University of Mary Washington Top Questions

The students are as i said before, are generally quite liberal. If you're more conservative or religious you may feel out of place, especially since this liberal sediment is readily present in the administration as well. However, there are strong Catholic, Baptist, and other Christian Centers located right next to campus. Just be ready to feel like the administration is completely out of touch with you, especially if you're coming from a Catholic/Christian school. Most students are fairly well off, and wear jeans, polos, t-shirts, sweats, ect. to class. Do be prepared for one or two students in every class who have bright pink hair or their hair in dreadlocks. And don't think that you're going to have some gourmet, or even decent food, because you're not. The two food services on campus close very early (one stops making new food at about 6:00 the other around 8:00) and are just barely edible. Many people move off campus and buy their own food as early as sophomore year.

The student body is mostly white & middle class. The school's trying to push diversity, and we do have a number of Asian students on campus, but mostly people are from around Virginia. We have a large number of LGBT students on campus, and PRISM (People for the Rights of Individuals of Sexual Minority) is one of the bigger groups on campus. We're a pretty liberal campus, but there are definitely conservatives and republicans to spice things up, and you don't really notice political stuff on a daily basis anyway.

everyone here is upper middle class and white. thats basically it. very few representatives of any other races.

Pretty standard college group. UMW is mostly kids from Northern Virginia and are middle to upper class and think they are gods gift to the world. Many more are out of staters from NJ, NY, and PA. Pretty much what you expect from college, people away from mom and dad try to figure out who they are. Some kids start smoking, but illegal drug use seems really low. Get a few more oddballs at UMW than schools that have more of a reputation as preppy, nerdy, or spirited. You get all kinds here, but seem to be alot of really smart people who probably could be more if they tried.

There are definitely a lot of people at MW that can be close-minded, but for the most part I think it's a really accepting place. There isn't a lot of racial diversity, but students are still aware of issues. There are a lot of really motivated, creative people who get involved in political issues -- I'm just not one of them. But most are very smart, upper middle class white kids from Virginia who really do want to make a difference. The LGBT community has a strong presence at UMW with PRISM and different events like The Vagina Monologues. Very cool. There are kind of a lot of arrogant Northern Virginia kids -- I'm one of them.

I have to say we are pretty well represented in the different racial, religious, and LGBT. We have a Black Student Assocation, Women of Color, a Jewish Student Association, an Asian Student Association, a Latin-American Student Group, PRISM (LGBT student group), a Baptist Ministries, Catholic Ministries, the Canturbary Club, and many more. It is a majority white campus, but there is much diversity and openness among most of our students. We hold a huge Mulitcultural Fair on Campus for the community in the Spring and some of the biggest events on campus are run by one of the above mentioned groups. Because we are a smaller campus, all students interact with each other despite racial or religious differences. If there were four tables in the dining hall I would say there would be: a table with a big group of Freshman, a table with sports girls, a table with sports guys, and then a table with everybody else. The sports teams stay pretty unified, and freshmen seem to travel in pacts. We are pretty well represented in the left, right, and center with both a large Young Dems, Republicans, Libertarians, and Anarachists groups on campus. Students come from all different backgrounds, but are probably majority middle class students that compete for financial aid and hold an on-campus job. Students are passionate about their field of interest, so I guess if it is a lucrative field they'll make bank, but otherwise I've never heard anyone say how much they expect to make...

The UMW student body cuts across all manner of social divides from fashion sense to political beliefs. Nonetheless, the students interact across these differences seamlessly. This one freshman that I know managed to befriend almost everyone on campus this past year. I'm working on it. If you feel like you are having trouble meeting people, dye your hair a weird color. You will know everyone within a week.

most students wear sweats and t-shirts. i dont think any type of student would feel left out at UMW.

The people are awesome. The girls are super nice, intelligent, and very hot. They are also almost all daddy's girls. The guys are about 1/4 asshole, 1/4 nice guys who don't ever leave their rooms, 1/4 gay, and 1/4 just the coolest people alive. However, it's cool, because people get along, and respect each others differences. It's very easy to make friends at UMW

-Racially, UMW is pretty... well, white. We sport a pretty generic campus of white kids, in the middle to upper-middle classes. A lot of kids are from VA, although I know plenty from NJ, NY and the New England area. -Most students wear nicer clothes to class, I'd say. Guys get away with a polo shirt and jeans for the most part, and girls always look nice in skirts, jeans and a nice top. It's not like some southern schools where guys wear a shirt and tie everyday, but it's also a far cry from the t-shirt wearing schools that may exist. -Four tables of students in "Seaco" dining hall: (1) Art oriented people, or those who are majoring in art, drama or music. These people tend to be less main stream, and are comfortable with that. They are usually quite polite, and are very helpful from my experience. (2) Athletes- these are the kids that wear their "UMW (Sport name here)" shirts and sweats everywhere around campus. They tend to more or less run the social scene on the weekend, throwing the parties etc. Although they may sound stuck up or unapproachable, from my experience the athletes are great people. I'm friends with tons of them, and I don't play anything besides intramurals. Get to know these kids, you'll be glad you did! (3) Popular Girls- There are a select few groups of these girls who think that they are better than the other women on campus. Guys overall tend to ignore them, because we recognize their arrogance, and unfriendly nature. These girls will become the school-bicycle later on, meaning that every guy will "get a ride" if you know what I mean. They'll lower their standards after a year or two of no attention. Girls, be warned not to be one of them! (4) Non-athlete and average college kid. These kid make up a great part of the population and are some of the best kids to know. They'll be from all kinds of social backgrounds, but will always be seen around, from in class to parties off campus. These kids are a sure-fire group that you can get along with.

As soon as I got to campus, I joined PRISM and the UMW Dems. I loved it. Really, no student would feel left out from the rest of the students, because there are tons of different clubs and things to do with people. Different types of students do interact, but they generally stay in their own groups.

The student body is a good split of southern conservatives from the old Virginia as well as forward-thinking liberals from all over the country. Students for a Democratic Society is a newly active organization on campus, organizing an alternative represenation to Student Government. There is a multi-cultural fair each spring, but UMW showcases diversity daily, despite the stereotype of a white, female-dominated campus. Although females are in the majority, this campus' ratio of girls to guys is not unlike other public schools across the nation. There are no big sororities or fraternitites and no football games, so students look to other clubs and activities to occupy their time. There are a number of intermural and club sports teams which students also belong to.

Most of the students are white, so other students might feel out of place at this university. Also, 1/3 of the students come from Northern Virginia, and another 1/3 come from the rest of Virginia. The rest of the students come from various states, with Maryland and Northeastern states being popular. Most of the students are from middle-class backgrounds. Like any other college, there are many liberal students, but there are some conservatives and many other moderates as well. People do seem to have thier own cliques of friends, but you can certainly make friends with a lot of other people. The student body as a whole is very nice. A lot of students give up their time to do community service activities.

Weak, not involved too much

the students that would feel out of place at mary washington include goth types, sci/fi nerds, and those who take Hollister/Abercrombie to the extreme. Be prepared to be judged. Students wear pretty nice clothes to class, but on rainy days it's definitely sweats and rainboots. The students are from Northern Virginia and New Englands - thus J.Crew and Ralph Lauren all the way. Financial backgrounds - parents usually rather well off and don't mind giving thier kid tvs, cars, and cash.

I think that diversity on our campus has been a big problem for some time. The major issue with diversity has been mostly due to a stagnant Board of Visitors. It is only until more recently that they have been confronting the issue of diversity more seriously. Most people are pretty well off at UMW. However, it is a relatively affordable college, so you can find diversity there. I would say the majority of the campus is left-wing. However, the atmosphere can make it seem otherwise. You have a lot of people who pretend they don't care either way, although they obviously do. You can find all sorts of people with interesting perspectives on life.

UMW is a predominately "white, middle class, christian" school. There are minorities on campus, and most of them are all friends. I personally know many asians on campus. Most students are from Northern Virginia, NOVA. Practically EVERYONE.

most students are mid-upper white people that wear popped collars and flip-flops to class, there are a lot of cliques as well, sometimes it reminds me of high school (in a negative way) most students are apathetic and lazy and only a few are politically active (other than gay rights)

UMW is not a racial diverse student body. Minorities make up between 5-10 of the student population. The student body is also about 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} female which in some settings becomes extremely recognizable. However, in all other aspects the student body is pretty heterozygous. There are all different religous, socioeconomic, and political backgrounds on campus. Everyone can find someone to click with.

i think that umw has so many different groups of people that nobody would feel left out. seriously there as sooooooooooo many different peopkle. there is def a place for everyone. to class it does nto matter what u wear some day i feel like getting all cute and other days i wear what i rolled out of bed in( haha).

Our campus is a little sadly homogenius (mostly white upper middle class Christian). Mostly reasonably liberal.

UMW has it all. From the bleeding-heart liberals to the hard-core conservatives. I feel that anyone can find like-minded groups of individuals at UMW. The student body is extremely diverse but somewhat clique like. UMW has under 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} black and latino students so the school is not very racially diverse.

Students at UMW are very politcally active and aware. Young Democrats and College Republicans are the two major campus clubs that are politically active. There is also an Anarchist Club. The student body is not very racially diverse. Most are white, upper-middle class. Some well-known groups on campus are the Fencers (seen as weird), the Drama majors (also seen as weird and annoying), all the different groups of athletes, the Frat (fake, unrecognized by the university, and consists mostly of gross guys trying to get with freshman girls...or any girl for that matter), the Overachievers (who are over-involved, some are disliked, some are loved), and the rest of us. While these groups do exist, students mix and intermingle.

That is one great thing about UMW, no student feels out of place. Our school has a very high count of Homo sexuality and most if not all people here on campus are ok with that, or they just get used to it. Most UMW students are from Northern Virginia with a lot of money.

There are a lot of racial issues are UMW. For the most part, the minorities stick together. The University has allowed this to happen by setting up minority only programs. I think this is bad for the student body. Sometimes I feel out of place at UMW, because I do not have as high of a socio-economic status as most students on campus. I have learned to overcome this and I have realized there are many students like me. The students, especially the athletes at UMW often find themselves seperating from the rest of the student body. Students are very politically aware since we are so close to Washington, D.C. The conservative and liberal people seem to balance out, but there are often heated political debates on campus.

The LGBT group, PRISM, is REALLY cliquey and not really worth going to if you're just trying to meet people. The topics of discussion are interesting, though. Most of the club meetings are interesting, you just have to GO. Everyone is pretty informal most of the time.

The student body of Mary Washington is not diverse in the least bit. The advent of the new university president, though, should bring a new era of diversity to the Mary Washington community, as this is one of the new president's crowning achievements at her prior position.

most mary wash students are from virginia but there are also large populations from new jersey and massachusetts. most of the student body is white and that seems to be seen as major problem by the administration. in my opinion, there is way too much focus on race as far as the administration goes, making it more of an issue than it is. i don't know if this makes sense but i feel like they are almost reversely racist, providing tons of opportunities and events geared blatantly toward minorities while not providing the same opportunities for white students. there is a large gay/lesbian population on campus and the administration is also understanding and supportive of them but does not throw nearly as much money or put nearly as much effort into pleasing them as they do minorities. the atmosphere on campus in general is pretty laid back. not many people dress up for class and when the weather is nice, a lot of people spend time outside and the campus really comes alive.

There are two groups of people on campus. The ones who primarily go out on the weekends who take early morning classes, then the weird people who dont start class until the middle of the afternoon.

The college is very open minded about life style choices. Predominatley Republican.

The student body is extremely homogenous. It is predominantly female, white, upper-middle class, Republican. Most of the students hail from either Richmond/Southern VA area or Fairfax County/Northern VA, with a few outliers in between. A lot of the student body is involved in athletics of some kind. If you are an ethnic minority, LGBT, alternative, not college-aged, commuter, from lower socio-economic background..........you will have to work to fit in. Students from any of those categories often keep to themselves or latch onto those from similar backgrounds.

There are all types of students at UMW, representing many races, religions, classes, and political affiliations. It is amazing to see so many different backgrounds and opinions. Something interesting, though, is that I live closer to the people I go to college with than I went to high school with.

Coming from a very diverse school,I was horrified when I heard white people dropping the N-bomb. There was very little respect for other races.Most of the people stick to their own groups.Sports teams and their groupies are the most popular.Any person of color would probably feel out of place and would never venture out if their group of 4 other colored friends on campus. Unless you are on the basketball team.

There are alot of international students on campus, as well as many different cliques which are very wide-ranging. UMW also attracts alot of students from acrosst the country as well as just from VA.

The school is not very diverse, however it is gearing up to allow for more diversity in the future. Many different students interact. There are cliques on campus, but they are easily ignored because the majority of students on campus are more inviting and willing to help each other. The students are very politically aware, mostly because we are a liberal arts school, and most have liberal views.

Most of the student body is from northern VA or farther up. But dont let that stop ya! I am from (deep) southwest VA (as in 6 1/2 hours away from campus), and I have acclimated quite nicely.