Advice to an admitted student?

shawnspencer
Mon, 10 Apr 2017 03:45:27 +0000

@Boston21 @listener76 I would be happy to take a stab from these!

Most students are extremely frendly and open, and William & Mary has some of the most compassionate, down-to-earth people I have ever met. That is honestly part of the reason I chose the school. It is well known for it’s community atmosphere. This is displayed from your first day on campus where all the upperclassmen give you high fives as you are welcomed to the school, to the tight-kinit friendships that you are able to form due to the caring people that go here, and the 2 AM personal or intellectual conversations you are able to have with your freshmen hallmates. It is extremely open and welcoming, whether it be clubs or communtity events.

I would say that greek life does have a noticable presence on campus, but they do not define your social experience. From my experience, you are not pressured to drink or partake in activities you do not want to, and everyone finds their own niche whether they are in greek life or not. This can take place in many forms. On a typical Saturday you can find the NERF club blasting across academic buildings, movies/musical events/comedy shows, random ridiculous events (human bowling, bubble soccer, and zombie attacks), camping and outdoor events through the rec center, many student organizations hosting their own events, games like assasin or dodgeball, and much more. Many organizations are also very social even if not part of Greek Life (ex: international relations club/student environmental action coalition) so there is more than one way to hang our or even attend parties if that is what you are looking for.

I found it exceptionally easy. I am from out of state and also identify as an introvert, so I thought it was going to be rather difficult to make friends, but it was actually much easier than expected. I made most of my close friends through my freshman dorm. There is a really tight knit community feel about the freshman experience that makes you guys bond. Orientation lasts four five days and you really get to know your peers, and they were there through the thick and thin of it. Outside of that clubs have been a really great way to make friends, they are extremely open and welcoming as mentioned earlier and there’s everything from the cheese club to the chemistry club (they make liquid nitrogen ice cream) and social justice orgranizations. But honestly lately I have also been realizing from random encounters. People are generally really interesting and have such depth to them, that it made forming friendships with people here rather easy because those are traits that I love about people.

Hope that helped answer your questions!