What are my chances to get into W&M?

<p>The College of William and Mary is my dream school and only school I would like to transfer to from VCCS. I will try to keep it short and simple by listing the classes I have taken as well as their final grades. I will receive my AA from VCCS this December and planning to apply to W&M for Spring 2012. My current GPA is 3.537, but I plan to raise it to 3.7 at the end of Fall 2011. I am actively involved with extracurricular activities around the campus.</p>

<p>I currently serve as:</p>

<p>-The President of the International Club ( The Club of the Year 2011)
-The Vice President for Leadership of Phi Theta Kappa, the Honor Society for two year colleges
-The Student Ambassador and the Student Senator of the Student Government Association</p>

<p>I attended to VCCS Student Leadership Conference 2010 in Richmond, Virginia and National Conference for College Women Student Leaders 2011 at the University of Maryland, MD to represent my college with fellow student leaders.</p>

<p>I was in the cast of the first college musical since 1970 in Fall 2009, "The little shop of Horrors"
Spring 2011, I became the Homecoming Queen 2011. </p>

<p>Freshman Year:</p>

<p>ENG 111- C (repeated this class later and got a B)
ENG 112- B<br>
FRE 101 (Beg French I)- B
CST 229 (Intercultural Communication)- A
ENG 111- B<br>
FRE 102 (Beg French II)- A
MTH 163 (Pre-Calc)- A
HIS 112 (World Civilization II)- A
HLT 215 (Stress Mgmt)- A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:</p>

<p>MTH 240 (Statistic)- B
BIO 101- A
ART 101 (Art History)- A
FRE 201 (Intermediate French)- B
ECO 201- A
BIO 102- A
ART 102- A
FRE 202- C
HIS 111- A</p>

<p>Fall 2011:</p>

<p>ECO 202- A <em>assumed</em>
ENG 241 (Survey of American Literature)- A <em>assumed</em>
PLS 241 (International Relations I)- A <em>assumed</em></p>

<p>So, my questions are,
-what are my chances to get accepted to W&M?
-Should I apply for Spring 2012 or Fall 2012, which semester do I have better chances of getting accepted? ( I plan to apply there again for fall 2012 if I get rejected for spring
2012.)
-Any improvements?
-Encouragement words? :)</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

<p>Solongo</p>

<p>Glad to hear you’re interested in transferring. For those attending VCCS campuses, the way to make yourself the most competitive is to receive an AA/AS and to have a 3.6 GPA or higher. Generallly, those students are ver competitive for admission. Do keep in mind we recalculate your GPA to include any repeated courses.</p>

<p>You’re just as likely to get in during the spring as you are during the fall so if you’ll complete your AA this December, applying for spring is just fine.</p>

<p>A few tips.</p>

<p>1) Explain your Cs. The application will ask you to do so and given that W&M classes are often writing intensive we’ll be interested to know why you got a C in ENG 111.</p>

<p>2) Have you taken 15 CR per semester? We count only 9 classes per year that you listed below which would lead us to believe you’ve taken fewer. That’s the average course load for W&M so we like to see that in incoming transfer students. You mentioned only 3 classes for Fall 2011. You should absolutely take 5 if at all possible. It’s important to us to see you doing work similar to what W&M students are doing.</p>

<p>3) Be sure to submit your mid-term grades. Given you’ve had a few Cs those will be important to show us an upward grade trend.</p>

<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>

<p>During my freshman year, Fall 2009, I took 12 credits and Spring 2010, I took 13 credits and I also took 6 credits over the summer 2010. During my sophomore year, Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, I took 14 credits per semester, ( BIO 101, 102 and FRE 201, 202 each had 4 credits)
As for this fall 2011, the reason I am taking only 3 classes is that I am close to receiving my degree and those three are the last courses that are required. However, I will certainly look into what other courses I could take. Lastly, the main reason I received a C in ENG 111 was because I was working two summer jobs at the time and failed to manage my time correctly. And it was also my first english writing class after a semester of ESL courses which was quite a transition for me.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for the useful tips.</p>

<p>Solongo :)</p>

<p>Were you working during the academic year? If so, we take that into account when students have a lighter credit load. If not, we definitely would encourage you to take 15-16 credits this semester even though some may not count towards you degree. You could take PHL 220 (which counts for W&M’s GER 7…something your AA won’t cover) as well as a creative and performing arts class (also required by W&M). </p>

<p>Additionally, if you are not a U.S. citizen you are required to take the TOEFL so that’s something you need to plan for.</p>

<p>W&M: If the OP’s VCCS has an articulation agreement with W&M, then does the student still have to meet all of the GERs or does the AA cover all of the GERs under the articulation agreement? Just wondering!</p>

<p>mom4college, this is a great question and the answer is a bit nuanced so we hope we can adequately explain it here.</p>

<p>Say a student simply applies to transfer to W&M from a VCCS campus or Richard Bland, if the student earns an AA or an AS or an AAS (i.e. a transfer-oriented associate degree as opposed to an applied degree which doesn’t transfer to W&M) at a VCCS or at Richard Bland and is admitted to and enrolls at W&M, the associate degree will automatically grant the student credit for the following W&M GERs: 1, 2 (both 2A and 2B), 3, both 4As, and 5. This is true even if the student didn’t take a class that meets the specific GER requirement. For example, say a student takes pre-calc at the VCCS (which is enough for the associate degree). Even though pre-calc does not fulfill GER 1, that student will get credit for GER 1 when they enroll at W&M. The only GERs the student will be responsible for are GER 4B, 6 and 7. If the student takes a VCCS class that fulfills one of these GERs they will get credit for that GER as well but these GERs are not covered by any associate degree.</p>

<p>Now, as for articulation agreements. All VCCS campuses and Richard Bland have arituclation agreements with W&M. However, an interested transfer student who is interested entering W&M through an aritculation agreement must sign a letter of intent a year in advance stating that they wish to proceed via the articulation agreement. In that case, the student will actually have to take classes that meet GERs 1, 2A, 2B, 3 (both classes), 4A (both classes) and 5. So unlike the example above, this student must take calculus or statistics to meet the terms of the articulation agreement because these classes fulfill GER 1 (pre-calc would not be enough). The trade-off for taking the additional classes is that these students are guaranteed admission if they meet a certain GPA requirement and other components of the articulation agreement.</p>

<p>Does this answer your question?</p>

<p>Yes, I was working during my freshman year as well. Should I explain it in my application? Also, Do I still have to take the TOEFL even if I have a Permanent Resident Card?</p>

<p>I have a question about the high school transcript :)</p>

<p>I graduated high school in 2007 in Mongolia ( where I was born and raised in) I have a official note from my high school which basically says I successfully graduated in 2007. I don’t have the official transcript and unable to obtain one since the high school was private and now is officially closed in Mongolia. What advice would you give about this?</p>

<p>Yes, W&M Admissions, this is great information, especially about the Letter of Intent for VCCS transfer students. Thanks so much for the information.</p>

<p>solongots, just be sure you accurately complete the EC/work section of the application so we can see when you worked and the hours and consider your course load in that context.</p>

<p>The TOEFL is not required for permanent residents but is still strongly recommended.</p>

<p>As for your high school transcript, technically all applicants to W&M must submit an official high school transcript because if you enroll at W&M it’s part of your permanent record. You should likely contact our transfer dean, Kim Van Deusen (<a href=“mailto:kcbake@wm.edu”>kcbake@wm.edu</a>) to see if she will accept what you do have.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for the helpful tips! I will be sure to contact her soon.</p>