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A “standard” schedule would be 5 3-credit classes, so 15 total, which is what an incoming freshman would need to average to graduate in 8 semesters. Some classes are 4-credit; some are 1-credit. I know a student who took 4 classes last semester that totaled to 15 credits (3 were 4-credit classes).

Anything in the 14-16 credits range would be a “normal” semester schedule. Under 14 is light, though of course that might perfectly suit a student in any given semester. Anything over 16 would be a heavy credit load, though of course a 17-18 hour load might be necessary or desirable in a given semester. I believe permission is required to go over 18.

In the 14-16 credits per semester range, you should be fine to work in a lab and have some other ECs. That student I referenced taking 4 classes and 15 hours also worked in a lab and was fairly active with 2 ECs. They also had a lot of things to manage in terms of summer and fall employment and another outside school program. They had time on weekends but also good time management skills, which is really the key. Be self aware and think about how you manage your time and whether or not you should take on a lot or be a little more moderate in what you attempt. With many ECs, you can just back off if you are feeling overwhelmed by your schedule. Good luck and enjoy William and Mary!

My daughter will be an OOS freshman this fall. She is very excited about WM, but how is Greek life? Can this be an issue if you rush for a sorority and do not get in?? My daughter literally knows noone going to WM and is from NYS, which is not heavily represented.

Thank you! Another question: do students at W&M often have difficulty getting into the classes they want to take? I will mostly be taking upper division classes since I’m entering as a junior and I’m concerned that my timeline could be set back if the classes I need fill up, especially since many are only offered once a year.

@s42mahon, Greek life is pretty moderate at William and Mary, big enough to be something if a student wants it as part of their social life, but not a dominant part of social life overall. Sorority Court is a nice area. Many students are Greek, many are not. Truly, no need to worry about being OOS in terms of rush (or otherwise). It’s not like their are deep high school networks that influence the process. I think that can happen at schools, but my experience is that WM students are very much on an even footing going through rush. I think, in the end, the process works out well for the vast majority of students. No guarantees, and obviously there will be disappointments, but nothing to be concerned about.

Freshman social life, whether students go Greek or not, tends to focus on freshmen halls. It’s interesting. I know two other schools well where freshmen live in a single complex of dorms. At William and Mary, freshmen dorms are pretty spread out around campus. I think this encourages friendships within dorms, though different students obviously have different experiences.

@SavannahK, the school does open places specifically for transfer students. Otherwise, it would be very hard to get classes. It varies, but I saw a transfer student go through the process last year, and they had no trouble getting classes, although, obviously, I can’t say for sure about any particular classes, and I’d expect it to vary by department. But transfer students do have spots reserved for them.

DROP OFF: It’s a two day thing, but the second day seems a lot like accepted student days with a lot of break out sessions for “rookie” parents, i.e. first time to drop a kid at college. I am good with my 3rd child’s wellness, abating homesickness, etc. and want skip day 2, but I don’t want to be the only parent not there. Is it a thing? Do I need to stay? WILL OTHER TRIBE MOMS JUDGE ME?? JK, I don’t really worry about this last question, but we do live very far away and need to get back.

My third went off to college in a recent year. I know the feeling. Yes, if your kid is cool with it, and they might well be really cool with it. It’s useful for first-time parents or those who feel like they want to learn some more things about the school, and the school does a great job. But if you are good, then you are good. I promise I won’t judge! Just make sure you grab a Cheese Shop sandwich before you head out, otherwise I might have to just a little bit. :slight_smile:

@mom9955 Your post made me laugh for quite a bit. I think it should be perfectly fine, especially if you have been through something similar before. Most of the parent orientation is just talking about all the resources that they have on campus to support the students and reassuring you that “Your kid is going to be okay!” Your student will probably go through a similar thing, so it’s more important that they are there for the orientation. I’m currently at an orientation for my younger brother who goes one of those weird schools that have it in the middle of the summer, and my parents are definitely playing hooky halfway through :wink:

W&M seems to be very generous with AP credits. Do many students make use of them to graduate in three years, or are they more likely to double-major or study abroad more than once?

@prodesse Students tend to do all three, so all of the above! I would say double majoring is the most common, followed by graduating early, and then studying abroad more than once. This is also based off personal experiences with friends and I don’t have the official statistics in front of me, but the last two could easily be switched.

I do have some truly adventurous friends that have spent more than three semesters abroad, so it is definitely possible. One of my friends spent three semesters abroad AND graduated a semester early (to this day I wonder how…) William & Mary really encourages students to study abroad and many opportunities are built into the new college curriculum. It has the highest study abroad rate out of all the public universities in the country, which means just over half of all students study abroad during their four years.

It also depends how you define study abroad. A student may go abroad for one of their courses, like I have friends who went on a geology research trip to the Bahamas and others who went to Cuba for one of their courses. The William & Mary Semester in DC and the Summer Institute is becoming more popular, so a student may study abroad a semester then later decide to take classes and do internships in DC in a different one. They recently offered an interesting new leadership course co-taught by William & Mary alum and former FBI director James Comey and William & Mary has many alumni willing to help students get internships in the DC area.

Many students do end up using the AP credits because there is no really good reason not to. Some science students like to take introductory course over again as a refresher before moving to upper-level courses. Most students just apply the credits to exempt them from the introductory courses. The good thing is that some courses like AP Psych and AP U.S. History grant you double the amount of credits because they can cover the same amount of content as two semester courses.

From my personal experience, coming in with AP credits was helpful because it allowed me to really explore interesting courses outside of my major or get really involved in the community without spending as much time in introductory courses. There are still a number of students that don’t come in with credits though that are still able to do things, but coming in with the credits definitely come in handy.

So to answer your original question: YES. William & Mary students do take advantage of the credits they earned in high school. I am endlessly surprised in all the creative ways that students spend their time here.

@TTG I can’t fathom missing a Cheese Shop sandwich, especially since my husband has never even been to Williamsburg!

Would you define W&M students as competitive or collaborative in the classroom? We live in Virginia and hear many things about W&M in general, and my son (rising HS senior) hears from friends about their older siblings’ experiences. We have heard BOTH. Obviously, W&M is competitive to get into, but once there, do students tend to compete with one another (e.g., trying to get ahead of each other, not helping, etc.) or tend to work more collaboratively? OR - as I suspect - does it really vary by major and by student. My son thrives in a collaborative environment but really dislikes competition among students and has been a little worried about things he has heard…

I know the school well, and over a long period, and very currently. I think the school’s reputation as having a competitive academic is largely a myth. To my mind, it really is pretty wholly a matter of how a student approaches it. If they are inclined to view it as competitive, then, well, it could seem competitive. If they go into it with a desire to be collaborative, they’ll find A LOT of students, professors, and staff with whom they can have terrific collaborative experiences. Honestly, I was always pretty flummoxed by the idea that a school has a competitive academic environment. I always felt like, if I work hard, do my best, and then see how the cards fall, what does it really matter to me if other people are stressed. I could choose to be, or not. But what really mattered was how I learned and how hard I worked. But, anyway, I can say for sure that today students can have an excellent academic experience with little or no competitive pressures. I know someone very well who is experiencing that.

The same with fun. There are plenty of chill W&M students who know how to have a good time. If a student wants to have a fun W&M student they will also find plenty of collaborators. Is that the best word?

Good luck!

What can a transfer student do besides grades to maximize his chances of getting into Willhem und Mariah? (William and Mary)

Hey everyone! It’s been a long time since I have been on College Confidential. Wow a lot has changed. I have since graduated from William & Mary, but since I heard decisions came out recently I wanted to come back and answer some questions.

Congratulations for all the students that were recently admitted to William & Mary! Like they say in those admissions packages, “One Tribe, And Now It’s Yours.” I also imagine that it can be an incredibly confusing time, trying to make college decisions with everything going on while not being able to visit campuses.

Well never fear! That’s what we are here for. Feel free to ask anything! There have already been some amazing questions and answers in this thread already, so feel free to look through them. And as always, anyone feel free to pitch in.

Once again, I just wanted to say Congratulations! And welcome home.

What are your thoughts/experiences regarding the pre-orientation programs such as pathways and 7 generations? Are they worthwhile? Are they hard to get into? Would you recommend one above the others?
Thanks!

@polkajen Great question! I highly recommend it. I happen to have to done the Pathways experience, which is the Outdoors Adventures program. It was an incredibly fun experience and was a great bonding activity. For someone who came from out of state, I didn’t really know anyone going into the school, it made me really value the people I was around and getting to know other types of people outside of your typical college setting. After that, I would take almost any opportunity to go hiking in the mountains, it’s a treat. I did the backpacking trip, which was probably one of the most physically exerting ones out there, but was very rewarding. From what I know about it, I don’t think they necessarily fill up super fast but certain ones may be more popular than others, so those might run out of spaces more quickly.

I think you bond pretty quickly with the people there and at the end of the experience, you gather together with all the other Pathways trips for a giant kumbaya. I enjoyed the people that I met, and although we didn’t stay best friends after the experience (we all ended up in kind of different social circles and had our own meaningful relationships), we would gather together sometimes for a giant potluck reunions – and several of them ended up as trip leaders. You also get to know all the things the Tribe Adventure Program offers quickly: everything from Canoe Battleship, to things like Skydiving and Surfing, which is awesome. I always wish I had time to go on some more trips, but whenever I meet someone that has gone on one, its an immediate bonding experience.

I am less familiar with Seven Generations, but have done many service trips with the College and like the Pathways trips, they are very well planned. As a former trip leader myself, I think the people that you find on these trips (whether it is Outdoors or people are drawn to community service) I think you are find that people that are drawn to these experiences, are some high quality people. Many people continue to be active in these activities even after starting college, and you will get to experience it in a way that many other people have not. Some other programs I might recommend if you are interested in service include: Sharpe Community Scholars and the Aim-4 Program, focused on Community Based Research and service respectively.

If you get invited into some of the other programs like PLUS or PLUS-S, I would highly recommend those as well – they are fantastic academic and social experiences and the usefulness of those will extend beyond that time period, but those tend to be mostly invite-only. One thing I will say, is that if you don’t end up going on one of these experiences, don’t fret. There will be plenty of time for bonding and getting to know people during Orientation itself (which I think I talk about earlier, but I think it done exceptionally well), but if you do get to go on one of these trips, it is a wonderful experience.

I say a lot that William & Mary had some of the most down-to-earth and community oriented people I have met, and I admit many of those first impressions were definitely helped shaped by that perspective.

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Hi Shawn, I wanted to thank you for being so thoughtful and generous with your comments on W&M. My kid is still mulling things over, but I personally, would like her to choose W&M.

@Utenochek You’re absolutely welcome! I am more than happy to help. I wish that the campus was still active so she could see everything in person, but alas. If there are any questions that I can help answer in the meantime, I am happy to answer them.

@shawnspencer - The odds of getting a dorm room with A.C. are against incoming freshmen. Did you live without AC in a W&M dorm? If so, how did that affect sleep, social life, academics, etc., if at all?