The University of Mary Washington

GMU and UMW were my top schools to go to when I was applying last year. I decided to go to UMW and first year wasn't that bad. The social life is alright. I was lucky and made really great friends during my first semester. I have good connections so far with tons of other people but the academics here are awful. The professors are really nice and helpful but all they do is just read the slide off and that's it. They'll perhaps do a bit of class activity but it's really pointless to go to class. The food is usual the same everyday like the seacobeck hall we have here causes us to go to the bathroom and it hurts our stomach mostly 80% of the time. The dorms are really crappy here to be honest. There are only 30% of the dorms that are really nice but the rest really sucks. UMW is trying their best to just show they latest buildings that look so nice while the majority of campus is pretty old. If you want to have a social life, you can go here. Otherwise go to your other university choice.

1st Year Male -- Class 2018

Perceived Campus Safety: A+, Faculty Accessibility: F

Okay, so, I only stayed at UMW for one semester, I thought I wanted to go to a small school but this school is just WAY too small. Know what you want. I'm also a really social person who likes to go out and party!

Things I liked at UMW:
-the professors- willing to help you!! Very passionate and friendly.
-I love liberal arts and enjoyed my classes
-the campus is beautiful
-how the Dean meets up with you if you are having personal problems on campus
-I've met some friendly people, and supportive friends
-140+ clubs
-the parties are pretty chill or fun- they just don't happen a lot
-the weather (especially with no AC dorms)
-the two off-campus fraternities, they're really nice and throw cool parties.
-you can choose to drink and smoke or not, a variety of people go to UMW.
-the RAs are chil about visitors. depends who though.
-Giant Productions is pretty cool and they've gotten Wale, Passion Pit, and Dev.. So concerts have been fun!

-tuition is cheap for instate tuition
-the dorms aren't too bad but it depends where you live.
Things I disliked at UMW:
-THE SIZE.
-small classes
-no Greek life, school spirit
-everyone goes home on the weekends
-Fredericksburg sucks. It's so boring and to go to places you need a car.
-UMW has the Fred which is a busline in Fredericksburg but it's horrible, sketchy, and so slow.
-70% girls. Literally no guys.
-there's this negative and sad feeling to this place
-I've had people say to me "if I wasn't on a sports team I'd transfer..."
-the athletic teams; they are really exclusive. had some friends come to a party of theirs and they asked WHY they were there.... this is COLLEGE not high school.

-the gym could be nicer
-counselors were no help for recommending classes
-the food gets old but it's not too bad.
-freshman can't have a car unless it's for work or a medical emergency
-spring semester class selection is horrible
-student activities and administration do not throw fun events.
-no school pride
-CLASSES ARE HARD. You can't skip and you actually gotta do the work. So those are my reasons why I liked and disliked UMW. If you're not really social or a partier, or if you are super religious, or on a sports team... you'd like this school. This school has 4,500 people and it's not the smallest but I'm ready to go to a bigger university. I would never hate on UMW and its a great college: it's either you love it or hate it.

1st Year Female -- Class 2018

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Social Life: F

Note: I selected that I would attend a different university, but this is only due to the field I wish to enter, there is no real "linguistics" department here. I love UMW and I wish they had a speech pathology program.

Pros: All courses are taught by actual professors. There are NO teacher assistants on campus. Well, there are lab assistants in the science courses, but they assist, never teach exclusively.

Small, friendly, and usually inclusive campus life. Staff all over campus are approachable, and students are usually friendly. Highly recommend making friends with the dining hall card swipers, because if you're a nice person, sometimes they let you in without swiping if you're low on meals.

Technology is being updated and new facilities are being built to keep up with the campus's growth. Administration understands the school is changing. There are three on-campus dining options and some of them have vegan/vegetarian options! PRISM, our LGBT society, is our largest group on campus. It's a very accepting campus about gender and sexuality. Some profs are less accepting than others, but there are plenty that are allies.

Cons: The housing department is nitpicky about charging you for "damages" and doesn't abide by their own rules; I applied to stay in my same room for this year but they moved me anyway due to flimsy reasons.

Administration isn't the best about most things though; they keep giving students a runaround on if credits transfer for certain courses, etc.

Due to the construction of new buildings, if you're coming here anytime between now and 2017, I hope you like construction noise Monday-Saturday, 5AM to 5PM!

Regarding the food: the vegan/vegetarian options are very limited and rather bland. There are healthy eating options on campus but they get boring very quickly. The unhealthy options also get boring very quickly. Eating literally anywhere off campus becomes a joyful experience after a while of blah campus food.There is a party scene, but it's kind of "underground" so you have to try to find it. I'm not a party girl so that's why this is a con to me. Cops always shut parties down early due to neighborhood complaints.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2014

Faculty Accessibility: A, Individual Value: C