Recommended Courses

William & Mary undergraduate students are required to fulfill seven General Education Requirements (GERs) as given below. Therefore, when the Transfer Committee is reviewing an applicant's file, the committee is looking for a combination of similar courses.

GER 1: Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (one course)

GER 2: Natural Sciences (two courses, one of which is taken with its associated laboratory)
2A: Physical Sciences (one course)
2B: Biological Sciences (one course)

GER 3: Social Sciences (two courses)

GER 4: World Cultures and History (one course in category A, one course in category B and one additional course in either category A, B or C) To satisfy this requirement, a student must take one of the following combinations of GER 4 courses: AAB, ABB or ABC.
4A: History and Culture in the European Tradition
4B: History and Culture outside the European Tradition
4C: Cross-Cultural Issues

GER 5: Literature and History of the Arts (one course)

GER 6: Creative and Performing Arts (two credits in the same creative or performing art)

GER 7: Philosophical, Religious and Social Thought (one course)

Note: Unless students have completed the fourth year level in high school of a single foreign language, or demonstrate proficiency by achieving scores of 600 on the College Board SAT II Subject Test in French, German, Russian or Spanish, or scores of 650 on the Test in Latin, they must satisfactorily complete a fourth semester course (202 level) in college.

Here are some examples of strong curricula. This is not an exhaustive list; however, it will give you an idea as to the type of curriculum the committee considers favorably.

Example A:
Calculus I
General Biology with Lab
Principles of Microeconomics
Introduction to Contemporary Literature (English)
Introduction to Philosophy

Example B:
Elementary Probability and Statistics
General Chemistry with Lab
An Introduction to Shakespeare (English)
Cultural Anthropology
Intermediate French I

Example C:
Calculus II
General Physics with Lab
Introduction to Psychology
History of Western Civilization
Introduction to Creative Writing (English)

Example D:
Elementary Probability and Statistics
Physical Geology with Lab
Principles of Sociology
Contemporary Moral Issues (Philosophy)
Intermediate Spanish II

Example E:
Calculus I
Introductory Astronomy with Lab
Introduction to Comparative Politics (Govt)
Public Speaking
Elementary German I

Current W&M catalog (to compare course descriptions and/or to see which W&M classes fulfill GERS)