Texas A&M folk OR College of William and Mary folk - need your advice!
8 replies, posted
I'm Australian, and I'm currently looking at going on exchange study to the US for 2015 (as a humanities undergrad student). Based off where my uni has links with, I've narrowed it down to either Texas A&M, or the College of William and Mary (and I understand they're pretty different to each other).
So, could any FPers who've been to either of these colleges / know someone who has give me some advice on what they're like? How's the academic side? Social side? Do students live on or off campus?
Alternatively, if anyone who's not from the US but moved to study there could throw in some thoughts/advice from their own experience as a foreign student in the US, I'd be equally grateful.
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I go to A&M and my experience is generally positive.
I'm a computer science major so I don't have too much experience in the humanities department outside of what's required by my degree plan. But the classes I've taken so far were awesome.
As far as social goes, theres a shit ton of active clubs to join and in my experience thats the best way to meet people. Literally 20 feet off campus is North Gate which has tons of bars and a few restaurants. If you're into the bar scene then thats where you'll probably end up on the weekends.
Oh, and if you're brave theres plenty of places where you can country dance.
A&M itself is located in a small college town that isn't much bigger than the campus. So don't expect a huge American city. Also everyone in the entire city for the most part is young and very attractive.
Most students live on campus for their first year, then usually buy an apartment or rent a house with friends. The dorms are old and dog shit, unless you're rich.
Theres a lot of foreign students on campus, mostly from India and China. You really shouldn't have any problems fitting in.
And finally, A&M has a very powerful alumni. Lots of doors can open for you if you plan on staying in Texas after graduation.
If you have any questions ask away.
Future A&M Galveston campus student. So far the reception has been warm and welcoming. They seem like nice people. Post above pretty well explains what I know or heard about the main campus. Been to College Station a few times. It's basically a town built around the college. Nice looking place from what I've seen.
Aggies are friendly and welcoming, so being brought into the family shouldn't be an issue.
A&M.
You should consider UT.
As you mentioned the schools are quite different from each other. If you are hoping for a truly academic experience involving smaller classes and an overall higher quality of education then William and Mary would probably be the better fit. A&M has much more of a 'classic college' feel, with a rowdier night life and a more laid back student population. I'd say that the stereotype from the two schools would be that, on a given friday night, if you are more likely to want to have an intellectual conversation with friends over wine you'd fit in better at William and Mary, while getting wasted at the bars with friends fits A&M a bit better.
Both are excellent universities (I guess W&M is technically a college but you get the point), with plenty to offer from both an academic and social standpoint. Even if W&M is more academic, A&M has some excellent facilities and a much larger alumni population- the classic pros/cons of a big public school vs. a small(er) private school in the US. Also, having an Australian accent on pretty much any college campus is a sure fire way to get all the ladies (or men, whatever floats your boat).
Regardless of what you choose, I think the best possible advice about going to any new university is just to be as active in trying new things as possible. I was on the rugby team at my school (University of Michigan) for the 2-3 weeks of my freshman year, and even though I was tiny and got the shit beat out of me, it was a lot of fun and I have no regrets whatsoever. You'll find all sorts of interesting clubs and sports teams to join and I think that finding extracurriculars that match up with your interests is the best way to meet people.
Best of luck!
[QUOTE=ScoutKing;44966646]You should consider UT.[/QUOTE]
I would, but unfortunately my uni only has exchange links with:
- College of William and Mary
- Cornell University
- Indiana University
- North Carolina State
- Pitzer College
- Purdue University
- Simpson College
- Texas A&M
- Arizona U
- Connecticut U
- Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Massachusetts-Amherst U
Also thanks to everyone who's replied, this is really useful
Both my parents, my uncle, and 3 of my cousins went to purdue
I'm a student at the University of Texas and there is a large rivalry between my school and A&M so my perspective is 100% biased, but you shouldn't go there.
The city that A&M is located in is literally called College Station because it is the only significant part of the city. This means that getting drunk is one of the few things to do there (which isn't a bad thing just I like diversity). A&M is also known for its insane traditions that create cult-like conditions for its students. If a student doesn't participate to in the insane activities they are labeled two percenters, a very literal minority status.
They also fuck sheep.
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