University of Mary Washington Top Questions

-Every professor I've had so far has learned my name within the first two weeks of class. They go out of their way do learn them and it makes it a very personal learning experience. I sometimes think about other schools, and wonder how on earth kids plan on getting a letter of recommendation from a professor they had, when the class had 200 kids in it. My biggest class freshman year (in the necessiary liberal-arts requirement classes) was 32 kids, and I loved most classes I took.

Loved my relationship with most of my professors, great student to professor ratio. Was always known by name and 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the time professors went out of their way for me. The Historic Preservation Department is untouchable- but classes are competative and getting a B is supposed to be a compliment.

easy for people who were hoping to attend higher ranked VA schools, harder for people who thought they would be happy at mason.

All I can really talk about is the theatre department, but all the professors knew my name, and we all called the profs by their first names. Class participation was very common, and they were geared towards getting a job, definitely. I never really spent time with the profs outside of class, unless I had to have a meeting with them. Students are certainly competitive, but in a good way. We helped each other study a lot, and that was really helpful.

Professors know your name, despite what it may seem like, so don't skip classes. Class size can be quite small, especially for high classes in a major, where a student-professor relationship becomes important and helpful. Through office hours, most professors are available for students, whether the subject of conversation is academic or otherwise. Historic Preservation is a unique major that is rarely offered at other schools, but is a wide-ranging topic dealing with sustainability, museum studies, archaeology, and planning. UMW is the first school to have offered this as a discipline, and the department flourishes, attracting unlikely preservationists to the field.

A lot of the professors take the time to get to know their students' names, and many of the professors are willing to work with you during their office hours if you have any questions. As I was writing earlier, most of the classes are challenging, so you will need to spend a considerable amount of time studying to get the best grades. Many of the people don't and will still get by with Cs, but they can do better. UMW's general education requirements are a bit excessive, and I am not sure how I would have gotten through all of the gen-eds if I hadn't completed half of them through AP coursework. By the way, UMW is pretty lenient with granting AP credit. You can get at least some credit for getting a 3 on an exam. UMW wants to give its students a well-rounded education--they aren't merely concerned about preparing people for careers. In terms of class itself, a lot of the coursework seemed to be lecture-based, but their are definitely courses that are discussion-based. The departments in which I have taken the most courses are math and business. The math department is very strong at this school. Business is probably one of the school's easier departments.

Challenging, but professors actually make an effort to help each individual student. Being a Bio major, the content is hard and the classes are demanding, but for the most part teachers are understanding and care about your success.

Academics are great. The professors are all brilliant and the majority of them are SO nice. The Modern Foreign Language Department professors are amazing - especially German prof. Herr Rotter. The students aren't that competitive, it seems like they go to class because they have too, participate because it's required, and leave as soon as class is over. UMW students are smart all around - in and out of classes.

The student-to-professor ratio is pretty good in most upper level classes. You get good hands on experience. Students are pretty enthusiastic about their fields of study and you find good participation, except in the Gen Ed classes. It is easy to get to know your professors here.

The classes are UMW are most always small which allows students to interact well with each other and the professors. Chances are you know your whole class and professor well midway through the semester. Because classes are small it is easy to tell if people are skipping or not participating. Being in class and participating in discussions is very important and may determine part of your grade. When I am in a class concerning my major or an area of my interest going to class isn't a chore as it was in high school.