<p>Unfortunately S didn't get into W&M this year, but still loves it; and would love to graduate from there. He's now choosing between 3 schools that he likes - 2 well respected private mid-Atlantic schools, and one of the other good VA state schools (he's OOS). All have their advantages and disadvantages. But one more thing on which to speculate - assuming he does very well in challenging classes at any of those schools, does the VA state school have an advantage in the transfer application?</p>
<p>I was in your son’s shoes last year, its not fun to get that letter from W&M… Here’s what my take on it after going through a bunch of things.</p>
<p>After getting the letter I was devastated to say the least. But I was accepted to the University of Mary Washington, Gettysburg College, Fordham University, Elon and a few others. I was an OOS student, and considering UMW I figured I could transfer to W&M at the end of freshman year (note if your son really wants to transfer, make sure he does a year of college before applying to W&M, it’ll strengthen the app and take the pressure off the HS stats). However I was absolutely terrified of getting another rejection from W&M and being stuck at UMW, as I thought that’d be settling and I’d just end up bitter.</p>
<p>I chose to go to Fordham. Good rep, great history dept, Irish studies, I thought it would be awesome. Biggest mistake of my life. I hated it there. UMW would have been so much better, as it mirrored the atmosphere, maybe not the intensity though, of W&M far more closely.</p>
<p>I ended up leaving Fordham after one semester and transferring to the local university I spent my whole life saying I’d never go to: UMass Lowell. It’s an engineering school with a god awful history program, but I’m stuck with that at the moment. And since I transferred mid year, there was no way I’d have a decent transfer app with a half year at each of 2 institutions, so I have to put off applying to W&M until Spring 2012.</p>
<p>I’d advise going to the Virginia school, whether it be UMW, JMU, GMU, etc. It’s not going to be W&M (nothing is…) but at least your son already knows he likes the culture and attitude of a Virginia school (vastly different from MA or NYC) and the admissions office at W&M will be able to more easily evaluate that type of transfer. That being said he’ll need to maintain a 3.8 GPA (what they advise for public school transfers) to be competitive in transfer admissions. But on the bright side, the OOS thing while still a factor in transfer admissions, is less so than freshman admissions and the admission rate is like 48%.</p>
<p>I hope I could help!</p>
<p>I was also in the exact situation last year. I was then in between American University, my other top choice with W&M, and Elon University. American was a lot of money and they didn’t give me any scholarships, so I decided to go to Elon on a Presidential Scholarship. I thought that I would be fine, but I still feel that W&M would be a better pick, so I am currently waiting for their decision, after finishing my freshman year here at Elon. I would say that your son should chose the place he feels is closest to what he think of W&M… If I had done that, it would have been American, I would probably have stayed there. </p>
<p>If he does decide to transfer, he should wait to do it in the Fall of 2012; it is best to finish a full year before transferring.</p>
<p>It truly doesn’t matter which school your son chooses. Whether it’s a VA public or not really will not impact the decision we make. While we have transfer articulation agreements with Virginia community colleges we have no such agreements with other VA publics so going to one will not increase your son’s chances of being admitted as a transfer. He should truly choose the school that’s the best fit for him.</p>
<p>Also, we recommend a 3.5 GPA to be competitive for transfer admission, not a 3.8 (although obviously a 3.8 is a tad stronger than a 3.5). Visit our transfer website to see what kinds of courses we recommend ([William</a> & Mary - Applying as a Transfer Student](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/applytransferstudent/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/applytransferstudent/index.php)). Over the summer, your son can also contact our transfer dean for advice on registering for classes.</p>
<p>Thanks to all, particularly W&M Admission. You’ve been a fantastic help all the way through this. (BTW, when do you sleep? You seem to have posts at all hours?!!)</p>
<p>Our Dean of Admission once said our hours are unconventional at best. We promise we do sleep when we can but March and April are crazy times for those in our profession. In May we will sleep!</p>