William & Mary admission rates

[Anonymous]

As DEI dies, the ranking factors will change and W&M will once again be a top 40 school.

[Anonymous]

We just went on a W&M tour and I apologize for not remembering exact numbers, but I feel like their yield rate is fairly high (number of kids who accept offers)--this is no doubt driven by their ED rates, but if it's high choice, you might want to at least consider ED2. Also have heard W&M definitely tracks interest (unlike many publics)--find out who your admissions rep is and email them directly and tour if possible. Definitely schedule an interview as well. Our tour was small and was a great opportunity to speak directly with the admissions staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only a handful of 1693 scholarships, advantage in going ED1 or ED2, sign-up for an interview with admissions. Boys have about an 8% advantage in admissions.

Competitive admission, will most likely need over 1450 on SAT and 4.3+ on GPA.

This is interesting. Their website says the interview is with a current student and that it has no bearing on whether or not a kid is admitted. (My kid is signed up for the "shadow" day and not the interview, but maybe they should sign up for both?)

W&M tracks demonstrated interest, so yes, sign up for both

NP and my VA kid is very interested in W&M, has done a campus visit and is applying ED1. Has not signed up for interview due to social anxiety and doesn’t feel it will be an advantage.
But doesn’t applying ED 1 show “demonstrated interest” enough since ED applicants are committing to attend if admitted?
Or should I still encourage DC to do an interview?

I believe the interview my daughter did last year was with a student if that makes your child feel any better. It was more of a conversation vs an interview. I think if your child went with a clear statement of why they liked the school and had a couple questions to ask they would probably be fine. And I hate to describe kids this way but maybe it will make your child feel less anxious--my kid's interviewer was kind of quirky and very down to Earth so not intimidating at all. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Will continue to fall

We’ll see. It has largely fallen due to the change in the formula USNWR uses that seems to more heavily preference big state schools (and of course super well endowed prjvages) so that a lot of the great things about W&M are now discounted and they are counting things that are not an issue for most of DCUM posters like Firat Gen and Pell grants.

Exactly. When looking at schools I would focus a whole lot more on their CDS and the caliber of students who go there. I don’t know too many people who prioritized the number of Pell grants given over, say, class size, access to actual professors, student qualifications, etc.

Quite so. The latest ranking criteria give weight to "social equity" measures which are unrelated to student academic qualifications, academic environments and student outcomes. The value is dubious of rankings based on such extraneous factors.

This change did not affect the truly elite schools though and helped state flagships. Seems like a double whammy of bad news for W and M.

All of the privates have a much larger endowment to enable socially engineering their class. W&M's endowment at 1.4 billion isn't small by any means, but doesn't enable them to offer tons of fin aid to out of starters like others can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will continue to fall

We’ll see. It has largely fallen due to the change in the formula USNWR uses that seems to more heavily preference big state schools (and of course super well endowed prjvages) so that a lot of the great things about W&M are now discounted and they are counting things that are not an issue for most of DCUM posters like Firat Gen and Pell grants.

Exactly. When looking at schools I would focus a whole lot more on their CDS and the caliber of students who go there. I don’t know too many people who prioritized the number of Pell grants given over, say, class size, access to actual professors, student qualifications, etc.

Quite so. The latest ranking criteria give weight to "social equity" measures which are unrelated to student academic qualifications, academic environments and student outcomes. The value is dubious of rankings based on such extraneous factors.

This change did not affect the truly elite schools though and helped state flagships. Seems like a double whammy of bad news for W and M.

All of the privates have a much larger endowment to enable socially engineering their class. W&M's endowment at 1.4 billion isn't small by any means, but doesn't enable them to offer tons of fin aid to out of starters like others can.

So it's kind of in the same boat as directional state schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will continue to fall

We’ll see. It has largely fallen due to the change in the formula USNWR uses that seems to more heavily preference big state schools (and of course super well endowed prjvages) so that a lot of the great things about W&M are now discounted and they are counting things that are not an issue for most of DCUM posters like Firat Gen and Pell grants.

Exactly. When looking at schools I would focus a whole lot more on their CDS and the caliber of students who go there. I don’t know too many people who prioritized the number of Pell grants given over, say, class size, access to actual professors, student qualifications, etc.

Quite so. The latest ranking criteria give weight to "social equity" measures which are unrelated to student academic qualifications, academic environments and student outcomes. The value is dubious of rankings based on such extraneous factors.

This change did not affect the truly elite schools though and helped state flagships. Seems like a double whammy of bad news for W and M.

All of the privates have a much larger endowment to enable socially engineering their class. W&M's endowment at 1.4 billion isn't small by any means, but doesn't enable them to offer tons of fin aid to out of starters like others can.

So it's kind of in the same boat as directional state schools?

I wouldn't say that - most directional state schools are shrinking and will further struggle under the demographic cliff. W&M is in a period of growth, in number of students, in majors offered, and financially. W&M also does offer a lot of needs-based financial aid, to the point its the cheapest public school in VA for low income families, but this is of course only for VA residents. It just hasn't been prepared for a new ranking system that makes that less relevant (I don't think top publics should have to serve out of staters with lots of aid but that's an argument for a different time).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will continue to fall

We’ll see. It has largely fallen due to the change in the formula USNWR uses that seems to more heavily preference big state schools (and of course super well endowed prjvages) so that a lot of the great things about W&M are now discounted and they are counting things that are not an issue for most of DCUM posters like Firat Gen and Pell grants.

Exactly. When looking at schools I would focus a whole lot more on their CDS and the caliber of students who go there. I don’t know too many people who prioritized the number of Pell grants given over, say, class size, access to actual professors, student qualifications, etc.

Quite so. The latest ranking criteria give weight to "social equity" measures which are unrelated to student academic qualifications, academic environments and student outcomes. The value is dubious of rankings based on such extraneous factors.

This change did not affect the truly elite schools though and helped state flagships. Seems like a double whammy of bad news for W and M.

All of the privates have a much larger endowment to enable socially engineering their class. W&M's endowment at 1.4 billion isn't small by any means, but doesn't enable them to offer tons of fin aid to out of starters like others can.

So it's kind of in the same boat as directional state schools?

Not at all. The subject of changed USNWR rankings due to new criteria has been discussed extensively on DCUM. Other well-regarded midsized schools, such as Wake Forest and Tulane, also took a big hit in the rankings but remain sought after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will continue to fall

We’ll see. It has largely fallen due to the change in the formula USNWR uses that seems to more heavily preference big state schools (and of course super well endowed prjvages) so that a lot of the great things about W&M are now discounted and they are counting things that are not an issue for most of DCUM posters like Firat Gen and Pell grants.

Exactly. When looking at schools I would focus a whole lot more on their CDS and the caliber of students who go there. I don’t know too many people who prioritized the number of Pell grants given over, say, class size, access to actual professors, student qualifications, etc.

Quite so. The latest ranking criteria give weight to "social equity" measures which are unrelated to student academic qualifications, academic environments and student outcomes. The value is dubious of rankings based on such extraneous factors.

This change did not affect the truly elite schools though and helped state flagships. Seems like a double whammy of bad news for W and M.

All of the privates have a much larger endowment to enable socially engineering their class. W&M's endowment at 1.4 billion isn't small by any means, but doesn't enable them to offer tons of fin aid to out of starters like others can.

So it's kind of in the same boat as directional state schools?

Not at all. The subject of changed USNWR rankings due to new criteria has been discussed extensively on DCUM. Other well-regarded midsized schools, such as Wake Forest and Tulane, also took a big hit in the rankings but remain sought after.

They were well regarded in large part because they were highly ranked though. The downstream effects will take awhile to shake out. See Oberlin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M is interesting and has a definite unique vibe versus a general one you get from most college campuses. I’m sure it reduces the applicant pool from a love it or hate it standpoint.

Everyone says this. Can anyone describe it? Please dont tell me "just visit," I want to be able to articulate it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As DEI dies, the ranking factors will change and W&M will once again be a top 40 school.

W&M is basically a liberal arts school. Already ranked top 40ish by USWR.

As long as it approaches a 70/30 female to male ratio, it'll stay there.

And... DEI has nothing to do with nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As DEI dies, the ranking factors will change and W&M will once again be a top 40 school.

W&M is basically a liberal arts school. Already ranked top 40ish by USWR.

As long as it approaches a 70/30 female to male ratio, it'll stay there.

And... DEI has nothing to do with nothing.

USN&WR and national universities, but yeah.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/william-and-mary-3705

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As DEI dies, the ranking factors will change and W&M will once again be a top 40 school.

W&M is basically a liberal arts school. Already ranked top 40ish by USWR.

As long as it approaches a 70/30 female to male ratio, it'll stay there.

And... DEI has nothing to do with nothing.

It's already not there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will continue to fall

We’ll see. It has largely fallen due to the change in the formula USNWR uses that seems to more heavily preference big state schools (and of course super well endowed prjvages) so that a lot of the great things about W&M are now discounted and they are counting things that are not an issue for most of DCUM posters like Firat Gen and Pell grants.

Exactly. When looking at schools I would focus a whole lot more on their CDS and the caliber of students who go there. I don’t know too many people who prioritized the number of Pell grants given over, say, class size, access to actual professors, student qualifications, etc.

Quite so. The latest ranking criteria give weight to "social equity" measures which are unrelated to student academic qualifications, academic environments and student outcomes. The value is dubious of rankings based on such extraneous factors.

This change did not affect the truly elite schools though and helped state flagships. Seems like a double whammy of bad news for W and M.

All of the privates have a much larger endowment to enable socially engineering their class. W&M's endowment at 1.4 billion isn't small by any means, but doesn't enable them to offer tons of fin aid to out of starters like others can.

So it's kind of in the same boat as directional state schools?

Not at all. The subject of changed USNWR rankings due to new criteria has been discussed extensively on DCUM. Other well-regarded midsized schools, such as Wake Forest and Tulane, also took a big hit in the rankings but remain sought after.

They were well regarded in large part because they were highly ranked though. The downstream effects will take awhile to shake out. See Oberlin.

Oberlin is even ranked lowly on Forbes now. Not comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're ignoring that thousands of students that aren't anywhere close to being academically qualified for UVA apply every year and are essentially an auto reject. W&M doesn't really get that.

UVA is like the lottery ticket Harvard of Virginia.
UVA is a bigger school with "something for everyone" so why not buy a lottery ticket.
W&M applicants are more self-selecting. It's more niche and not for everyone. People either love it or hate it.

When we toured UVA, I asked random students around campus why they chose UVA. A memorable quote was "I didn't look. I just applied. Many probably apply blindly, without knowing much about the school except for its ranking and reputation, which of course is very attractive. Very different from W&M whose students talked more about the vibe or the strength of the program they were pursuing.

If you look at the yield rates, W&M is lower (again, this is the love it/hate it factor) than UVA, which means they would need to increase their acceptance rates to make their enrollment class- which does make them look less selective (usuall translation- easier to get into) based on that number alone. It is very interesting to see that the stats of the enrolled students in both schools.

Yep my point exactly. W&M is currently in the first year of a yield increase pilot though, so it will be interested to see how that changes things. I'm also curious to see if the new undergrad Marine Science and Computer/Data Science schools will cause application numbers to jump (CS schools usually result in a lot of shotgun applications)

How do you know W&M is currently in the first year of a yield increase pilot?

Board of Visitors discussed it last year

Is this posted anywhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As DEI dies, the ranking factors will change and W&M will once again be a top 40 school.

W&M is basically a liberal arts school. Already ranked top 40ish by USWR.

As long as it approaches a 70/30 female to male ratio, it'll stay there.

And... DEI has nothing to do with nothing.

New school of computing could lead to increase in male enrollment. Too early now. 2026 or 2027 cycle will be telling.