What’s wrong with William & Mary?

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that it doesn’t really have a bright future as a public school. In a time of increased popularity for many Virginia public universities, William & Mary seems to be caught in a downward spiral. Its application numbers are stagnant, its female-male ratio is ridiculous, its acceptance rate has increased to almost 40 percent, its yield rate is terrible, it’s poorly positioned in terms of tech growth, it’s very expensive, and it’s now looking to increase (?) enrollment because it needs the bucks. Discouraging my kid from applying. Is it time for the school to consider becoming a private college or to affiliate with Tech or something?

[Anonymous]

My DS, a freshman, is very happy there. The gender imbalance is long- standing, from what I understand. He said his classes were incredible. Kids are smart. Stereotype of pressure cooker is not what my kid’s experience has been. Campus is beautiful. Only complaint is the food.

[Anonymous]

hmmmm... SCHEV report over the past 5 years shows that WM applied/accepted/enrolled has stayed incredibly stable. Minor variations within years. And currently, there is a downward trend in college applications. Let’s say that again— we are in a demographic downward trend in college applications, while WM stays stable.

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B8_Report_new.asp

The lower boys enrollment thing has always been there. It’s more like a LAC than the other state schools, and almost all LACs are 60+% male.

It’s also just expensive for a state school, which discourages applicants who can pay less and attend UVA and VT. For many kids, the WM upcharge isn’t worth it. But that’s not new either.

Most recent year had 75% SATs of 1510 and GPA of 4.46.

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

They have a 95% first year return rate and a 93% graduation rate.

https://research.schev.edu/iprofile/231624/William-&-Mary?

In short, there is nothing wrong with WM. It’s been around found hundreds of years. It will still be here in 2030. And probably 2130.

I’m not sure whether you are a troll trying to thin out the competition before RD apps are due, or if you are one of those people who think that UVA is the only public VA college worth attending. Either way, WM is great for kids that want a smaller school and smaller classes— and can pay the extra $$ to get it. My kid already has their RD app in. By all means, don’t have your kid apply— less competition for the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that it doesn’t really have a bright future as a public school. In a time of increased popularity for many Virginia public universities, William & Mary seems to be caught in a downward spiral. Its application numbers are stagnant, its female-male ratio is ridiculous, its acceptance rate has increased to almost 40 percent, its yield rate is terrible, it’s poorly positioned in terms of tech growth, it’s very expensive, and it’s now looking to increase (?) enrollment because it needs the bucks. Discouraging my kid from applying. Is it time for the school to consider becoming a private college or to affiliate with Tech or something?

You’re overreacting and drawing incorrect conclusions from the data. Slight increases in the acceptance rate and the gender ratio (which is not ridiculous” to begin with) does not equate to being “caught in a downward spiral.” Furthermore, all colleges and universities are going to face an enrollment cliff, especially in 2025 when numbers are expected to drop precipitously. From what I’ve read, W&M is aware of this reality and proactively working to address it.

W&M has and remains a top public school in the country.

- signed, a VA taxpayer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that it doesn’t really have a bright future as a public school. In a time of increased popularity for many Virginia public universities, William & Mary seems to be caught in a downward spiral. Its application numbers are stagnant, its female-male ratio is ridiculous, its acceptance rate has increased to almost 40 percent, its yield rate is terrible, it’s poorly positioned in terms of tech growth, it’s very expensive, and it’s now looking to increase (?) enrollment because it needs the bucks. Discouraging my kid from applying. Is it time for the school to consider becoming a private college or to affiliate with Tech or something?

UNC and Emory have the same gender balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that it doesn’t really have a bright future as a public school. In a time of increased popularity for many Virginia public universities, William & Mary seems to be caught in a downward spiral. Its application numbers are stagnant, its female-male ratio is ridiculous, its acceptance rate has increased to almost 40 percent, its yield rate is terrible, it’s poorly positioned in terms of tech growth, it’s very expensive, and it’s now looking to increase (?) enrollment because it needs the bucks. Discouraging my kid from applying. Is it time for the school to consider becoming a private college or to affiliate with Tech or something?

UNC and Emory have the same gender balance.

Most colleges have this gender balance. More women than men attend college— on average colleges are almost 2/3 female.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hmmmm... SCHEV report over the past 5 years shows that WM applied/accepted/enrolled has stayed incredibly stable. Minor variations within years. And currently, there is a downward trend in college applications. Let’s say that again— we are in a demographic downward trend in college applications, while WM stays stable.

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B8_Report_new.asp

The lower boys enrollment thing has always been there. It’s more like a LAC than the other state schools, and almost all LACs are 60+% male.

It’s also just expensive for a state school, which discourages applicants who can pay less and attend UVA and VT. For many kids, the WM upcharge isn’t worth it. But that’s not new either.

Most recent year had 75% SATs of 1510 and GPA of 4.46.

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

They have a 95% first year return rate and a 93% graduation rate.

https://research.schev.edu/iprofile/231624/William-&-Mary?

In short, there is nothing wrong with WM. It’s been around found hundreds of years. It will still be here in 2030. And probably 2130.

I’m not sure whether you are a troll trying to thin out the competition before RD apps are due, or if you are one of those people who think that UVA is the only public VA college worth attending. Either way, WM is great for kids that want a smaller school and smaller classes— and can pay the extra $$ to get it. My kid already has their RD app in. By all means, don’t have your kid apply— less competition for the rest of us.

75th percentile was 1510 SAT. The above reads like 75% scored 1510.

[Anonymous]

According to my dd’s three friends who are freshmen there, it’s boring. Nothing to do on weekends, nowhere to go, even the Greek and party scene is dying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to my dd’s three friends who are freshmen there, it’s boring. Nothing to do on weekends, nowhere to go, even the Greek and party scene is dying.

It's a school for serious students. This is how it is supposed to be. It's a good fit for certain students.

[Anonymous]

I think OP is on some sort of mission to bash William and Mary. I see similar posts in other threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to my dd’s three friends who are freshmen there, it’s boring. Nothing to do on weekends, nowhere to go, even the Greek and party scene is dying.

It's a school for serious students. This is how it is supposed to be. It's a good fit for certain students.

And the limited greek life is why it it is DD's first choice. (applying ED2 if she can get it done in the next couple of days).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that it doesn’t really have a bright future as a public school. In a time of increased popularity for many Virginia public universities, William & Mary seems to be caught in a downward spiral. Its application numbers are stagnant, its female-male ratio is ridiculous, its acceptance rate has increased to almost 40 percent, its yield rate is terrible, it’s poorly positioned in terms of tech growth, it’s very expensive, and it’s now looking to increase (?) enrollment because it needs the bucks. Discouraging my kid from applying. Is it time for the school to consider becoming a private college or to affiliate with Tech or something?

UNC and Emory have the same gender balance.

Most colleges have this gender balance. More women than men attend college— on average colleges are almost 2/3 female.

Off topic question: does this imbalance in any way benefit male applicants over females?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that it doesn’t really have a bright future as a public school. In a time of increased popularity for many Virginia public universities, William & Mary seems to be caught in a downward spiral. Its application numbers are stagnant, its female-male ratio is ridiculous, its acceptance rate has increased to almost 40 percent, its yield rate is terrible, it’s poorly positioned in terms of tech growth, it’s very expensive, and it’s now looking to increase (?) enrollment because it needs the bucks. Discouraging my kid from applying. Is it time for the school to consider becoming a private college or to affiliate with Tech or something?

UNC and Emory have the same gender balance.

Most colleges have this gender balance. More women than men attend college— on average colleges are almost 2/3 female.

Off topic question: does this imbalance in any way benefit male applicants over females?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Nothing AT ALL is wrong with WM. WM is smaller and is heavily focused on traditional liberal arts. Admission to WM has always in part been self-selection. In an era of massive application volume, that important self-selection feature is simply becoming more conspicuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hmmmm... SCHEV report over the past 5 years shows that WM applied/accepted/enrolled has stayed incredibly stable. Minor variations within years. And currently, there is a downward trend in college applications. Let’s say that again— we are in a demographic downward trend in college applications, while WM stays stable.

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B8_Report_new.asp

The lower boys enrollment thing has always been there. It’s more like a LAC than the other state schools, and almost all LACs are 60+% male.

It’s also just expensive for a state school, which discourages applicants who can pay less and attend UVA and VT. For many kids, the WM upcharge isn’t worth it. But that’s not new either.

Most recent year had 75% SATs of 1510 and GPA of 4.46.

https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

They have a 95% first year return rate and a 93% graduation rate.

https://research.schev.edu/iprofile/231624/William-&-Mary?

In short, there is nothing wrong with WM. It’s been around found hundreds of years. It will still be here in 2030. And probably 2130.

I’m not sure whether you are a troll trying to thin out the competition before RD apps are due, or if you are one of those people who think that UVA is the only public VA college worth attending. Either way, WM is great for kids that want a smaller school and smaller classes— and can pay the extra $$ to get it. My kid already has their RD app in. By all means, don’t have your kid apply— less competition for the rest of us.

None of those things. What struck me was an article discussing the alleged future enrollment drops for colleges in general, and how the school is struggling to stay ahead of that. Best of luck to them, because that would give me a headache—that is, how to increase applications, decrease the acceptance rate, and increase the class size,