William & Mary Fall 2011 Transfer Thread

<p>Does William an Mary offer merit based scholarships to transfer students?</p>

<p>surfwakesnow, We do not require the Dean’s Certification form at time of application but do to enroll. If you want to send it in, great. If not, we’ll ask you to complete it should you decide to attend W&M (we’ll include a similar form in your admit pack). </p>

<p>Daksh3, unfortunately there are not merit scholarships for transfers. Need-based aid is available to those who submit the FAFSA and qualify for need-based aid.</p>

<p>the deadline is coming up soon!</p>

<p>Correct; the transfer application deadline and FAFSA deadline are both March 1</p>

<p>Hey, I’m looking to transfer to W&M for this fall semester and I’m curious if I am going to be competitive for admission. I currently go to Thomas Nelson Community College but I do not qualify for the guaranteed admission. My advisors tell me that I should be competitive but I feel like I would be looked at last because I am at TNCC and not a university. I have a 3.80 so far and it will most likely be higher by the time I finish my AS there. My SAT scores were 1280 and 1890, the latter including the writing. I have one C that was in Calculus part 2. I didn’t do much outside of school in grades 11-12. Also, I don’t have any volunteer work because I don’t have time. I work 2 jobs for about 25 hours a week so I don’t have time for anything but work and studying. Would I be competitive? W&M is by far my top choice to transfer to.</p>

<p>Anything I should include in my short answers to convey my lack of extracurricular activities? Is not doing anything but working hurting my chances?</p>

<p>I’m still stumped on the essay part of the application. I’m not quite sure what is wanted. I know WM wants to know why I want to transfer and why William and Mary, but what do they want to hear more about-why transfer or why WM specifically? Would you want to hear about specific programs we’re interested in, or just why we think WM is the perfect fit for us? Also, I know w/ freshman applicants you like to hear some really unique stuff, you want to really know the person. Is that generally the same w/ transfers, but w/ more emphasis on the transfer section?
Or am I overanalyzing this? I’m just worried that my essay will be the DECIDING factor in my admission and I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.
Thanks WM Admission</p>

<p>DanS29, if you are completing your associate degree this spring or summer and you’ve been a full-time student and you have a 3.8 cumulative GPA (including any repeated courses) you are likely very competitive for transfer admission. As a public university, we have responsibilities to Virginia Community College students that we take very seriously. We look at all students from two-year schools together and do not compare them to students who attend four-year universities.</p>

<p>You should explain your C in Calc 2 which the application ask you to do. You can also explain your lack of extracurricular activities. We certainly understand that working students have less free time than other students and we consider jobs part of one’s extracurricular activities.</p>

<p>Soychai, you might be over-analysing a bit. We want you to use the Common Application essay to explain why you wish to transfer to a different university. You use the W&M optional submission to explain why W&M specifically. If you’re not submitting the Common App to multiple schools you can address both questions in the Common App essay. If a W&M program is specific to your reason for wanting to transfer than you should include that information. With transfers we really are focused on ensuring W&M is the right fit for you since students don’t want to transfer multiple times so that’s what we’re looking for in the essays. No need to worry about the more creative twist. However, if you use your essay to tell us a bit about who you are you are welcome to do so.</p>

<p>The essay is one factor of many. It alone would not be the sole reason we do or do not admit someone. It can certainly be helpful and can help sway the Committee but it works in conjunction with all of the other components of your application.</p>

<p>Thank you for your prompt response to my question. I have a few more if you don’t mind answering them. On the common application under school forms there are 4 forms: College Official’s Report, Instructor Evaluation, Secondary School Report, and Mid-term report. I realize that the mid-term report is due by the 28th of March (pretty sure that’s the correct date). But, I cannot find information on the College Official’s Report or the Secondary School Report. Maybe I am just looking int he wrong place. Are these two forms required, and are they due by March 1st with the application? The advisor I had in high school is no longer there so the personal questions on the form would be impossible. Finally, how should I submit the Instructor Evaluation form? On the transfer page for WM it says that the professor can submit the form directly to the Office of Undergraduate Admission, Attn: Vanessa Pryor. It does not say how to submit it to her. How should they submit the form and is submission by the professor mandatory? Could I get the professor to fill out the form and then fax the form?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

<p>DanS29, the Secondary School Report form is not required for transfers. All you need to submit is a high school transcript which you can request from your high school regardless of whether your advisor still works there.</p>

<p>If you wish to submit the College Official’s Report, please do so with your application by March 1. If you don’t submit the College Official’s Report, that’s fine. If admitted to W&M, we will send you our own version of that form to be submitted with your enrollment deposit.</p>

<p>You are correct in that the mid-term report is March 28 and you can fax it to 757-221-1242 (attn: Vanessa Pryor). When we receive your Common App, we will send you an email with a W&M Application ID number. If you can include that ID number on your mid-term report, that would be great.</p>

<p>Instructor evaluations for transfers are optional. If you choose to submit one you can do so with or without the Common App’s Instructor Evaluation form. The letters/forms can be sent to Vanessa Pryor by mail or fax. </p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>

<p>Hi. I have applied to W&M and am not sure how do I send my HS transcript to the college. I attend a VCCS college although I went to a foreign high school. I have virtually no means to get my transcript sent to W&M. I do have an official copy of transcript from both my HS and the University of Cambridge.</p>

<p>Also, I have gotten a C in English 111, do I need to explain it in my application? I did manage to get an A English 112 and I am taking English 111 over the summer.</p>

<p>“When we receive your Common App, we will send you an email with a W&M Application ID number.”</p>

<p>If we sent in a reopen application, will you still send us an email with a W&M Application ID number?</p>

<p>Sanjog, you do need to submit a high school transcript. While we prefer it come directly from your high school, if you have an official copy in a sealed envelope you can forward that to us.</p>

<p>You should explain the C in ENG 111. Keep in mind that we do recalculate GPAs when repeated courses are present to include the original grade and the grade in the repeated course.</p>

<p>McBainTrain, those who re-open should also receive the emails with the W&M ID number</p>

<p>how much do midterm grades play a part in your decision?</p>

<p>They can play a large role, especially for students who have had some inconsitent grade trends or for those students who are in their freshman year. If a student had an off semester last semester, we look to the mid-semester grades to see if they are rebounding. If the student is a second-semester freshman, we use the mid-semester grades because we only have one completed semester of college to evaluate.</p>

<p>If the student has always been a strong student, mid-semester grades likely don’t play much of a role unless they show a deviation from the student’s history. </p>

<p>So, it depends on the student and their individual academic record. If there are any oddities in your mid-semester grades (bad grades, incompletes, withdrawls, etc.) please explain those in a letter you attach to the mid-semester grade report.</p>

<p>would it be too early to fax in midterm grade around march 14? i ask because my spring break is for a few weeks after and I don’t think I will be able to get them and fax them in time after spring break.</p>

<p>Hello.</p>

<p>I attend Connecticut College in New London, CT and do very well. I am originally from Northern Virginia. Due to financial issues, I may be forced to transfer to an in-state school next year. This is not a terrible problem to have, as there are a slew of terrific institutions to choose from - however, I’m curious as to how favorably W&M views transfer applicants from small LACs, specifically in the NESCAC.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>McBainTrain, you can send your mid-semester grades early if you wish but we only recommend you do so if your grades won’t change between the date submitted and March 28.</p>

<p>Jmamana, we do not view smaller liberal arts colleges in the northeast more or less favorably than any other type of school or other locale. We focus not on the particular type of school or its location but instead we focus on the courses you’ve taken and how well you’ve performed. If you do wish to transfer next year, the application deadline is this Tuesday (March 1).</p>

<p>Right - the way I phrased my question, now that I think about it, sounds very silly. “Favorably” was definitely the wrong word to use. I more or less meant to ask if the student’s previous institution was a factor (which you answered). I recognize that the geography of the school would not be a factor haha, and if the question came off as pretentious I apologize.</p>

<p>I would not transfer for Fall of 2011, but rather Fall of 2012. </p>

<p>Thanks very much for your quick response.</p>

<p>jmamana, you didn’t sound pretentious at all. </p>

<p>While the institution a transfer applicant is currently attending does not play a big role we certainly do consider it when appropriate (say if a student goes to a very rigorous institution like an Ivy League institution or one of the military academies). For the most part however, we focus far more on the merits of the individual applicant whether than the merits of their current institution.</p>

<p>Since you have time before you apply, you might consider attending a Prospective Transfer Day next fall ([William</a> & Mary - Prospective Transfer Days](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/applytransferstudent/prospectivetransferdays/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/applytransferstudent/prospectivetransferdays/index.php)) to learn more about W&M, the transfer application process and the transfer student experience.</p>