W&M prepares to welcome new undergraduate, graduate students
Welcome to W&M Members of the campus community welcome students to W&M following the 2013 Opening Convocation ceremony. The university's newest undergraduate and graduate students will soon begin their own educational journeys at W&M. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
The 2014-15 academic year will soon get underway, and William & Mary is preparing to welcome its newest students to campus.
Graduate students begin their work at W&M next week, and freshmen will move into the university’s residence halls on Aug. 22. Undergraduate classes begin Aug. 27.
“We’re delighted to welcome the Class of 2018 and new transfer students to William & Mary,” said Tim Wolfe, interim associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission. “They are an incredibly talented and engaging group, and we’re confident they will thrive as members of our community.”
Undergraduates
The incoming freshman class is made up of 1,521 students, selected from a pool of 14,552. This was the 10th year in a row that W&M saw a record number of applications.
The Class of 2018 is an academically talented bunch, with 81 percent of the students graduating in the top 10 percent of their classes. The SAT middle 50th percentile of the group is 1270-1470. For the ACT, it is 29-33.
The class is also diverse. Students of color make up 30 percent of the group. About 8 percent are first-generation college students, and 9 percent are legacies. The incoming students have a wide range of interests and talents, and the class includes an organic gardener and member of a rock band, a published novelist and a beekeeper.
Eight percent of the students are from countries outside of the United States, and 22 of the freshmen are enrolled in the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme.
In addition to the freshmen, 167 new undergraduate students have transferred to W&M this semester.
Graduate students
William & Mary’s graduate schools are also welcoming a talented and diverse group of new students this year.
Among the Arts & Sciences graduate programs, 127 new students will be entering programs in American studies, anthropology, applied science, biology, chemistry, computer science, history, physics, psychology and public policy.
Sixty-five percent of those students conducted research as undergraduates, with most receiving awards or honors for their scholarship. Approximately 26 percent have contributed to their communities through volunteer service, and more than 60 percent have been teachers or mentors to preschoolers through senior citizens.
Twenty 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 a Bronze Star Medal recipient, an animal nutrition intern at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a partner in a design firm, a bodybuilding competitor and the president of a college radio station.
The Mason School of Business is poised to welcome 110 full-time candidates to its MBA Class of 2016 and Major General James Wright MBA Class of 2015.
The cohort is highly professional with an average work experience of five years at such notable employers as: Alba Aluminium, Fidelity Investments, Fluor Government Group, Isuzu Motor Company, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Citigroup, Telkomsel, Tokyo Gas, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, City of Newport News, Korea Airports Corporation, Walmart Corporate, Ernst & Young, Ford Motor Company, Siemens, Honeywell, Tata Consultancy Services and the U.S. military. Several of the new students are also pursuing joint degrees, in areas including law, public policy and accounting. Committed to providing a global learning community, international students make up 40 percent of the incoming class, representing more than 18 countries such as Brazil, Bahrain, China, Costa Rica, France, India, Japan, Jordan, South Africa, South Korea Vietnam and more.
The Mason School is also welcoming its fourth cohort of Major General James Wright MBA Fellows from the U.S. Army. The fellows, with rank of major and captain, 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 includes 50 new students, representing 22 employers. Five of those students are employed at William & Mary. The members of the group have an average of 12 years of work experience and seven years of managerial experience. Their average GPA is 3.2, and their average GMAT score is 581. Additionally, the Master of Accounting Program (MAcc) at the Mason School of Business is gaining 109 new students this year, a 50 percent increase over last year’s enrollment of 73 students. The Mason School's Executive MBA Program has a January start.
The School of Education is welcoming 186 new graduate students from a pool of 527 applicants into programs in teacher education, counseling, school psychology, and administration.
Students of color make up 17.1 percent of the new group. The average undergraduate GPA of the new students is 3.4, and the average graduate GPA is 3.85. The students’ average GRE scores are in the 72nd percentile on the verbal section and the 51st percentile on the quantitative.
The new education students bring with them a diverse wealth of professional and life experience. Among the students are a former architect who will now study counseling, a person who served with the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps who will now pursue a doctorate in gifted education and a former legislative liaison who worked on policies about the future of K-12 and higher education.
The W&M Law School expects to enroll a new class of 220 J.D. students. These new students, set to arrive Aug. 18, were selected from more than 4,400 applicants and are joining an extraordinarily strong group of law students to continue that tradition at the Law School. Members of the new class have degrees from 151 different undergraduate colleges and universities, including 15 in Virginia and 136 in other locations. Eighteen of the students have graduate degrees in a wide range of studies, including accounting, architecture, biology, classics and international affairs. They hail from 38 states and Washington, D.C., and represent citizenship in seven other countries -- Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Macedonia and Switzerland -- along with the U.S.
Half of the entering class has work experience, including seven in the military. Three are attending law school under the auspices of the highly selective Funded Legal Education Program (FLEP). The J.D. Class of 2017 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 3.79. 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 38 new students into its LL.M. program, which serves students who have received their legal training outside of the United States, and four exchange students. These international students represent China, France, India, Korea, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Qatar, Taiwan, Venezuela and the United Kingdom.
William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) is welcoming 19 new graduate students this semester, including 13 in the Master of Science program and six in the doctoral program. The students hail from 11 different states and five countries, including Brazil, China, France, Nepal and Portugal.
All of the students have conducted fieldwork aboard vessels or at research laboratories, ranging from such locations as the Antarctic, Australia, and South Africa to the Mariana Trench, South China Sea, Belize, and Alaska. Among the 13 women and six men, there are two certified science teachers, a triathlete, and several students who were awarded internships on programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Of special note are prestigious awards and honors garnered by this group: one NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholar, one Clare Boothe Luce Scholar, one James Monroe Scholar and two members of Phi Beta Kappa.
