Hello and welcome to the
University of Mary Washington,

home of the Eagles.

I’m Levon Harvey and we’re
in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Did you know the university
was named after

George Washington’s mother?

Pretty cool, huh?

Come on, let’s check it out.

The University of Mary
Washington is located

in Fredericksburg, Virginia,
halfway between

Washington D.C. and Richmond.

Students can also
head west to see

the Virginia Blue Ridge
Mountains,

or east to visit Chesapeake Bay
and the Atlantic Ocean.

I was first attracted
to this school because

of the quaint town
that surrounds it.

Fredericksburg is
a lot different from

most college towns,
it’s very quiet.

50 miles south
of the nation’s capital,

50 miles north of Richmond,
which has a number

of Fortune 500 companies in it.

Hour to the west and
you’re in the mountains,

hour and a half to the east,
you’re at the beach.

The best of all worlds.

UMW has been ranked one of the
top 20 most beautiful campuses

in the nation and the
most beautiful in Virginia,

and it’s centrally located on
176 acres of wooded campus

with plenty of indoor
and outdoor activities nearby.

Make sure you stop
by Spirit Rock.

And don’t forget to leave
a message while you’re here.

Students paint the rock at night
to advertise sporting events,

wish someone a happy
birthday, or just to say hello.

Does anyone have a spray can?

There are approximately 4,000
undergraduate students.

35% are men,
65% are women,

and 15% are members
of minority groups.

The students here at Mary
Washington are phenomenal.

They’re very highly intelligent,
they’re hard workers,

they’re also very
highly motivated.

There’s always people out in
the open areas playing Frisbee

and hanging out and talking,
and if you’re not careful,

you can end up leapfrogging
from group of friends

to group of friends instead
of getting to class on time.

There’s no minimum acceptable
test score when applying to UMW.

The middle 50% of admitted
freshman typically have

an SAT score between
1670 and 1960.

Again not just looking
at academic records

and test scores.

We are looking at people.

We read very carefully
every essay that is written,

we read recommendations
that come

from high school counselors,
from teachers, from others

who know these
students individually

and know what
they’re capable of.

We look at what they’ve
participated in in terms

of extra-curricular
activities in their schools

and what they have done
in their communities.

Tuition rates are about $7,000
for in-state students

and $18,000 for
out-of-state students.

Room and board for
all undergraduates

is around $7,000.

UMW is designated by
the Fiske Guide to Colleges

as a best buy, delivering
the best education

at the most reasonable cost.

Wish you were here.

That’s a post card
I’m sending to you.

UMW has a post office right
here in the student center.

Now that’s what
I call convenient.

UMW offers more than
40 majors and programs.

Students can double major
or design their own,

integrating coursework
and other activities

from several disciplines.

Student designed majors have
included such explorations

as linguistics, international
business, medieval studies,

criminal justice, and writing
creative non-fiction.

I do all my research
with students here

at Mary Washington.

We have a variety of
projects that the students

are interested in.

Not only do the students--
do I work with the students

one on one, but if there’s
more than one student

on the project then we
get together and we try

to pool all the data.

And it’s a lot more fun
when it’s a collaboration

between different departments,
because then the students

from another department learn
the skills that my undergraduate

students are learning
in terms of chemistry,

and then we learn the skills
that they already have

in terms of their
own discipline.

The five most popular majors
among students are business,

psychology, English,
history, and biology.

The University of Mary
Washington was the first school

in the U.S. to establish
an independent department

of historic preservation,
which is now one of the largest

undergraduate programs
of its kind in the nation.

UMW has 371 faculty members
and no teaching assistants.

251 are full time
and 120 are part time.

90% have earned a doctorate
or other terminal degree

in their field.

The professors are the best
part about going here.

Professors definitely put
a lot of time and effort

into making it more of
a personal experience,

you know, even with more
students to take care of

than your average
high school class.

They've made sure they
learned everyone's names

and are always available
after classes for help.

UMW is an NCAA
Division III school.

The Eagles compete in 23
sports, leading the conference

in championships, capturing the
All Conference Award 11 times.

The university offers 17
on-campus residence halls

and apartments
for junior and seniors.

Living on campus
is a lot of fun.

You actually have more free
time than you think you do.

You go to class and you have
free time to do homework

as well as other things.

And you find that you kind
of have to make sure

you budget your time well
to get everything done.

But I’ve really enjoyed it
and I will continue to live

on campus the rest
of my college career.

I like living in the dorm
because it’s right

in the middle of campus.

It’s easy to get
to all the classes

and hang out with friends.

The university offers
more than 100 student clubs

and organizations in academics,
arts, sports, and recreation.

They always have a big
club fair at the beginning

of each semester where
the officers of every club

come out, tell you
what the club’s about,

try and get you involved.

I’m a member of the
Ultimate Frisbee Team here

and I’m also part
of the Trek Club.

Came here the first time,
it just felt like home.

Everybody’s willing to help.

Everybody around
here is really friendly.

I believe that the student who
is looking for a high quality

academic experience in a very
active and engaged setting

on an absolutely beautiful
campus will find

the University of Mary
Washington to be

the perfect place.

Bright minds, beautiful
campus, best value.

That sums up the University
of Mary Washington.

Hope you guys enjoyed your tour.

For YOUniversity TV, I’m Levon.

We’ll catch you next time.