If W&M follows past practice, most Monroe Scholars should find out in the next week or so. I thought I’d start a thread for responses.
D1 is a Monroe Scholar. She quite liked living in Monroe Hall her freshman year (good sense of community, pretty studious dorm but still a good place to make friends, easy access to lots of things on campus and in Williamsburg itself). The summer research money and the opportunities to work with profs early on have been nice pluses. One caution – it’s not an honors program; there aren’t “Monroe versions” of classes or anything like that. In effect, much of W&M is already an Honors college, so they don’t need it as much as the big state universities do.
Yes, @ninadasiy. You apparently received a W&M scholars award, which pays the equivalent of in-state tuition and fees for four years as long as you meet the academic requirements. You can find more information here: http://www.wm.edu/as/charlescenter/scholars/wmsure/
On the site, they say:
“The William & Mary Scholars Award is presented each year to a small group of academically distinguished students who have overcome unusual adversity and/or are members of underrepresented groups who would contribute to campus diversity. Many will be the first members of their families to attend college.”
Congratulations! It’s one of the most generous awards that W&M offers!
To my knowledge, it does not automatically qualify you for Monroe Scholars. You can email your admissions officer to check on that, though. Another sign would be whether you were invited to admitted students’ day on April 11th, or were invited to that and the Monroe Scholars events April 11th and 12th.
@Arlmom2 hmmm I probably got the scholar award since my essays focused a lot about overcoming adversity and I’m hispanic. My folder contained a postcard saying “join us ESCAPE Satursay April 11-Sunday April 12”
If you’re thinking seriously about W&M, you should definitely try to do the overnight. It’s a great way to learn more about “real life” at W&M. Congrats again!
Has anyone received a Monroe letter yet? W&M admission indicated on their blog today that scholarship letters are out (which can’t include 1693s, because they haven’t interviewed yet). But they didn’t say when they went out.
Monroe Scholar decision letters and packets were mailed on Monday. The same goes for W&M Scholar letters and packets. @ninadaisy, it sounds like you received the W&M Scholar award which also comes with the opportunity to participate in WMSURE which is a research-oriented program. This is not the Monroe Scholar program but is a separate research program. Congrats!
Thanks, @W&MAdmission. Good to know the packets are on their way! D1 is thoroughly enjoying being a Monroe Scholar, so we’re hoping D2 will also be offered that honor!
D2 still hasn’t received the packet, even though we’re in Northern Virginia. A close friend of hers who we assumed would be a good candidate for Monroe also hadn’t heard anything.
So they were both quite pleased to receive the Good News email a few minutes ago saying they had been offered admission and invited to be Monroe Scholars!
Just received a Monroe scholarship email today! I had no idea these were sent out in advance of the rd notification date so it came as a bit of a shock.
@mimsyborgs@fritzitty@yebhip@comomom Congrats to the students on being invited to be Monroe Scholars. I know a bit about the program primarily because D1 is a Monroe. She loves it. I’d be glad to answer questions about the program from a parent perspective.
Unfortunately, @fritzitty, Monroe Scholars do not receive much direct merit aid. They get funding for a summer research project as upperclassmen, and at least in the past could apply for a bit of summer funding for after freshman year as well.
I’d argue that the more important benefits are the community of other Monroes, and the option of living in Monroe Hall as freshmen. It’s a smaller community than the high rises toward the back of campus,and that makes it easier in my opinion to settle in and make friends. It’s also extremely convenient; it’s right across the street from Williamsburg proper, Merchants Square and the farmers market (in season, of course), and also a short walk to the stores and restaurants that the students tend to frequent (Wawa, Aromas, etc.).
April 11th is the admitted students day, and everyone who has been admitted is invited. At the end of the day, a special program for Monroes begins. It continues through a chunk of the day on April 12th. Unless they’ve changed the program, it doesn’t include an overnight stay, unfortunately.
That said, I strongly encourage you to try to set up an overnight before you decide where you’re going next fall. D1 did that at her top four schools, and it was an important factor in her decision to attend W&M. W&M may be able to set this up; that’s what you should try first. If they can’t and you don’t know anyone who’s already at W&M, your guidance office at your high school may be able to tell you who has gone to W&M from your high school in the last couple of years. You can contact them to see whether they or their friends can host you.
My DD received her acceptance into the Monroe Scholars program today, and we are very excited! For those of you who have experience with it, I have a question: Does one of the perks happen to be registration priority? I recall that trying to get the ideal schedule each semester was one of the most stressful elements of my college life.
@vaboots In the past, Monroes were allowed to register a bit early for their fall courses - I think it was 15 minutes. I don’t know whether that’s still the case.
But Monroes also tend to bring in significant AP and IB credits. That can give them academic standing a semester or more above their actual year, which I think helps with registration priority.
D1 has been quite successful in approaching profs for overrides in classes that are of significant interest.
