What’s wrong with William & Mary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW we visited W&M recently with DS. I was very impressed with the students we talked with, they really seem to love the school and while, yes, it's more expensive than other state schools they seem to put that $ into academics and are reportedly generous in giving undergrads funding for research and study abroad. DS said it would be on his application list but if he got in would need some more exploration to see if it's the right fit.

They really need to recruit more male students to work in admissions -- every single student we interacted with from students on a STEM panel, students available to chat with us while waiting for an information session, those who did the info session and the tour guides were all women. It definitely limited DS's ability to see himself there. We briefly chatted with some male students at a coffee shop but the overall impression from admissions was a female-centered school (even though their male/female balance is similar to the US average).

That is indeed a concern, in terms of optics and other matters. The current president, who seems to be doing well enough, cane from Smith.

+100

It definitely has the vibe of a "women's college-lite" now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW we visited W&M recently with DS. I was very impressed with the students we talked with, they really seem to love the school and while, yes, it's more expensive than other state schools they seem to put that $ into academics and are reportedly generous in giving undergrads funding for research and study abroad. DS said it would be on his application list but if he got in would need some more exploration to see if it's the right fit.

They really need to recruit more male students to work in admissions -- every single student we interacted with from students on a STEM panel, students available to chat with us while waiting for an information session, those who did the info session and the tour guides were all women. It definitely limited DS's ability to see himself there. We briefly chatted with some male students at a coffee shop but the overall impression from admissions was a female-centered school (even though their male/female balance is similar to the US average).

That is indeed a concern, in terms of optics and other matters. The current president, who seems to be doing well enough, cane from Smith.

+100

It definitely has the vibe of a "women's college-lite" now

UNC Chapel Hill's most recent class is nearly 62% female. Do you ever hear anyone say the same about them? And W&M has had one female president after 325 years of white guys and you have a problem with where she came from?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, W&M has a history of accepting more men, so I'm not surprised they are trying to attract female applicants.

[Anonymous]

I don’t recognize the college you describe when I visit William and Mary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, W&M has a history of accepting more men, so I'm not surprised they are trying to attract female applicants.

Really? They have more women than men ( on par with most non-tech colleges) and recent results suggest men need lower stats to be accepted, like other LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, W&M has a history of accepting more men, so I'm not surprised they are trying to attract female applicants.

Really? They have more women than men ( on par with most non-tech colleges) and recent results suggest men need lower stats to be accepted, like other LACs.

Is this actually true? When I last looked it seemed that men have higher acceptance rates but not significantly different stats than the women (unless there's new data I haven't seen). Out of state students have higher stats than in-state. And that stats of ED and RD are fairly similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP above: My DD is a sophomore at W&M. She says this re:men. Most of the male socializing she sees is frat and sorority— her viewpoint— easy for a woman to socialize without a sorority but hard for a man. Because frats throw the parties ( which are pretty low key and self regulated). Women can attend but men need to be members. That’s the social structure. Men who don’t do frats tend to think it’s not the most fun place. It’s a fairly serious school anyway.

I am a man who was not in a fraternity and I loved my time there.

[Anonymous]

My non-fraternity kid is there, having a great time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My non-fraternity kid is there, having a great time.

+1 Goes to occasional frat parties, but has found lots of other fun things to do weekend nights. Perhaps a bit too much fun based on fall grades...but hopefully that will sort itself out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW we visited W&M recently with DS. I was very impressed with the students we talked with, they really seem to love the school and while, yes, it's more expensive than other state schools they seem to put that $ into academics and are reportedly generous in giving undergrads funding for research and study abroad. DS said it would be on his application list but if he got in would need some more exploration to see if it's the right fit.

They really need to recruit more male students to work in admissions -- every single student we interacted with from students on a STEM panel, students available to chat with us while waiting for an information session, those who did the info session and the tour guides were all women. It definitely limited DS's ability to see himself there. We briefly chatted with some male students at a coffee shop but the overall impression from admissions was a female-centered school (even though their male/female balance is similar to the US average).

That is indeed a concern, in terms of optics and other matters. The current president, who seems to be doing well enough, cane from Smith.

+100

It definitely has the vibe of a "women's college-lite" now

I’m not sure I’d quite go that far ... yet. And to be fair, the woman president and woman AD just announced a massive renovation of the basketball arena and associated athletic facilities. They do care about athletics. But as a general matter, it’s not hard to see why the school is popular with women. That’s fine, of course, as long it doesn’t get too far out of balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, W&M has a history of accepting more men, so I'm not surprised they are trying to attract female applicants.

Really? They have more women than men ( on par with most non-tech colleges) and recent results suggest men need lower stats to be accepted, like other LACs.

[b]Is this actually true? [b] When I last looked it seemed that men have higher acceptance rates but not significantly different stats than the women (unless there's new data I haven't seen). Out of state students have higher stats than in-state. And that stats of ED and RD are fairly similar.

It was for my DS. His reading/writing SAT was in the bottom 5% according to the Common Data Set. His math was in the top 50%. He had good extracurriculars. No hooks. He is a Caucasian male from an UMC family, FCPS high school. Parents have advanced degrees. He did interview and I’m convinced that really helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, W&M has a history of accepting more men, so I'm not surprised they are trying to attract female applicants.

Really? They have more women than men ( on par with most non-tech colleges) and recent results suggest men need lower stats to be accepted, like other LACs.

[b]Is this actually true? [b] When I last looked it seemed that men have higher acceptance rates but not significantly different stats than the women (unless there's new data I haven't seen). Out of state students have higher stats than in-state. And that stats of ED and RD are fairly similar.

It was for my DS. His reading/writing SAT was in the bottom 5% according to the Common Data Set. His math was in the top 50%. He had good extracurriculars. No hooks. He is a Caucasian male from an UMC family, FCPS high school. Parents have advanced degrees. He did interview and I’m convinced that really helped.

I think the interviews really do help there. Nerve wracking, but worth it, probably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, W&M has a history of accepting more men, so I'm not surprised they are trying to attract female applicants.

Really? They have more women than men ( on par with most non-tech colleges) and recent results suggest men need lower stats to be accepted, like other LACs.

[b]Is this actually true? [b] When I last looked it seemed that men have higher acceptance rates but not significantly different stats than the women (unless there's new data I haven't seen). Out of state students have higher stats than in-state. And that stats of ED and RD are fairly similar.

It was for my DS. His reading/writing SAT was in the bottom 5% according to the Common Data Set. His math was in the top 50%. He had good extracurriculars. No hooks. He is a Caucasian male from an UMC family, FCPS high school. Parents have advanced degrees. He did interview and I’m convinced that really helped.

I think the overall stats don't reflect a gender bias in a meaningful way, but the admissions rate is higher for men so that there's more room to accept a "marginally qualified" male based on a great interview or a compelling essay. Maybe it's harder to have that flexibility for women because there are so many highly qualified women.

[Anonymous]

With the bro/ frat culture at many schools I think W&M as a place that nurtured women is a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Yield rate of below 25 percent from prosperous, ambitious, and very smart arlington county,virginia. Yield rate of over 55 percent for the Univ. of Virginia from same county. Trend lines not looking good for William and mary.'s popularity, right?