William & Mary
- 4 Year
- WILLIAMSBURG, VA
CollegeGrad School
William & Mary Reviews
Rating 3.68 out of 5 1,631 reviews
I enjoyed the academics and professors. I had difficulty adjusting to life after moving onto campus.
My first year at William & Mary was what I dreamed about getting from college. The size of the school is small enough that you always see someone you know, but big enough that you're always meeting new people. The campus has a lot of charm and my dorm was beautiful & had really high ceilings. My professors were ALL amazing at their subjects, and actually enjoyed teaching. No classes led by TAs and everyone genuinely cared about students. Was given lots of research opportunities and am pursing an opportunity to have work published. The clubs are really active, and often go on trips for competitions. I've met amazing people that are the closest friends I've ever had. My semester was academically demanding, but I specifically chose it to be that way and could have taken less courses. Currently planning to do a study abroad fully funded by the school.
I think the best part of this school is the people. So far, all of the professors I've had were amazing and super kind and passionate about what they do. The workers at all of the food services are also the kindest and most helpful people. I also love the things you can do on your free time, like the farmers market and kayaking on matoaka. The food in the dining halls isn't even that bad. It can be kind of repetitive and you will probably get sick of it by the end of the semester, but it's not bad quality imo. The only thing I would really change would be the amount of construction on campus. I can think of at least 5 big projects going on right now at the school that won't be done until fall of 2025. And a handful of them are really inconvenient in that they have to block off a particular pathway or door that a lot of students take to get to class. I'm not mad about the construction itself, but it feels like they are doing everything at once where they could have done a few at a time.
The stress culture at W&M can be quite isolating, especially for students who, for any reason, feel like they don't belong or deserve to be there. Students and administration know that mental health needs attention, and while I was there, leaders made efforts to help students cope with high academic and extracurricular demands. I don't regret attending, and I hope future W&M students know they can be successful both during their college years and after graduating without being #1 at everything.
William and Mary has a beautiful campus with a lot of friendly people. Everyone is so welcoming and kind to one another. One of my favorite things about William and Mary is the sunken garden. Sitting in the garden, I feel like all my troubles have disappeared.
Please do research and ask questions. Tour guides aren’t allowed to talk about food or housing, which is very telling!! Roach and ant infested dorms and under-cooked chicken! Diversity on campus is a joke. Administrators don’t care about persons of color. Terrible student experience!
I have largely enjoyed my experience as an undergraduate student at the College of William & Mary. The institution is responsive to students’ needs, and I have witnessed significant administrative changes in the short time that I have been here. The registration system used for course selection and the dining hall food service provider switch from Sodexo to Amarak are two of these changes, both of which have contributed favorably to students’ overall satisfaction. The flexibility of academic requirements have allowed me to pursue an early graduation and set my sights on a graduate program! Though I look forward to what comes next, I will miss this school dearly. William & Mary has become my second home, and I don’t know how I’ll be able to say goodbye.
William and Mary is a great school for those interested in very specific topics, looking for engaging professors, and a community of people who share the same ideas as you. Classes are absolutely amazing and diverse, professors are extremely helpful, and there are many academic resources like tutoring, writing help, accessibility services, etc. The downside is the housing and food. Housing is sparse and not the best, some dorms don't have AC and many of the dorms are pretty small and old. The food is not great, I find myself not eating sufficiently and I often get sick from the food.
I loved the College and my time here. The professors are amazing; the classes, challenging. The only major con right now is the construction :(
William & Mary lives up to its reputation as a rigorous, academically-focused school. Professors genuinely care about students and classes are relatively difficult, but the workload is not unreasonable. Students are overall very down-to-earth, kind, and smart, and there are plenty of niches for every student to find a club or group that they fit into. The food and party scene could certainly be better, but they're small issues compared to the numerous, exceptional benefits offered by this school.
Campus life is welcoming and supportive. There is a lot to do on campus and around from colonial activities to club events.
I loved William & Mary’s welcoming environment, academics, and campus. I loved it so much that I plan on attending Graduate School there, and it was the only school I applied to.
I would likely change some of the decisions, as there is a housing crisis right now and many of my friends were forced to live of campus out of fear of not getting housing though William & Mary tours that it “gets everyone off the waitlist” for housing, that is only because people take themselves off after finding an apartment since they don’t want to take the chance of not having a place to live for the year. I think the housing crisis could have been avoided if they renovated/closed housing buildings one at a time instead of all at once.
I would likely change some of the decisions, as there is a housing crisis right now and many of my friends were forced to live of campus out of fear of not getting housing though William & Mary tours that it “gets everyone off the waitlist” for housing, that is only because people take themselves off after finding an apartment since they don’t want to take the chance of not having a place to live for the year. I think the housing crisis could have been avoided if they renovated/closed housing buildings one at a time instead of all at once.
A very liberal campus with no tolerance for competing ideas. Professors are often distant and not available or helpful. Often left to teach myself to preparedness which were totally unrelated to syllabus. Too expensive for the education, which was often lacking in experiences to further critical thinking.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience as a freshman at William and Mary. The coursework is rigorous but there is a plethora of resources provided to help including free tutoring. I have always felt that professors were very willing to provide help to students and there are lots of research opportunities even for freshman. Additionally, students are highly encouraged to study abroad which is something I like a lot about the university and I will be studying abroad this summer. Williamsburg (the city the campus is located in) is very quiet and there is not much to do which is not the best, but it is still very scenic and there are nice local markets with vendors. Personally, I am not really interested in parties, but I will say the party scene is not very strong at William and Mary. The campus is what I would consider to be a good size and there's lots of really nice places to study. Something I would like to see change is W&M's housing process, I find it incredibly unfair.
My time at the College of William and Mary was the best four years of my life! William and Mary attracts students who are very academically focused and involved, and the social scene was really welcoming. I made some of my best friends for life at William and Mary and would recommend that anyone who wants the experience of a small college with a fun state-school feel to apply!
Overall, I've had a great experience at William and Mary so far. I wanted to touch specifically on the dining services – in past years, dining has not been W&M's strong suit, but since Fall 2023, the dining plan has greatly improved. With more options for vendors coming to campus too, the variation in food has been nice. They can obviously improve with menu options, but generally I think the food has improved greatly over my time here.
William and Mary is a great college. It has fantastic professors, generally small class sizes where you can develop a personal connection with your professor and peers, and a beautiful campus (aside from many ongoing construction worksites). Its academics are rigorous, but opportunities abound in both on-campus leadership positions and in research opportunities at W&M and abroad. I have developed fantastic friendships with my peers and my professors, and I have grown by leaps and bounds in both my personal and academic life in my three years here. The campus is very walkable regardless of where you live on-campus, however an on-campus housing crisis is currently ongoing for students not required to live on campus. W&M's food quality has a bad reputation amongst the student population, but I find it to be overblown. Even so, incidents of food poisoning and undercooked meat is not unheard of, and though I've yet to experience either, I have personally seen some friends's bad experiences.
William & Mary is an incredible school with amazing academics and an even more amazing community. I've made so many lifelong friends throughout my time at W&M, and whether it is the culture, classes, or Colonial history, I can't recommend the university enough!
Overall William and Mary is an amazing institution. Its resources and campus atmosphere is next to none. It has all the academics and amazing professors of an Ivy league school coupled with a charming historic and cooperative environment. While the food and housing are slowly catching up with modern standards, there is still plenty of joy to be outside of academics. For me this school perfectly encapsulates what I want from my college experience, to be surrounded with amazing people who care about what they are learning, about each other. William and Mary feels like a home away from home, and if you come here there's no doubt that you'll feel like you belong.
W&M prides itself with making reparations, putting up statutes all for a good PR opportunity. When a student of color brings up concerns, offices are quick to pass the buck: counseling, to office of compliance, student affairs, but no one takes action. They bring up “hazing training” but won’t address bullying or diversity. They have actual said they won’t talk about diversity, and blamed it on the governor. They are poor in the student well being department, poor in diversity, equity, and inclusion, poor in food and housing, poor in tuition rates for a public university but great for photo opportunities when erecting statutes.