William & Mary welcomes newest members of the Tribe
Welcome to W&M New students are welcomed to campus during last year's Opening Convocation ceremony. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
The start of the fall semester is just days away, and the College is beginning the new academic year by welcoming another group of talented and accomplished students to the campus. The graduate students have already begun their work at William & Mary, and new undergraduates will soon join them following move-in day on Aug. 24 and orientation. Classes begin Aug. 29.
“We look forward to welcoming these newest members of the William & Mary community to campus,” said Henry Broaddus, associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission. “They bring with them tremendous talent, enthusiasm and potential, and we know they will do great things as students and alumni. William & Mary continues to attract the best and brightest students across the Commonwealth and around the world.”
The new undergraduate class of 1,474 comes from a pool of more than 13,600, up from 12,800 last year and continuing an eight-year trend in record application numbers. This year not only set new highs for total applications, but also for enrolling students of color and the top quartile of SAT scores for enrolling freshmen. About 30 percent of the class is made up of students of color, and 6 percent is international students. Additionally, 10 percent of the new undergraduates are first-generation students, and 9 percent are legacies. The SAT middle 50th percentile of the new class is 1250-1460, and 79 percent of the new students graduated among the top 10 percent in their classes.
The College’s new graduate students are also a diverse and accomplished group. At the Law School, 196 new students have enrolled, and they boast a median undergraduate grade point average of 3.74 and a median LSAT of 164. Eight of the new students have served in the military, and two are attending law school under the auspices of the highly selective Funded Legal Education Program. The Law School is also welcoming 27 new students into its LL.M. program, which serves people who have received law training outside of the United States. Those incoming students hail from China, India, Jamaica, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
At the Mason School of Business, 92 new students will make up the MBA Class of 2014. The students, who represent 20 U.S. states and 18 countries, bring to campus an average of four years of work experience. Forty percent of the students are women, and 40 percent are international students. The second cohort of Major General James Wright MBA Fellows from the U.S. Army will also begin their work at the Mason School this semester. The 20 fellows bring with them an average of nine years of experience as well as a wealth of professional knowledge in logistics and operations.
Graduate applications at the School of Education were up 3 percent from last year. The school has more than 200 new graduate students and 52 fifth-year students, William & Mary undergraduates who transitioned to graduate school via a special program.
Among the Arts & Sciences graduate programs, the number of applications hit an all-time high. The 128 new graduate students will be entering programs in American studies, anthropology, applied science, biology, chemistry, history, physics, psychology and public policy. Twenty percent of the graduate-degree seekers are students of color, including international students from eight countries.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science is also welcoming an accomplished group of new graduate students who can boast additional degrees and notable research experience. The school of marine science saw a 17.6 percent increase in applications from last year. Among those in the 20-person entering class is a student who interned with NOAA, an award-winning sailor, multiple students who have been published and a student who helped monitor the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Other new student highlights include:
- The undergraduate population on campus is gaining 214 transfer students this fall, 78 of whom came from the Virginia Community College System, including 39 through guaranteed admission agreements.
- Twenty freshmen are enrolled as part of the St Andrews Joint Degree Programme.
- One hundred and seventy-three members of the undergraduate Class of 2016 scored an 800 on one or more sections of the SAT.
- New students at the Law School hold degrees from 116 colleges and universities, including 10 in Virginia, where they majored in a wide range of subjects, from political science and history to journalism and religion. Several hold master’s degrees in disciplines including instructional technology, international studies, clinical psychology and business administration. Fifty percent of the new law class has full-time work experience with government agencies, private companies and non-profit organizations. Some have worked in legal positions including paralegal or victim advocate while others have worked in fields such as news reporting, sales and therapy.
- Seven members of the MBA Class of 2014 are in dual-degree programs -- six with the School of Law and one with the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy.
- Seven of the School of Education’s new graduate students worked with AmeriCorps in the last two years. Three of those were active as college advisors and teachers in inner-city schools.
- In Arts & Sciences, 81 percent of the entering graduate students conducted research as undergraduates, and many received awards or honors for their scholarship. About half volunteered service to their communities, and more than 67 percent have been teachers or mentors to a wide range of students, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens. Some of the new students include an NCAA National Swim Team champion, members of the U.S. Coast Guard, a campus DJ, a student who worked and trained in Wilderness First Aid in South Africa and a volunteer for the LGBT movement in South Korea.
