The University of Mary Washington

I'm just finishing up my first year at UMW and I'm enjoying my time here. The number one thing I'd tell anyone thinking of coming here is that it's an "academics-first" school. No one comes to Mary Wash for the parties and the social life, but rather for an education which is affordable, and quite good. The professors are all friendly, knowledgeable, and available, and in fact, the administration is currently on a hiring drive to bring even more new professors to campus to bring the student-to-professor ratio to 15:1.

This school talks a lot about how hard the classes are, but they're honestly not too tough if you study and work hard at them. Regardless, it's not uncommon to have four grades (midterm/final and two essays) make up your grade for a class, so it can be difficult if you're not careful.

Mary Wash's social life is a bit lacking, but not terrible. The administration cracks down on underage drinking, as does the local police, and are known to break up parties in town frequently. Frats are not recognized by the school, although there is a lone unsanctioned chapter that throws parties regularly.

Despite these setbacks, there are usually several parties going on all over town that you can hit up (although Freshmen will need to make some upperclassmen friends since they can't bring cars...) on the weekends, and Fredericksburg itself is a big enough town that it has everything you'd ever need (mall, movie theatre, gigantic outdoor suburban shopping center etc.). If all else fails DC is a half hour away with everything you'd ever need. Overall Mary Wash is a great school. It's not for everyone, you definitely don't get the stereotypical "college experience" that you'd get at a bigger university, which sometimes sucks. Regardless, it's definitely a quality university that's cheap and is academically challenging with small class sizes, and I'd recommend it to anyone other than people who want to party all the time.

1st Year Male -- Class 2008

Education Quality: A+, University Resource Use/ spending: C+

I just finished my freshman year at Mary Wash and overall, I am really happy. I met some truly amazing people who have become my best friends.

Some things I liked about the school was its size-the small size of the student body and the campus itself allowed for me to constantly see people I knew while walking around campus or eating at one of the two dining areas.

However, at the same time, as much as I loved this small school feeling-it was also frustrating at times because when I did want some space it became hard to find when I was always running into people you know.

For this reason, I would often head downtown on the weekends to get away and do my work-Hyperion, a coffee shop downtown was perfect for this.

As far as academics go, my classes were not that challenging for general education classes and I found most of them quite interesting and the professors to be friendly and organized.

I expect my classes next year to be much harder but I look forward to it.
The social scene at MW leaves something to be desired. The parties are not bad but are often a bit overcrowded and typically consist of the same people--you don't meet many new people unless you really venture out and go places you have never been before because only a small percentage of the school really goes out it seems...but for this reason you are able to know the names of most of the people you party with and get to know them on a more intimate level-something that you might not be able to do at a bigger "party school," and as a result you create more of friends rather than drinking buddies.

Overall, i really enjoyed my freshman year at school and am excited for next year.Come to Mary Wash if you want a relaxed atmosphere in all aspects of college-academics and social life included.

1st Year Female -- Class 2011

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Surrounding City: B-

Firstly, UMW is a small VA state school- don't hope for an atmosphere (in classroom and socially as well) like VAtech and JMU. I've found those places to be obnoxious GreekLife-OrDie, and are good for the occasional weekend binge of substances as a visit to a friend.

There seems to be a lot angry posters on this board- so I figured I'd add my own input and set the record straight.

I would be willing to bet that most people who have rated UMW poorly in the social life are expecting to walk out on a Saturday night, and be welcomed into any party they know is going on. I'd go as far to say that they've made little attempt to meet people that host such beer-soaked gatherings, and have been told it's not chill if they stay.

I swam for a year and a half, and moved onto playing men's rugby (guys, you're always welcome to tryout)- they have easily given me an outlet to go out each and every weekend. UMW has no greek life (if you don't count the kids in PsiU, who simply can't find a social scene, so pretend they have a legitimate one... no really, ask ANYONE) and sports teams may seem to lead the social scene at first. But, they're not the only ones with houses off campus; and you'll find that to be true.

Social life is all about meeting people at UMW- be friendly and outgoing, and not only will you end up partying with those people, you'll end up being good buddies with them. I've met my girlfriend and some of my best friends just by not being timid- go out, have fun, and get laid!

I apologize to anyone that read the messages on this board and was deterred or scared off by some of the other comments. Once you're at UMW you'll be able to spot the people that complain about 'no social life' ... and it's no coincidence that they have no Social Skills.

I look forward to seeing you all sometime, I have one more year of fun at UMW before the real world- I could only hope to have as many great memories in the future, as I had in the past 3 at MaryWash.-Class of 2011

3rd Year Male -- Class 2011

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Education Quality: B