororities, and over 30% of the students join a Greek house, however, students say that the houses are known more for their community service work and for their gorgeous facilities than for their rowdy parties.

If you are a jock, then William and Mary is probably not the place for you.  There are indeed sports teams, but most students hardly know it.  There are some intramural sports like Ultimate Frisbee and street hockey that are popular with students, but don’t expect any pre-game bonfires with cheerleaders and a marching band to boot.

The dating scene is pretty diverse; everything some preps in Abercrombie to Goths in black and not much else.

What's Good

“The college lets you focus on academics, and you are able to be as academically successful as you are capable.”

“Williamsburg is amazing and just gorgeous.  The people are really friendly, and the town has a lot of cute stuff to do.”

“The teachers here are incredible, and they often will invite students to help out on various research projects.”

What's Bad

“Williamsburg is really touristy, so of course, everything is really overpriced and kind of cheesy.”

“People here are really snobby about their opinions.  They think it’s their way or the highway.”

“The school feels really stuffy sometimes, you feel like you have to brush the dust off your shoulders when you walk out of a building.”

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