<p>if i have a 4.05 gpa, got a 2100 on my combined sat, and am vice president of my class, will i get in even though i am out of state?</p>
<p>Haha biggie33, we’re in the same boat. I guess I’ll ask a followup to your question. Will students applying from out of state suffer disadvantages, statistically or otherwise, compared to students applying from in state with similar objective and subjective credentials?</p>
<p>Yes, as a public institution, W&M is required to maintain at least 66.6666666667% of their undergraduate as in-state.</p>
<p>Jayster, 65% of our student body is required to be Virginia residents. Therefore our admission rates for out-of-state applicants is lower. Our overall admission rate is 33%, for out-of-state it’s 27%, in-state is 37%. However, we only evaluate Virginians compared to other Virginians and non-Virginians to other non-Virginians.</p>
<p>Biggie, numbers are a part of our process but they certainly are not the whole. Course rigor, grades, standardized testing, extracurricular activities, leadership, essays, recommendations, talents, quirks and background all play a large role in our process. The profile numerically for our incoming class is as follows: 80% graduate in the top 10% of their class and the middle 50% on the SAT Critical Reading and Math is 1280-1430. The most competitive students will have taken the highest-level courses offered (usually AP or IB classes) including calculus, the fourth level of a single foreign language and four years of science. They will have some extracurricular activities with which they’ve been involved for four years. Certainly being class vice president is a great accomplishment that we appreciate. For more on any applicant’s chances, check out our Admit It! Blog ([W&M</a> Blogs Chance Me](<a href=“http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/]W&M”>http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/))</p>
<p>McBain, not sure anyone ever addressed your questions.</p>
<p>Transfer students can apply to live on campus. There are generally limited spaces and they are randomly assigned so there really isn’t a lot of student choice. If you aren’t granted on-campus housing, there are websites you can use to explore off-campus housing. This is also an on-campus event in June for enrolling transfers. Meeting roommates and exploring off-campus housing opportunities is part of that day’s program.</p>
<p>thanks W&M Admission, that’s good to know! I’m not trying to get ahead of myself or anything, but I was just wondering how the housing works for transfers and how easy it is. The on-campus event in June sounds very informative!</p>
<p>McBain, it definitely is. Students can explore transfer credit, housing, academic advising and they can network with transfer administrators on campus as well as other incoming transfer students. Those who decide to enroll will be notified of the event shortly after they submit an enrollment deposit.</p>
<p>Awesome, thanks for the Williamsburg info.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading the Williamsburg info :)</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experiences with the programs run with the National Institute of American History and Democracy, especially the Program in Early American History, Material Culture, and Museum Studies? Reading about that program was what got me interested in William and Mary, and I plan on applying for the Year-in-Residence even if I attend another school. Is it a worthwhile experience?</p>
<p>bandgeek, it’s a very new program so not sure how many students have gone through the program but hopefully some will respond to you.</p>
<p>Ok thanks again W&M Admissions 
I’m hopefully going to be heading down to the campus over my February break in two weeks, I’ll be sure to ask about that at my campus tour </p>
<p>Finally, I was wondering about the environment for students from out of state. I understand the school’s about 2/3 Virginians, 1/3 out of state, but where are the most common other states for students to come from? Also, would the students characterize the school as having a really “Southern” feel or not? I’m from New Jersey, and a lot of people here (especially my parents) can’t understand why I’d want to go to school down South, especially with the high cost for out of state students.</p>
<p>lots of out of state students from md, pa, nj, and ny… if I had to guess, I would say those are the most common place for oos students to be from.</p>
<p>In my opinion, W&M does not feel southern… by that, I mean that it does not have the huge greek presence, monstrous parties, or “slower” southern lifestyle. Roughly 1/3 of the students are from the DC suburbs, and these students are much more “northeast” than “southern” if you are going by general stereotypes. W&M feels a lot more like a northeast private school (with warmer weather) than southern State U, due to size, campus feel, history, etc. just IMO.</p>
<p>I feel as if it still has a little of the relaxed and welcoming Southern atmosphere, but it is by no means stereotypically southern. Its rare to even find someone with a southern accent (well, that’s nearly everywhere now… I grew up in Richmond and there weren’t many people with accents at all).</p>
<p>Massachusetts is another state that sends lots of students to W&M.</p>
<p>W&M is 35% out-of-state which is a pretty hardy percentage of out-of-state students for a public university. Our students come from 48 states and 47 countries so there is a lot of regional and geographic diversity.</p>
<p>The most represented states outside of VA are NJ, NY, PA and MD followed by Ct, FL and MA. Aside from the East Coast we get a fair number of students from Northern OH, Chicagoland, TX and CA. Check out page 253 of the Course Catalog for a breakdown of students by state and country (<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/documents/catalog/UGCatalog.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/documents/catalog/UGCatalog.pdf</a>).</p>
<p>The part of VA that W&M is in is not very Southern (although Richmond is about an hour away and does exhibit Southern influences). The Hampton Roads area is very military and therefore the culture is more transient and less rooted in any one regional perspective. There are certainly Southern students at W&M but there are also rural students, Midwestern Students, Northern students and West Coasters so it’s a good mix.</p>
<p>So a less serious question: How is the party scene?</p>
<p>motocrosser, we’ll leave that one to current students since we’re sure that’s who you want to hear from.</p>
<p>you can drink from Thursday - Sunday if you want. Generally there are frat parties every weekend, if that is your thing. There are also house and apartment parties, and many organizations have parties for just their members. Club sports teams also have parties. The parties are there if you want to find them. The party scene is definitely not overly in your face though. If you don’t wand to participate, there will be like-minded students to hang out with.</p>
<p>Question- I noticed that W&M Admission said a couple pages back that the most competitive students have taken calculus and four years of science. I am currently a junior and have taken Geometry, Algebra II (both freshman year), and Precalc (sophomore year), all honors-level. I was enrolled in AP Calculus AB for the first marking period this year and withdrew from the class with a withdraw pass. I am currently taking no math class but next year, I plan on taking AP Stats. In addition, I have taken Honors Bio and Honors Chem and am currently enrolled in AP Bio, but as of right now I do not plan on taking another science next year, in favor of other AP classes (namely AP European History and AP Gov&Politics) that are more suited to my interests. I am very much aware of the fact that one small factor such as taking calculus or a fourth year of science will not make or break my application, but can anyone give me any insight as to how it may affect my competitiveness as compared to other applicants? On a side note, I have taken all honors/AP courses throughout high school, and I have taken three years of the same language and have every intention of taking a fourth. </p>
<p>Also, W&M Admissions mentioned being involved with extracurriculars for all four years. I only have one extracurricular that I have been involved with for all four years (or at least plan to be, since I’m a junior), while the rest I have been involved with for some other combination of years (such as freshman/soph or junior/senior). Like I said before, I know that one single factor will not automatically decide whether I get accepted or not, but compared to applicants in the past, is this type of situation usually viewed negatively? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out!</p>
<p>regarding the ECs, I wouldn’t say being in activities for a shorter time is negative, just that longer involvement shows more commitment/dedication to the same activity. For example, if a student loads up on ECs junior year, after doing nothing fresh/soph, admissions people probably see that as trying to game the system. I think W&M Admissions would probably tell you do participate in ECs that you are passionate about, and obtain leadership roles where possible.</p>
<p>Regarding the AP classes, just know that many applicants in the pool will have 4 years of science, for instance, probably 99% of VA applicants, since 4 years of science is required for the “advanced” HS diploma in Virginia. What are you taking senior year? AP Stats, Foreign Language (AP?), AP Gov, AP Euro… I assume you are taking more classes as well.</p>
<p>We do recommend that you enroll in the core subjects each year so you should absolutely pursue science and math as a senior. We’d prefer AP Calc to AP Stats if you think you can perform well in it. If you don’t think you can perform well in AP Calc, then take AP Stats. Be sure to explain your withdraw from AP Calc in your application. For science you can consider AP Chem or physics…both great options. Most of our applicants will take the core subjects each year and many will take calc and physics so if you do not have these types of courses, you will be less competitive than other applicants in terms of course selection. You may be more competitive in other realms but given the strength of our applicant pool, we encourage you to be as competitive as you can be in all realms.</p>
<p>We certainly do not expect that every activity sustains a four-year commitment but we do hope to see a few such extracurricular activities and then maybe several three-year activities. Such commitments allow students to get involved, make a difference, and obtain leadership and those are the types of things that elevate your extracurricular section to be as competitive as possible.</p>