Getting Involved on Campus

A couple of weeks ago, the Office of Undergraduate Admission hosted the first Prospective Transfer Students Day of the year, and it was a lot of fun. For this week’s post, I am going to address some of the questions that were presented to me a few times by some of the prospective students: is it difficult to get involved on campus as a transfer student? And, do you have to be a part of Greek life in order to really feel like part of the campus community?

The short answers to those questions are both no.

But since I love words and details, I am going to also give the long answers.

As soon as you enter William & Mary, you will immediately find that everyone does everything. By that I mean that there are a lot of passionate people here who are involved in a lot of parts of the campus community – established student organizations as well as off-campus internships and personal professional endeavors (i.e. working remotely for cool companies).

Becoming involved on campus could not be easier. At the beginning of each semester, there is a huge event where hundreds of student organizations set up tables in Kaplan (the big sports facility on campus where we have all our basketball games) and happily inform visitors about what their group does. It is a little overwhelming but is also very exciting! There are so many things to get involved with here, you will surely find something that suits your particular interests.

As far as Greek life is concerned, I have been asked in the past if it is necessary to be in a fraternity or sorority in order to really feel like you have a place here. While the social scene at other schools is very heavily entrenched in Greek culture, that is not the case at William & Mary. Like a lot of other sub-cultures here, the Greek community is small but mighty. I have a lot of friends who are involved in Greek life and who love it, but I also have a lot of friends who are not involved and who are still loving life just as much without it. If you choose to become part of a fraternity or sorority, you will surely meet people with whom you will become close friends and make memories with – but you can do that just as easily outside of the Greek system.

In summation, whatever you choose to be involved with at William & Mary, it will be great. William & Mary students don’t just do what they do in order to check a box on a list of what they feel they ‘should’ do in college, rather, we try new things, we find what we love, and we talk about it all the time.

William & Mary is a great place to be if you think you know what you want but aren’t completely sure yet. You can experiment with new interests and pursue exciting opportunities, even if they are outside of your area(s) of study. If you want a campus community that will take you in and nurture your skills and passions, this is it – no matter what year you start here.

-Megan Embrey ‘17