College of William and Mary Top Questions

In all honesty, William and Mary was not my first choice. However, it was the first college that I visited and I never had it far from mind while visiting other schools (Duke, Yale, Princeton, Wake Forest, etc.). I had always wanted to go to Duke University, in Durham, NC, in part because I was, and continue to be, a huge supporter of their men's basketball team. When I visited the school, I fell in love, and upon learning about their strong emphasis on community service work, I felt that it would be a great fit for me. However, after getting jerked around a bit by the admissions office (waitlisted twice, off of early decision), I decided to look elsewhere for school. My first impressions of William and Mary were how beautiful the campus was. It was exactly how I had pictured a university to be: brick walkways, huge green quad in the middle of campus, old brick buildings, with ivy growing on some of them. The student body was the right size, and they had strong departments in things that I was (at the time) considering majoring in, in English and History. The people all seemed friendly, and it didn't seem to be monochromatic in a way that was deterring or unsettling. And of course, William and Mary has a strong reputation for its academics, being consistently named one of the best universities and public universities in America, as well as being one of the 8 members of the so-called "Public Ivies." When it came time to eventually choose a university, I had many great options to choose from, but ultimately, it came down to a visceral feeling I had when visiting William and Mary. Despite the fact that other schools I was accepted to may have had stronger programs, or a more vibrant night life, or better sports teams, I felt instinctually that I could see myself wandering William and Mary's campus much more easily than at any other school. Sometimes, I have to do a reality check and realize that I am now one of the students that walks the storied paths surrounding the Sunken Gardens that high schoolers on tours of the College stare at while taking their own tour. It's an incredible feeling, and good to know that I made the right choice in selecting William and Mary.

I attended the high school model United Nations conference hosted by W&M, WMHSMUN, when I was a junior in high school. While there, I walked by a string quintet playing outside of the music building, participated in a protest against Proposition 8, drank WaWa hot chocolate, and unintentionally stumbled upon the Catholic Church after hearing a trumpet player warming up outside, so I went to mass. I then discovered that it was one of the most respected schools academically in the country, and that anyone who had gone there that I met was very excited to sit down and talk to me in order to convince me that I had to go there, because it's awesome. I fell in love.

I visited the College of William and Mary during spring break of my junior year in high school. It was a very rainy day, but the beauty of the campus and the joviality of our tour guide were not marred. Hearing about students' passions, and all the wonderful things about professors, prompted me to apply. The full tuition scholarship award sealed the deal for me, and I could not be happier.

Tim explains how he ended up at William and Mary and what he found most surprising about the atmosphere on campus.

Patrick explains what drew him to William & Mary and what he's learned about college life since he's been here.

Jazmine explains why she chose William and Mary out of the 36 schools she visited.

One student talks about how William and Mary's picturesque campus drew her to the school.

Dave explains how William and Mary's tight-knit sense of community drew him to the school.

Andrew tells us why he chose to come to William and Mary and what he didn't know about the school before he came here.