<p>@W&M Admissions can you talk a bit about the opportunities pre-med students would have? Are there any opportunities for medical research or internships even though there is not a medical school? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>@allwecandoishope, absolutely. Undergraduate research is a hallmark of the W&M experience. Students get to participate in substantive opportunities (not just cleaning test tubes) but running parts of an experiment, formulating hypothesis, co-authoring articles. One of the students who works for our office has spent four years in a neuroscience lab investigating the effects of a particular protein on Huntington’s.<br>
While W&M is currently exploring the idea of joining with EVMS (Eastern VA Medical School), whether or not that happens, not having a medical school in no way disadvantages our students.</p>
<p>Hi W&M - I’ll be attending another college for the first semester of my Freshman year. If I decide I’d like to transfer to W&M, may I apply as a Freshman Spring Transfer to W&M? Also, how are transfer applicants evaluated as compared to new Freshman? More or less emphasis on any particular element of the application? Do you mostly focus on grades, less on sports/club activity (as an example)?</p>
<p>@Gottabeme, you can apply to W&M after one semester of college but because we house all freshman on campus and because very few if any freshman leave, sometimes we have very few or actually no spaces for first semester transfer freshmen. That’s not said to say you cannot or should not apply, but to let you know we may have no choice but not admit you. We are selective for transfer admission, not quite as selective as for freshmen though. We put a bit more emphasis on the college academic record. In the case of first semester freshmen though that emphasis will be on your high school record because you won’t have a college record. Basically, we try to determine if we would have admitted you if you had applied to W&M as a freshman.</p>
<p>Dear Admission Department,</p>
<p>My daughter is very interested in William and Mary. My husband went to WM and graduated in 1982. We have been to the campus several times but have never done a formal tour or information session. How important is it that we go back to William and Mary in order to do a tour or info session? I know that some schools track interest by campus visits, etc. We live 7.5 hours from campus and we would prefer not to visit, if possible, but we certainly will if not visiting will count against her. I would greatly appreciate any guidance you can give us.</p>
<p>Thank you very much,
Mom in NJ</p>
<p>Not visiting won’t hurt you but If your daughter really wants to come here then she should visit. I was not the strongest applicant but I showed immense interest. I made my dad drive 14 hours so that I could get a tour and an interview. There is no guarantee that your daughter will be admitted because she got an interview but it can definitely add uniqueness and additional material to be reviewed. I wish her luck :D</p>
<p>@rcooperf, we do not track interest so not taking a formal tour through our office will not hurt your daughter’s application. However, if your daughter does want a formal tour or does want to interview as @beautifulchick mentioned, a visit from NJ is likely doable especially via Amtrak if nothing else.</p>
<p>I tried to submit a message to tjmom thanking her for some advice. I was unable to send it because I am not yet allowed to send private messages because I am so new to college confidential. So I am going to thank tjmom on this thread. Thank you so much for your input.</p>
<p>@W&M Admission, I discovered the Common Data Set too late to help my S, but there is still hope for my daughter. On the CDS, I noticed that Religious Affiliation/Commitment is not considered. I understand and appreciate this for Affiliation, but the word “Commitment” has me perplexed. What does this mean? Does it mean that the 4 years my son spent cantoring at his church was not considered, even though it was a major time commitment, showed leadership and service, and demonstrated commitment and depth in his EC? Not arguing, just trying to understand the definition. Thanks.</p>
<p>@beautifulchick95 - just to add what tjmom said, while there’s a lot of seasonal/summer work, like Busch Gardens, most of those employees are transient, and leave when the summer ends - many of them college students themselves, who leave to go back to school. Leaving a pretty good market during the school year, primarily, obviously, in service-oriented positions - retail, hospitality, restaurants, etc. </p>
<p>Dunno your work history, but it’s best to bring some relevant experience with you - it makes employers nervous to hire someone who’s a blank sheet of paper; given a choice of someone with no experience vs. someone with, well, it’s pretty obvious who they’d choose.</p>
<p>Check out some part-time job sites like snagajob, see what’s listed, and think about what you think you’d enjoy doing and try and get some work experience now before you arrive at school -that’ll give you a leg up. And if you see some place in particular you’d like to work, getting a job at the same chain in your hometown now will make you much more competitive when you arrive in Williamsburg.</p>
<p>Just bear “transportation” in mind - if a job requires a car because it’s too far, or isn’t serviced by the bus routes, while you can get a car permit as a freshman, that’s an additional expense. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>pinkbulldog: We found that W&M was an institution that took these things seriously through its optional Arts Supplement. Not all places do. And we didn’t sense that it was related to religious affiliation, but to talent, interest, commitment, etc. The well-rounded student is a product of many factors, including religious activity for some. But to my mind it is the fruit of that activity, rather than the affiliation itself, that is important, especially for a state university. I don’t know if the Supplement was available to your son. It is a laudable thing, and characteristic of W&M, perhaps because of its smaller size, to consider these particular attributes in an applicant. I abhor the over-used term “holistic,” but this is one of the factors that I feel sure go into the admission process. In my experience arts development nowadays mostly comes through home and religious activity because of economic factors, and colleges ought to be aware of that. It seems proper that consideration of the source of accomplishment be faith-neutral, but that the accomplishment itself be important. Of course I can’t speak for W&M, but our our sense was that Admission pays attention to these things. It is a diverse student body.</p>
<p>@pinkbulldog, remember the CDS is a list of questions asked of all colleges so that question is one we’re asked. All it means is that we don’t specifically look for a religious affiliation or activity whereas some schools might (as a public university we’re not religiously affiliated and therefore don’t prefer an affiliation or any affiliation to another or non-affiliation). If a student is very involved with his/her church/temple/mosque that’s great. It’s no better than any other EC but certainly if a student show deep commitment to that we’re just as happy to see that as deep commitment to say playing an instrument or an athletic team.</p>
<p>@W&M Admissions. If this information is available elsewhere, I apologize, but who might be the acting regional counselor for the New England states? On the website it says “to be determined”. Thank you in advance for your time.</p>
<p>@W&M Admissions. If this information is available elsewhere, I apologize, but who might be the acting regional counselor for the New England states? On the website it says “to be determined”. Thank you in advance for your time.</p>
<p>@Rubbish, are you an applicant who’s looking to contact a regional dean or a prospective student that we might be able to assist through this forum?</p>
<p>@W&M Admission. I am an applicant who wishes to send in some relevant information.</p>
<p>@Rubbish, you can send it to <a href=“mailto:admission@wm.edu”>admission@wm.edu</a> and we’ll make sure it’s added to your file and highlighted to the Committee.</p>
<p>All Fall Transfer decisions were released this past week (a small batch on Monday and the remaining on Friday afternoon/evening). Our Admit It! Blog has all the details.</p>
<p>W&M admission folks – I’m not sure where to post to reach you quickly, so I may try multiple places. Apologies in advance if I wind up cross posting. </p>
<p>My daughter is trying to pay her deposit so that she can officially become a member of the class of 2017! </p>
<p>When she goes to the Deposit and Activate site at [William</a> & Mary - Deposit](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/welcome/deposit/?svr=web]William”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/welcome/deposit/?svr=web) and clicks on “Activate your W&M userid” she gets the following message:</p>
<p>A Database Error Occurred
Unable to connect to your database server using the provided settings.
Filename: core/Loader.php
Line Number: 232</p>
<p>The website reports a problem with database data she’s entered, except she hasn’t entered any data. It’s possible she’s made a mistake along the way, but we can’t figure out what it might be. Could you please check this? She’d like to become an official member of the class of 2017!</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>Also – if anyone else has had this problem, could you post what you did to solve it? Thanks!</p>