The University of Mary Washington

Although I did not hate my experience at MWC, I starting thinking early on that I wanted to transfer. It is much harder to get into MWC as an out of state student, but even so this was my safety school. I have not been challenged by the courses at all. The professors are nice but boring. Also, if you come here expecting small classes like they tell you, be warned. My first semester 3/5 of my classes had 80 people in them. They also tell you that there are no teaching assistants here, which is true, but they don't tell you how many adjunct professors there are. When I first visited, I fell in love with Fredericksburg. It has tons of cute shops and restaurants, but no way to get there unless you love to walk. The "fred," the public transportation system is a joke. It is completely unreliable. Also, there is NO nightlife in Fredericksburg...let alone on the campus itself. Lots of students go home on the weekends, and for the ones that stay there is nothing to do. The are no parties on campus, so unless you like watching lifetime movies all weekend, or you like walking around in the nearby neighborhoods looking for parties that are always too crowded to move in and get broken up by the police in under an hour, don't come here.

1st Year Female -- Class 2007

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Innovation: D+

"Mary Washington High School", lacking in many areas. Not a good social scene and boring. Play on a sports team and you might have better luck.

4th Year Female -- Class 2004

Faculty Accessibility: A, Education Quality: F

Overall, I don't like Mary Washington and wish I had never come. I'm so glad I'm transferring in 37 days.

Most people have said that classes are difficult and you have to spend a lot of time studying, but I haven't found that to be true. Do your work and study for tests and you'll be fine. In beginning there seem to be a lot of things to get involved in on campus, but most are very cliquey so it's hard to get comfortable. Not only is there nothing to do in town, but the "townies" pretty much hate the college kids from my experience, so don't expect to feel comforable browsing downtown either. The teachers are alright, but not as good as the ones I had in regular old community college. I'm not a 'party' person, so I don't know much about them, but I do know that if you don't like to party on the weekends, there is even less to do than if you do. If you have a very thought-out, specific plan for what classes you want to take and the order you want to take them in, good luck. Getting the classes you want, much less the ones you need, is not easy. If you're an organized, prepared person who knows exactly what you want in life and exactly how you want to get there, I suggest picking somewhere else to get there from than here.

As a transfer student, I feel like I've had to fight the administration all the way. They are not easy to deal with, if you can ever even find the right person to talk to. Sometimes you can find one good person in some office- if you do, you're lucky and should stick to them! The school doesn't seem as interested in helping the students it has than it does in working like a business to get more. The whole time I've been here I've felt very lied to.It may be the right place for some people, but it certainly isn't for me (and pretty much everyone I know has some other major complaint as well).

1st Year Female -- Class 2006

Perceived Campus Safety: A, Campus Aesthetics: F