Washington and Lee Communications Major

W&L is commonly known as rich, white, and Southern. students are stereotyped as overprivileged, wealthy snobs sometimes. the campus is vastly white and known for being homogenous. people don't generally expect to find unique or different individuals here. W&L is also rumored to be full of heavy drinkers and drug users, perhaps thanks to the huge fraternity/soroity scene that W&L is also known for.

in a lot of cases... yes. most people are very wealthy; it wouldn't be rare to park in between a mercedes and a BMW on a daily basis. you rarely see boys without polo, lacoste, or brooks brothers shirts on while out at night, and if you do, it's probably because they're sporting a fratty lax jersey. even though people have money, however, it's more diverse than you might expect. i've personally met a lot of wonderful, unique people here at W&L, and while there certainly are the rich white snobs, there are countless down-to-earth people, as well. as far as drugs and alcohol goes, that's all true too. you can go out and drink pretty much any night of the week, and a surprising percentage of the student body has either tried cocaine or does it regularly. it's also very rare to find someone who hasn't at least tried marijuana once in his or her lifetime. because people have a lot of money, there is little hesitation to spend a lot on drugs. the greek scene is also incredibly dominant. almost everyone is greek, and if you're not, your options for fun seem limited. there are also lots of other societies (some secret, some not) for both men and women that further stroke students' elitist egos. W&L students have invented every way to give themselves a title (while likely incorporating some form of "hazing" -- or, i mean, "new member education"). anything to further distinguish themselves as being better than other students continues to be done and flaunted regularly.

students are very hard workers and takee their work very seriously. the professors are absolutely fabulous, and i don't believe that any other school has professors who are as available and willing to help. because classes are so small, professors make time for everyone and pay close attention in making sure each student can and will succeed. they really couldn't be better.

rich, white, southern, preppy, republican. give off the impression that they'd like to be wealthy and recognized as successful, rather than actually be happy, later in life. homogenous environment where different types of people don't really interact very much. terrible gender relations. girls and boys are segregated in every sense of the word after freshman year (living in fraternity and sorority houses), and are drunk for 90% of their interactions with the opposite sex.

greek life is first and foremost. everyone does it, and if not, no one's really sure who you are or what you do with your time. everyone knows everyone at W&L; it's so small that you're going to know everyone's gossip, and they're going to know yours.