Academics at William and Mary are definitely a primary focus for both students and the educators there. Requirements and expectations are exceedingly high, and many students find themselves pressed to earn a B with significant studying, where they may have made straight As in high school. Sometimes, it appears that it may be less pressure created by professors to succeed, but by students on themselves. Most students plan to continue their education in graduate school of some sort, and high GPAs are a premium. However, there is a noticeable deficit in competitiveness among students, especially considered the emphasis placed on grades. Most people within a friend group will all be studying completely different topics, and it is understood that some departments and classes may be harder than others (e.g. organic chemistry vs. introductory economics). It's difficult not to overhear at least one serious academic conversation going on in the dining hall or on the way to class, which was really exciting for me. It was a really great feeling finding a university where students were as passionate about learning about things that they may not have necessarily known much about. In terms of my academics, I usually study about 4 or 5 hours a night, and this would hardly be considered uncommon. Many students study approximately as long as I do, and study habits vary on whether or not midterm or final season is upon the school.
99{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes are taught by a professor, and i have never had a class which wasn't taught with one. Meaningful class participation becomes increasingly common as the difficulty of classes increases and the number of students in each class consequently decrease. For example, in a lecture heavy class of 250 students, individual attention by the professor and class participation may be hard to come across, but a seminar-style class provides much more professor interaction and the need for participation in class becomes more important. That being said though, there are still opportunities for the professor to get to know your name, but much more effort may be necessary. It isn't common for underclassmen to spend much time with professors (other than occasionally bombarding their office hours before an exam), but this becomes more common in smaller classroom settings, with an increased level of intimacy.
I am currently an Economics major, working toward a minor in Mathematics. I never thought that I would major in Econ, since I was always more interested in English and History in high school, but I had a great professor freshman year, and my interest in the subject was piqued. William and Mary has a great Economics department; they make the material accessible and easy to understand for those just getting their footing in the field. In introductory level classes, calculus is not expected to have been learned, so classes are much heavier on algebraic manipulation than other universities' Economics classes. In my opinion, this helps keeps some students interest in the subject who would have been turned off otherwise, either due to a lack of understanding, or not having a solid enough mathematics background. My favorite class was my freshman seminar, which I took on Game Theory and Experimental Economics. My class only had 6 people in it, which made for a really fun time, and we got to interact with the professor on an intimate level. The most unique class that I took was an upper-level nonfiction writing seminar that my suitemate and I placed into as freshman. It really gave me an opportunity to challenge myself as a writer and make upperclassmen friends that I still see every now and again around campus.