W&M prepares to welcome new undergraduate, graduate students
Welcome home: The newest members of the Tribe will be walking the well-trodden brick pathways of W&M in just a few weeks. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
This story was updated on Aug. 18, 2015, to reflect the latest anticipated enrollment numbers. - Ed.
The newest members of the William & Mary student body are getting ready to make their mark on the Alma Mater of the Nation. Graduate students begin classes in less than two weeks, and undergraduates start Aug. 26.
“This is an outstanding group of students that we welcome as the newest members of the Tribe,” said Tim Wolfe, associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission. “They bring with them an impressive record of accomplishments, a diverse and interesting range of experiences and an eclectic mix of talents. I know they will make William & Mary an even stronger community, and we will be proud of what they achieve in the years to come.”
Undergraduates
William & Mary anticipates enrolling 1,522 undergraduates in the Class of 2019, including 24 in the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme. The freshmen were selected from a pool of 14,953 applicants, setting a new record for the university for the 11th consecutive year.
The group is diverse and academically accomplished. Students of color make up 28 percent of the class, and 10 percent are first-generation students. Additionally, 7 percent of the class is made up of international students. The SAT middle 50th percentile is 1260-1460, and 81 percent of students with class rank graduated in the top 10 percent of their classes.
The new freshmen also boast a large array of interests and experiences; the Class of 2019 includes a nationally ranked chess player who also performs stand-up comedy, a Scottish fiddle champion, a student who scaled Mount Kilimanjaro and a member of Team USA for competitive sport stacking.
In addition to the entering freshmen, William & Mary expects to welcome 195 new transfer students to campus this semester.
Graduate students
Among the Arts & Sciences, 119 new graduate students will be entering programs in American studies, anthropology, applied science, biology, chemistry, computer science, history, physics, psychology and public policy.
Eighty-eight percent of those students conducted research as undergraduates, with most receiving awards or honors for their scholarship. Approximately 87 percent have contributed to their communities through volunteer service, and more than 63 percent have been teachers or mentors to preschoolers through senior citizens.
Twenty-one percent of the entering Arts & Sciences graduate students self-identified as students of color, including international students from six countries. Among the new students are an NIH intern, a Chicago Art Institute intern, a professional photographer, a FIRST® LEGO® League World Competitor, and a certified martial arts instructor.
The School of Education is enrolling 184 graduate students in its programs in teacher education, counseling and administration. Twenty-one percent of the group is made up of students of color, and eight of the students are from China and Korea. The average undergraduate GPA of the students is 3.4, and the average graduate GPA is 3.75. The GRE verbal score for the group is in the 72nd percentile, and the average quantitative score is in the 51st percentile.
The new graduate students include: two crisis hotlines volunteers, a former gymnast, a jazz ensemble director, a soccer coach, a former piano teacher, a student who speaks four languages, a Girl Scouts leader, a former animal care technician, a dance instructor, a student with a master’s degree in history, a former webmaster and a former theatre director.
William & Mary Law School expects to enroll a new class of 203 J.D. students. These new students, set to arrive Aug. 17, were selected from more than 4,500 applicants and are joining an extraordinarily strong group of law students to continue the tradition of excellence at the Law School. Members of the new class have degrees from 133 different undergraduate colleges and universities, including 12 in Virginia and 121 in other locations. Seventeen have been honored with membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Thirteen of the students have graduate degrees in a wide range of studies, including business, geology, political theory, material sciences and engineering, public policy and strategic communications. They hail from 37 states and Washington, D.C., and represent citizenship in five other countries – Canada, China, Dominican Republic, Estonia and India.
Forty-nine percent of the entering class has work experience, including seven in the military. One is attending law school under the auspices of the highly selective Funded Legal Education Program (FLEP), and another is a Bronze Star recipient. The J.D. Class of 2018 comes with an impressive academic track record. The median LSAT of the class is 163 (the 88th percentile), and the median undergraduate grade point average is 3.69. Activities and experiences in their applications represent an involved, diverse, well-rounded group of high achievers and aspiring lawyers.
The law school is also expected to welcome 32 new students into its LL.M. program, which serves students who have received their legal training outside of the United States, and five exchange students. These international students represent Algeria, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
The Raymond A. Mason School of Business is poised to welcome 111 full-time candidates to its MBA Class of 2017 and Major General James Wright MBA Class of 2016.
The cohort is highly professional with an average work experience of five years at such notable companies such as: Accenture, Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA), First Republic Bank (San Francisco), Home Depot, Microsoft, Nippon Life Insurance Company, NTT, Japan Finance Corporation, Related Companies, Samsung Electronics, TASC, Inc., College of William & Mary, University of Virginia, U.S. Peace Corps and the U.S. military.
Committed to providing a global learning community, the Mason School welcomes international students who make up 40 percent of the incoming class, representing countries such as Bahrain, China, Colombia, Ghana, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and more. The school is also welcoming three Fulbright Scholars from Egypt and Iraq.
The Mason School is also welcoming its fifth cohort of Major General James Wright MBA Fellows from the U.S. Army and one candidate from The U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers. The fellows, with rank of major, captain and lieutenant, share an average of eight years of experience and a wealth of professional knowledge in logistics, supply chain, operations and leadership.
The incoming part-time, evening Flex MBA cohort is expected to include 40 new students, representing 20 employers. The students have an average of 11 years of work experience and six years of managerial experience and an undergraduate GPA of 3.2.
The weekend Executive MBA Program has a January start and expects a new cohort of 30. The students have an average of 17 years of work experience (15 managerial), and they hail from areas including Hampton Roads, Central Virginia (Roanoke/Blacksburg), Washington D.C. and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
Additionally, the Master of Accounting Program (MAcc) is gaining 116 new students this year. The cohort is the largest in the program’s 15-year history. The average GPA is 3.33 and the average work experience is three years. International students make up 22 percent of the incoming class, representing eight countries.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science will welcome 21 new graduate students – 14 master’s degree students and seven doctoral – selected from a pool of 119 applicants. The new group includes six students from Virginia, 11 from out-of-state and four from international locations.
The students have a diverse range of research experiences, from working with NOAA and the National Cancer Institute to the Southern California Earthquake Center and China’s State Oceanic Administration. Three of the students have published work, and two have presented at international conferences.