College of William and Mary Top Questions

Academics are above average, most professors will bend over backwards to help you if you show any sort of effort. Math/Science departments pretty tough.

Many of my former professors still remember my name. I can't say I had a favorite class. I like almost all of them. I did not like my chemistry classes much, but that's my problem, bot the school's. I also did not like my paleoanthropology class because the visiting professor was brand new and unprepared. Some students study a lot (30+ hours/week), others not so much. Class participation varied in my classes. It seemed to differ based on class size, subject matter, and the individual students. Most participation in smaller classes. W&M students often have intellectual conversation, and thankfully even after libations. Students tend to be competitive, although I've met many who just want to pass and others that are completely apathetic. The most unique class I took was called something like "Taoism and Zen Buddhism in Chinese Literature and Art" (my freshman seminar). I majored in both biology and anthropology. I wish I had gotten to know individual professors in the departments more, but I couldn't take everybody's classes. I liked both departments...the professors and the staff members. I've spent time with a few professors outside of class, but often for the sake of class preparation, occasionally just for fun. I think the academic requirements are on par, although I think they should bring back the physical education requirement. Its not that hard to do. I think education at W&M was for the sake of learning, although I did not take any business classes.

The best thing about william and mary is that the teachers are focused on teaching, as opposed to research. I had some amazing professors through my time at william and mary, both young and old. Teaching well is emphasized throughout the departments, and if you take the time to get to know your teachers, you will learn a lot from them. Students generally spend a lot of time complaining about how hard their classes are, and spend a lot of time in their dorm rooms buried in books. Its not as hard as they say. Let loose and have fun, the last thing this school needs is more people who are convinced that they are overworked. Meet your professors, go to review sessions, try not to skip to many classes, skip the reading, take good notes, and do your homework between classes. You will have more than enough free time to get drunk or have sex or do whatever else you want to do in your college times, but please whatever you do, do not start to believe that garbage that W+M has the largest courseload this or that or what have you. IT IS NOT THAT HARD.

Probably about 1/4 of your professors will get to know you by name. People study all the time because professors expect a lot out of each student.Occasionaly you will see one of your professors out shopping for groceries or in a bar. The education is definetly geared towards learning for its own sake and any school that isnt doesnt deserve to be a school.

I am not a barcode as I was elsewhere. I have a close, personal relationship with several of my professors. You have to work for that, however, it doesn't come free. Students are always working hard. Class participation could improve in quantity but not quality. The History department is filled with talented and eccentric professors who care about their subjects. The famous Government department is a mix for me. I hang out with some of my professors outside of class. William and Mary has standard requirements. Where you go with them makes it a challenge. This is a place of learning though. It is not Harvard. We don't hold your hand and we expect you to leave better than when you arrived. A job is not guaranteed but you will have the credentials to get one.

Professors can get to know you, and are usually fairly helpful. Prepare to put in a lot of work. Use recommendations to your advantage, and try to pick professors that you have heard are easy, though registration can be extremely frustrating. Students are competitive, but get your work done and ignore them.

Everyone talks about the professors here and our small class sizes. The professors are well-qualified, intelligent, and enthusiastic, but, frankly, they're uninspiring. I find it hard to get interested in subjects I wasn't already interested in. I feel like none of the professors here really compel their students to do anything involving their subject outside of the classroom, where it really counts. They only professor I've had who got me really interested in his subject was, ironically, a visiting professor. Students here are grade-obsessed, too, and as a result I feel they think they've really accomplished something when they get a good grade on their midterm even though they lack mastery of the subject.

Quite a few professors know my name. They're personable and easygoing, for the most part. My favorite class was World Novel post-1832. Two professors, incredibly interesting material, great conversation, incredibly challenging! Students study a lot. There is a lot of work to do! Class participation is more common as the classes become more major-centric. The 300 and 400 level classes have much more involvement than the intro level classes. That's natural, though. Almost everyone here is capable of an extremely intelligent conversation. I have them constantly, and miss it when I leave this place. The students aren't that competitive, it's more of a cooperation environment. I love both the English department and the Environmental Studies department, in which I am a minor. They're both great, down to earth, and student-centric. The academic requirements are reasonable and useful. I learned a lot from my GER classes. I learn for my own sake, but many work for a job as well. It's either one, really!

Students are not as competitive here as I would have guessed. It's great. We have intellectual conversations outside of class often. The English department is great if you're looking to study literature in a very unstructured degree program. There are only five TYPES of courses that you're required to take, and of those five, only two (Brit Lit 1 and 2) that everyone must take and are usually pre-reqs for the rest of the department. The professors are usually great and classes interesting...occasionally you'll run into an "ivory tower" professor that feels slighted teaching at W&M instead of, say, Princeton or Northwestern. The German department, where I'm minoring, is fantastic, albeit small. Most of the modern language departments on campus (except for Spanish) are small and lacking in resources (money to hire new professors, etc.) but well run and the professors are really dedicated (not to mention brilliant). Students have to fulfil a language requirement here and even though most can get away with AP credit from high school, most people take at least one or two semesters of a foreign language. It seems reasonably easy to study more than one language at a time as well, I know quite a few people studying French and Chinese together or German and Russian, etc. The freshman seminar requirement at William and Mary is a great concept. It really improved my writing, especially coming from a large public high school where I only ever wrote essays for AP exam practice and certainly never anything longer than 3 pages. That said, your freshman seminar experience really hinges on the seminar you pick or the professor who happens to be teaching it. I've known a few students who hardly wrote papers (which seems to be against the whole concept of a freshman writing seminar). One of the big draws to W&M for students is the liberal arts program. You aren't required to choose your major until the end of your sophomore year and you can take most classes in any department (so long as you have the pre-requisites). At W&M we have GERs, or General Education Requirements, that force students to take a class in the biological or physical sciences, languages, history, arts, philosophy. I personally think it's a great system because as a freshman I thought I wanted to double major in Government and Psychology and quickly changed to English and German, my government and psychology classes from freshman year still give me graduation credit and changing degree programs in the middle of my college career didn't change my graduation date...so my sanity and my parent's checkbook thank William and Mary. The only qualm I have with the GER system is our GER 6--performing arts. Most students take 2D or 3D art to fulfil it and say it's a complete waste of time.

some of the professors do. it helps if it's a small class and you answer questions and go to office hours. yes, W&M kids talk about all sorts of intellectual things outside of class! sometimes it relates to a specific course, sometimes its just for fun and interest. politics comes up a lot. students put a lot of pressure on themselves. we compare grades so see how we're doing relatively, but ive never seen anyone gloat when they excelled or be unhappy that a peer did well. i actually don't mind the GERs. for some people they may be a hassle, but i definitely believe in the whol well-rounded education, in addition to the opportunity to make sure you really do like youre chosen major best. i also think its good that you have to jump through hoops to take more than 18 credits a semester, that helps keep things under control. i can't say, im only a freshman. learning is a passion here, and we have a career center to help get a job. i guess both, or you get what you want out of it.

Professors do know your name if you make an effort to tell them your name. Classes can be large but if you put in an effort to get to know your professor then he/she will be in an effort to get to know you. My favorite class was Intro to Religion. Each week a different professor in the religion department comes in and teaches on his/her specialty allowing the student to get a taste of all the major religions and types of religion classes offered by the college. My least favorite class was Intro to Hispanic Studies. Some of the concepts discussed were a little far-fetched and I just didn't really get into it. Students study very often. William and Mary classes are very rigorous and students put a lot of time into doing well in them. Class participation is very common. W & M students do have intellectual conversations outside of class. I remember one night sitting in my dorm from 12 AM- 3 AM discussing our views on religion and the afterlife. Students don't seem to be competitive with each other, but are more competitive with themselves and try to get the best grade that he/she can possibly get. I'm not quite sure of my major yet, and am working on filling general education requirements instead. While some of the requirements are a little annoying and unrelated to anything I'd be interested in pursuing, they do allow students to get a feel for what W & M has to offer and what different options can be found at the college.

i dont know any of my professors personally even with office hours. all my classes are boring. i dont know how often most people study, but i have a hard enough time making myself do the papers, let alone reading. i am thinking of switching majors because i keep dropping my french classes cuz they suck. there is a little too many requirements for GERs. but also, ive fulfilled all the reqs and still dont have enough credits overall.

The classes are hard. The workload is heavy. Students are stressed all the time. But the professors want you to learn. All of my professors, even ones from a big, 140-person lecture class, reply to my emails with in a few hours. They're very accessible in their office hours and are more than willing to meet you any other time to discuss whatever you want to talk about. I've had homework sessions turn into discussions about campus politics. W&M is a liberal arts school, and because of that, there is an intensive "General Education Requirement," the required course topics that everyone has to take. There are 11 of them, which take up a good chunk of your college career (over 2 semesters if you didn't come in with any credits). This can be really annoying if you know what you want to major in or really helpful if you have no idea what you want to study.

Professors here are AMAZING!! They really want students to succeed. They all have office hours and are available for study sessions as well. The professors are experts in their fields, but they still have time for students. You won't find TA's teaching here!

Yes professors know my name, even if they don't know how to pronounce it. Favorite class: I really liked Professor Zutshi's history class "Nation, Gender, and Race in South Asia." But I loved all my classes with Professor Linneman (except Stats), because he is an incredible teacher. Somehow he manages to use class time very effectively so that it's really worth your time to be there and everything is easily understood. That being said, I also liked the reading so I did it for that class and not for others. Least favorite classes: Professor Melfi's Major British Writers. Professor Broadwater's Bio 100. William and Mary students try to have intellectual conversations but sometime there is no point, they are just trying to sound interesting. Students are competitive but generally I think it's fairly healthy. People aren't destructive towards others and they don't cheat. Also, talking about final grades is kind of taboo. No one likes a bragger. WM education is definitely geared toward learning for its own sake. The most important skill I learned was critical thinking, which is good for a number of jobs. But, I didn't get a lot of practical training or anything that will lead directly to a job. That might be different for people who take advantage of the career center, and of course for business and ed majors.

The professors are generally fantastic, with a few duds as is to be expected. W&M is small enough to allow for much one-on-one interaction with faculty, and it's not too difficult to stand out if one wants to do that. I cultivated many relationships with faculty members that have become treasured friendships now that I am an alum. That said, W&M's approach to learning/academia adheres to its "boot camp" characterization. Learning at W&M is, for many, less about expanding one's ability to think critically and more about picking up extreme time manangement skills. The students are generally overly stressed, and anyone who thinks about it realizes that they're surviving more than they're growing. Professors are complicit in this culture of extreme expectations, but the tone is set by the administration and the provost, who are more concerned with the College's elite image than they are with student health, mental and otherwise. No wonder people kill themselves!

All of my professors know my name. My favorite class is American Literature/Native American Literature. My least favorite class is Medieval Literature, fuck that shit. Students study all the fuck time because they all want to make lots of money and step on as many people as possible along the way. Class participation is generally common, but no one usually has anything good to say. The words 'William & Mary' and 'intellectual' are antonyms. Students are competitive but in a very sly and devious way so as to make it seem like they really care about each other. The most unique class I have taken is On the Road, a freshman seminar that blends American photography with literature from the Civil War onwards. I am an English major, possible film minor. I never spend time with my professors outside of class. I feel fine about William & Mary's academic requirements but consistently refuse to fulfill them. Education at William & Mary is not entirely geared towards getting a job, but that is all the students seem to care about.

Most professors know my name, because I'm in classes with no more than thirty students at this point, and some as few as twelve or so. Students that want to do well study or read all the time, but it is definitely possible to have a good time as well. I don't feel that most students are competitive with each other, almost everyone I have encountered is willing to help, and the general sense seems to be "we're all in this together." Good grades (A's, even A-minuses) are very difficult to achieve, particularly in upper level courses, especially when taking a full course load. I admit I don't know exactly what grade inflation is, but I think I'd know it if it existed here -- it doesn't. Students who get A's work for them, without a doubt. Education (for most majors) is geared towards learning for its own sake, the most notable exception being the business school, where seniors often get jobs even before they graduate.

Academics are both the best and worst aspect of WM. The truth is, it's a lot of work. Grades are not inflated and coursework is rigorous. But you WILL learn. There are some stellar professors at William and Mary, but there are just as many frustratingly unqualified ones. It's definitely true what all the brochures say: classes are small (I've had several with under 10 students) and you do have plenty of opportunity to get to know your professors, especially in the smaller departments. Personally, I've been to my advisor's house several times for dinner, and was offered the use of her car a few times. Students are not competetive at all; in fact, I don't know any of my friends' GPAs. That's not to say we don't talk about schoolwork and class-related topics, but it's never in a vicious way. Intellectual debates abound outside of the classroom! I've lost count of how many political or philosophical discussions I've witnessed between drunk people at parties, but it never escalates into violence or even arguing.

Some of my professors know my name. It really depends on the class size and if you seek out to meet your professors. My favorite class is my Neurobiology class because it is so interesting and interactive. My least favorite class is Statistics. I study everyday. In class participation is very common. William and Mary students have intellectual conversations outside of class all of the time. The most unique class that I've taken is probably Physiological Psychology. Students here are very competitive, but also very truthful and honest (thank you honor code). I have not spent a great deal of time with my professors outside of class, but I do know that some professors invite students to their homes for dinner and things such as that. I feel that William and Mary's academic requirements are fair. Everyone here is very bright, which makes it tough. The education one gains at William and Mary is geared towards learning. Much of what you learn is helpful in the real world and our Career Center is a very useful resource for finding jobs.

Professors are wonderful--nerdy, awkward, and completely passionate about eaching. My favorite class so far has been Biological Anthropology--if I could live two lives I would have majored in Biological Anthro AND English, instead of just English. Talk about taking a class out of your element. I've gone to dinner with professors, babysat their kids. I am an English major; it's a great department with professors with various expertise. It's really great to be able to take a Shakespeare and Film class and a course like Dostoyevsky in Translation. There's a lot of variety here. I wish that there wasn't a General Education Requirement for Math and Science; Math of Powered Flight was kind of a joke and a waste of time. The education here is whatever you want it to be--they have great career resources and business majors tend to look for jobs starting their freshman year. However, most students here are not looking that far ahead--they're inerested in learning for hte sake of learning and most end up in graduate school anyway.

-yes. what's special about WM is that the classes are specially designed to promote a strong student-teacher relationship. most professors know the names of all their students. -i'm a sucker for English and Philosophy classes, specifically, their senior seminars. generally a student may take one or two, but i am enrolled in my fifth this semester. the reason is simply because of size (10-15 students per class) and discussion. usually in these types of classes the students do most of the talking, and the teacher lectures less and participates more as a fellow peer, jumping in and out of our discussions. the work is also more focused- the research may be on a single author or work of literature, for instance, rather than a general survey course. -my favorite classes include research seminars on Hemingway and the Lost Generation, Herman Melville, and British Aesthetics. -my least favorite classes at the College are the required courses, such as math, which i haven't taken since high school. also, any elementary-level course is a waste of time- there isn't enough student control in these classes, as they tend to be too large to have discussions, and the assignments more general and tedious, just like high-school busy work. these classes should be avoided at all costs necessary. -students at the College generally study all the time. but schedules vary. personally, i'm a morning person; i try and knock out most of my readings from six in the morning to about four in the afternoon. other students don't start until about one in the morning. it all depends on one's academic, social, and circadian cycles. -again, class participation depends heavily on the size and type of class. it also depends on the professor, as well as the chemistry that the students may have with one another. generally speaking, the smaller the class, the more that participation is to be expected. -the most unique class i've taken was an author's study course on John Milton. although this sounds boring, i took it my second semester at the College and at first it went a little over my head. soon, however i found that my professor designed the course in a way that really got me interested in seventeenth century epic poetry. what was fun about that class in particular, in addition to being the only freshman in a senior course, was that my professor would deliver these immaculate readings on from Samson Agonistes or Paradise Lost- i don't know, you really got lost in his readings. the most unique thing for me, though, was that it was the first course that really caught me off guard and forced me to try something i had never really expected- not only that, but that i ended up enjoying it as well. -most of the departments are pretty small. i pretty much know every professor in the English department, and am working on the Philosophy one. usually i drop in on my professors every now and then, to talk about the assignments, ask for recommendations, but most often just to catch up and hang out. since we only have one real bar on campus, a lot of the professors may be seen having a pint after classes. usually, i get dinner or drinks with my professors at some point or other in the semester. -with the exception of the required, introductory courses in math and science, i think that WM has a pretty strong program in the fine arts. they are definitely a serious crowd to work with, and job opportunities, as well as the personal ambitions of a well-earned, straight A diploma are on the front of everyone's mind at the College, students and faculty alike. the grades aren't just handed to us like they were in high school, though. there's much mental weight lifting and little sleep involved. overall, i feel that there may be a bit exaggeration in our emphasis of higher grades, but this is probably what the real world is like. other than that, i welcome the new challenges that WM courses offer their students. -although most teachers want to tell their students the point of the course is to learn for the sake of learning, everyone will agree that the number one priority is to get the job. this more or less goes without saying. it's kind of sad and annoying, but then again what are you going to do?