Such a gem

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>We visited WM today and although it was 100+ degrees, it was a great visit. God bless those rising seniors who, despite the heat wave, manage to maintain their enthusiasm and excitement for their school as they walk everyone around for an hour and a half! Just a few random things I took away from today:</p>

<p>The heat didn't deter many students and their families from visiting. The room for the info session was packed and with each of the four tour guides, it looked like there were about 20-25 students in their groups. I asked our tour guide and he said it has been packed like this all summer so far for each and every tour.</p>

<p>I last visited five years ago and there are some nice additions: new academic buildings and amenities for the students. The recreation center is a nice addition. Although they are newer, the architecture meshed well with the older brick of the old campus. They have some construction going on, but it didn't seem to be overwhelming.</p>

<p>I could hear my d's heart skip a beat when they spoke of the SAT scores; scary high. The standards for admittance are tough, but they did say that the most important item of consideration is the student's high school transcript. I think they are sincere in saying that each applicant is truly looked at as an individual. Essays are very important and should show what "empowers" that student. In other words, in your essay, try to tell the committee what is it that you can bring to the College.</p>

<p>The students we saw there looked like down to earth, pretty easy going kids. You always hear about how quirky the typical W&M person is. My d was a bit concerned going in about the reputation she has heard about at her hs about the W&M students in general: antisocial, too intense, not happy, etc. Now I know it is summer and we didn't see as many students as she will if she visits again, but so far that image or rep has been totally shot down. You could have been on any campus in the state and seen the students we saw roaming around. </p>

<p>96% freshmen retention rate</p>

<p>over 400 student clubs to join</p>

<p>Seems that the enrollment is a bit higher than I remember hearing. 6024 undergrads this past year. Hope that doesn't go up too much higher.</p>

<p>There is a writing center in SWEM library that you can take any paper you write. A staff member will actually go over your paper with you and allow you to hear how you can improve its content. I wish I had this opportunity in college! What an incredible resource.</p>

<p>Their career center seems to be top rate in trying to help get freshmen and sophomores on the right track early to optimize the potential for seeking a path to employment. They have a name for this freshman program, I can't recall what it is, but all students are involved. </p>

<p>She is going to be going back in the fall to see a football game and maybe spend the night. She wants to see how the school spirit is for sporting events and such. They have some of the neatest school wide traditions there, though, so she was encouraged to hear about those. </p>

<p>It is a great school and I highly encourage anyone to visit. I just hope you all get a little bit of a reprieve from the heat when you do! :)</p>

2

<p>Have your daughter come on Oct. 25th for Homecoming!</p>

<p>If your daughter would like to talk with a W&M student when she comes, PM me and I can talk with her about anything she would like to know (I’m an incoming freshman)!</p>

<p>Good luck to her with the applications and SAT scores!</p>

3

<p>6024 undergrads now?</p>

<p>I too, hope it doesn’t get too much bigger. There is pressure from Richmond to take more students though, despite Richmond giving W&M less and less money each year.</p>

<p>When I was back for young alumni weekend, we spent an evening in Tribe Square… got an A+ from my group.</p>

4

<p>Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit! Thanks for mentioning the Cohen Career Center in your post. The program you referenced for freshmen and sophomores is called Compass. You can check it out by visiting [William</a> & Mary](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/compass]William”>http://www.wm.edu/compass). If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email or give us a call. Ashleigh Brock coordinates the program and is the primary career coaching contact for freshmen. Good luck with the college search!</p>

5

<p>To address concerns about size, the entering class size has gone up a bit but nothing drastic (1400-1450 over the course of the past few years). As with most VA public universities, we are also taking in more transfer students but W&M is committed to remaining a close-knit community </p>

<p>Also, our middle 50% range for the SAT is 1240-1460 (Critical Reading + Math) so while we are selective and those are strong scores, they are not unattainable. And we do superscore the SAT if a student takes it more than once if that helps your D’s heartbeat return to normal.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of the compliments and we’re delighted you enjoyed your visit!</p>

6

<p>“but W&M is committed to remaining a close-knit community”</p>

<p>So glad to read that statement. I know these Virginia schools are doing their best in a very difficult situation with state funding cuts and imposed IS/OOS ratios. In today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch President Reveley wrote an OP/ED piece that was interesting to read. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/oped/2012/jul/09/tdopin02-reveley-colleges-benefit-from-publicpriva-ar-2042369/[/url]”>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/oped/2012/jul/09/tdopin02-reveley-colleges-benefit-from-publicpriva-ar-2042369/&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>It’s tough for everyone, the schools, the parents of the middle class kids who don’t make enough to qualify for need-based aid but see even the most affordable in state public tuitions going up and up. As President Reveley said, there aren’t any magical solutions. </p>

<p>Thanks for the encouraging words about my youngest. She is going to try in Oct. to see if “the third time is the charm” for her to improve on those SATs. I just hope she doesn’t put too much pressure on herself with it. She has been thinking and thinking about what she wants to do, where she wants to go, etc. The visit to W&M was a real eye-opener for her, though, and has made her do some real soul searching over the weekend. It is going to be an interesting fall! :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Thanks again for the hospitality and warmth (personality, not heat related!) shown by all down there in the Admissions office, the rising seniors who spoke and led the tour, the interviewer, the Career Center, even the cafeteria folks who let us meander through during the tour. I’ve been on so many of these visits now, I must say ya’ll have got a good thing going on down there! :)</p>