W&M admits accomplished, diverse Class of 2018
Day for Admitted Students Many of W&M's new students will be on campus this weekend as part of the Day for Admitted Students. Here, participants in last year's Day for Admitted Students congregate in the Sunken Garden. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
After weeks of sifting through more applications than the university has ever seen, the William & Mary Office of Undergraduate Admission has selected the members of the Class of 2018 – and it looks to be another diverse and talented group.
"We are very excited about this class," said Henry Broaddus, associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission. "In addition to their impressive academic credentials, they will bring to campus a wide range of talents, interests and backgrounds that we know will enrich our community."
The approximately 4,700 admitted students were selected from a pool of more than 14,500 applicants, a 3.5 percent increase from last year’s pool. Of those admitted students, the university will enroll 1,520 students as freshmen in the fall, including 20 students in the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme. This was the 10th consecutive year that the university saw a record-breaking number of applications.
The group of admitted students is very accomplished academically. Eighty-nine percent of the students who have a class rank are expected to graduate in the top 10 percent of their classes. Additionally, the median SAT score of the students is 1420 on math and critical reading.
They are also a diverse group, with students of color making up 32 percent of admitted students and international students another nine percent.
W&M’s newly admitted students learned of their acceptance to the university via email on March 26, sparking a flurry of posts to social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. A few days later, the students received a personally signed letter in a green folder with gold letters printed on the front: “One Tribe & Now It’s Yours.”
Many of the Tribe’s new students will be on campus this weekend as part of the Day for Admitted Students. The annual event offers programs and activities aimed at showing admitted students what life on the campus is like.
