Breath taking when you wake up in the morning and stare out across the bay seeing the sun glisten against the water. Expectations very high since it's an honors college with all classes being very rigorous. Social life for the first month is a bit hard to grasp but after that it's like you've known the friends there your entire life.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Before signing up for you 1st Year seminar class, be sure to do proper research on the seminar and speak to someone if possible that has taken the one you're interested in before. Because chances are you might not like it like what happened to me. I took Galileo and the Birth of Modern Science, very interesting topic but the teacher was a bit boring and in terms of the variety of topics, it was a bit limited so be sure to choose wisely.
In terms of dorm life, be sure to really answer those profile questions for dorm matching carefully or else you will end up with the wrong roomate and trust me you do not want that. I was luckily placed in a room with no roomate for the first 1 month but that was because it had air-conditioning. If you can, somehow avoid getting placed in Dorchester. It's not where you want to end up if you're a boy, it's an al boys dorm and it smells. Go for Prince georges or Caroline dorms.
What will help is if you had AP credits from high school, chances are if you're lucky you'll get placed into those good dorms. In terms of cleaning material for your dorm, be sure to stack up on Lysol and a swifter if you can. Also, maybe invest in a broom because that helped me clean up the after party messes in my room on weekends.
If you're a party'er places to check out between 9pm-12am on Friday and Saturday is WC (warren commons). Don't take random drinks from some people there. Friend of mine learnt that the hard way. Eat before you go party'ing for god sakes. Don't get caught by public safety. You will get a J-board if you get caught, which is not a good thing.
When choosing classes be sure to sign up carefully for the ones that match your sleeping schedule, try to avoid early classes if you're a evening afternoon type or try to avoid evening classes if you're the morning type of person. Also it'll be helpful to check out rate my profesor website on the school's page. It'll let you know what teachers to look out for interms of teaching proficieny.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
(I am a chemistry major who took POB for fun because I like biology) The Sciences are no joke especially POB106 (principles of biology) which you would take in your 2nd semester there. If you plan to go the science route make sure you are CERTAIN. More than half of the students who initially signed up for being a biology major get dropped out. The rigor I cannot emphasize enough is quite overwhelming. You will be spending countless nights in the library or Schaefar under some study light studying or writing some paper for another class. It IS NO JOKE, St. Mary's is called the Honors college for a reason. For any intro classes and classes after that fufill your major requirements, you must obtain a C i.e 74.5% to continue pursuing that major. If you do not obtain it, you will have to take the class over if you still want to continue. However, you will get credit still for the class if it a 4-credit class for example. Just as long as your grade is not below a D. The standard at St. Mary's is set pretty high which is why it is ranked among the top 3 liberal arts colleges in America.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
The friends you meet in your hall whether it's a 2am after a long study or party or 8am early in the morning for breakfast will be your very good friends for the rest of the year as long as everything goes well amongst you all of course. I say that because the community is so close knitted and everyone is so close together with campus being small also, it's rare that you do not run into your roomate or hallmate on a daily basis. For all fresh men, if you want some good dorms, go for PG (co-ed), CAROLINE (co-ed) or QA (all girls). Dorchester is an all men dorm. Whatever your taste go for that.
There are kitches located in every Dorm complex, the toasters work but are not the best. We have microwaves (not so clean but gets the job done).
There's a common area with pool tables and a piano which is not so good. The bathrooms are never gooood on weekends after parties. but during the week, they aren't so bad.
If you have asthma like me, chances are you will be placed in an air conditioned room. But you must sign up for it, that's how the preference works out. Dorchester is not air conditioned generally, PG AND CAROLINE ARE BOTH operated on a vent cooling system. QA is not air conditioned.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
Variety of food everyday differs but repeats every week with the exception of the international section. I rarely saw food being repeated on that side. The crepes by BIG T are brilliant, you must have them. Don't know a crepe? it a pancake mixture sauteed on a skillet with toppings of your choice. I normally get oreos and whipped cream and strawberries all topped off with chocolate syrup. It melts in your mouth. sooooo goood.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
So many clubs so many clubs. Join one or make one. We're on the water, so kayaking is always available late spring and early/late summer and (september-october until it gets cold). Windsurfing also there, sailing is a Must. And just swimming around in the water itself is perfect on a hot sunny day. The outdoor adventure club has outings practically every week with good weather of course. We've been to places like Snowshoe mountain (for skiing), White water rafting, cave and mountain hiking and the list goes on. the fee for all of this is mostly always under $200.00 and normally the prices drop significantly the more people go. for the hiking trips it's under $50.00
Don't have alot of homework for the weekend? go to cole cinema, go see a free movie showing. Want a laugh? a comedian always comes like every weekend down to St. Mary's. go with some friends. Don't like the latter? Parties are always on campus and off campus. It's not hard to find at all. Mostly for on-campus, go to WC. Since the newly installed Pub, yes Pub. If you and your friends want a late night snack or just to hang out on weekends, go there and get some awesome nachos.
Breath taking when you wake up in the morning and stare out across the bay seeing the sun glisten against the water. Expectations very high since it's an honors college with all classes being very rigorous. Social life for the first month is a bit hard to grasp but after that it's like you've known the friends there your entire life.
Before signing up for you 1st Year seminar class, be sure to do proper research on the seminar and speak to someone if possible that has taken the one you're interested in before. Because chances are you might not like it like what happened to me. I took Galileo and the Birth of Modern Science, very interesting topic but the teacher was a bit boring and in terms of the variety of topics, it was a bit limited so be sure to choose wisely. In terms of dorm life, be sure to really answer those profile questions for dorm matching carefully or else you will end up with the wrong roomate and trust me you do not want that. I was luckily placed in a room with no roomate for the first 1 month but that was because it had air-conditioning. If you can, somehow avoid getting placed in Dorchester. It's not where you want to end up if you're a boy, it's an al boys dorm and it smells. Go for Prince georges or Caroline dorms. What will help is if you had AP credits from high school, chances are if you're lucky you'll get placed into those good dorms. In terms of cleaning material for your dorm, be sure to stack up on Lysol and a swifter if you can. Also, maybe invest in a broom because that helped me clean up the after party messes in my room on weekends. If you're a party'er places to check out between 9pm-12am on Friday and Saturday is WC (warren commons). Don't take random drinks from some people there. Friend of mine learnt that the hard way. Eat before you go party'ing for god sakes. Don't get caught by public safety. You will get a J-board if you get caught, which is not a good thing. When choosing classes be sure to sign up carefully for the ones that match your sleeping schedule, try to avoid early classes if you're a evening afternoon type or try to avoid evening classes if you're the morning type of person. Also it'll be helpful to check out rate my profesor website on the school's page. It'll let you know what teachers to look out for interms of teaching proficieny.
(I am a chemistry major who took POB for fun because I like biology) The Sciences are no joke especially POB106 (principles of biology) which you would take in your 2nd semester there. If you plan to go the science route make sure you are CERTAIN. More than half of the students who initially signed up for being a biology major get dropped out. The rigor I cannot emphasize enough is quite overwhelming. You will be spending countless nights in the library or Schaefar under some study light studying or writing some paper for another class. It IS NO JOKE, St. Mary's is called the Honors college for a reason. For any intro classes and classes after that fufill your major requirements, you must obtain a C i.e 74.5% to continue pursuing that major. If you do not obtain it, you will have to take the class over if you still want to continue. However, you will get credit still for the class if it a 4-credit class for example. Just as long as your grade is not below a D. The standard at St. Mary's is set pretty high which is why it is ranked among the top 3 liberal arts colleges in America.
The friends you meet in your hall whether it's a 2am after a long study or party or 8am early in the morning for breakfast will be your very good friends for the rest of the year as long as everything goes well amongst you all of course. I say that because the community is so close knitted and everyone is so close together with campus being small also, it's rare that you do not run into your roomate or hallmate on a daily basis. For all fresh men, if you want some good dorms, go for PG (co-ed), CAROLINE (co-ed) or QA (all girls). Dorchester is an all men dorm. Whatever your taste go for that. There are kitches located in every Dorm complex, the toasters work but are not the best. We have microwaves (not so clean but gets the job done). There's a common area with pool tables and a piano which is not so good. The bathrooms are never gooood on weekends after parties. but during the week, they aren't so bad. If you have asthma like me, chances are you will be placed in an air conditioned room. But you must sign up for it, that's how the preference works out. Dorchester is not air conditioned generally, PG AND CAROLINE ARE BOTH operated on a vent cooling system. QA is not air conditioned.
Variety of food everyday differs but repeats every week with the exception of the international section. I rarely saw food being repeated on that side. The crepes by BIG T are brilliant, you must have them. Don't know a crepe? it a pancake mixture sauteed on a skillet with toppings of your choice. I normally get oreos and whipped cream and strawberries all topped off with chocolate syrup. It melts in your mouth. sooooo goood.
So many clubs so many clubs. Join one or make one. We're on the water, so kayaking is always available late spring and early/late summer and (september-october until it gets cold). Windsurfing also there, sailing is a Must. And just swimming around in the water itself is perfect on a hot sunny day. The outdoor adventure club has outings practically every week with good weather of course. We've been to places like Snowshoe mountain (for skiing), White water rafting, cave and mountain hiking and the list goes on. the fee for all of this is mostly always under $200.00 and normally the prices drop significantly the more people go. for the hiking trips it's under $50.00 Don't have alot of homework for the weekend? go to cole cinema, go see a free movie showing. Want a laugh? a comedian always comes like every weekend down to St. Mary's. go with some friends. Don't like the latter? Parties are always on campus and off campus. It's not hard to find at all. Mostly for on-campus, go to WC. Since the newly installed Pub, yes Pub. If you and your friends want a late night snack or just to hang out on weekends, go there and get some awesome nachos.