W&M’s newest students: by the numbers
The following includes expected enrollment figures as of Aug. 14, 2017. Those figures may change somewhat by the beginning of the school year. - Ed.
The countdown is on to the first day of classes at William & Mary, and the university is preparing to welcome its newest undergraduate and graduate students.
The Class of 2021 moves in Aug. 25 with undergraduate classes beginning Aug. 30, and graduate students are starting as early as this week. Collectively, the students bring a variety of skills, experience, perspectives and talents to the university.
“We’re excited to welcome this outstanding group of new students to William & Mary,” said Tim Wolfe, associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission. “All of us on the admission committee enjoyed the opportunity to get to know these talented students throughout the admission process, and we’re confident they will be an excellent fit for our community.
“It is an entering class made up of compelling individual stories, diverse interests and clear, scholarly potential. We know that together they will make William & Mary even stronger, and we look forward to seeing what they will accomplish in the coming years.”
Undergraduate students
Freshmen
William & Mary anticipates enrolling 1,545 undergraduates in the Class of 2021, including 33 in the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme, which is offering two new majors this year: classical studies and film studies. The freshmen were selected from a pool of 14,921 applicants.
The group is diverse and academically accomplished. Students of color make up 30 percent of the class, and 11 percent are first-generation students. Additionally, 7 percent of the class is made up of international students. The SAT middle 50th percentile is 1300-1480. The ACT composite score middle 50th percentile is 29-33, and 81 percent of students with class rank graduated in the top 10 percent of their classes.
The new students also boast a large array of interests and experiences. The Class of 2021 includes a student who lived on a sailboat and circumnavigated the world, a professional ultimate Frisbee player, a student who memorized pi to 600 digits and a student who competed in the world championship for a farm trebuchet pumpkin-throwing competition.
Transfer students
In addition to the entering freshmen, William & Mary expects to welcome 179 new transfer students to campus this semester.
Graduate students
Arts & Sciences
This fall, 119 new students will be entering graduate programs in Arts & Sciences, including American studies, anthropology, applied science, biology, chemistry, computer science, computational operations research, history, physics, psychology and public policy.
Ninety-three percent of those students conducted research as undergraduates, with most receiving awards or honors for their scholarship. Approximately 99 percent have contributed to their communities through volunteer service, and more than 70 percent have been teachers or mentors to preschoolers through senior citizens.
Twenty-five percent of the entering Arts & Sciences graduate students self-identified as students of color, including international students from eight countries. Among the new students are several active duty U.S. military officers, an Olympic weightlifter, a pilot, a professional art teacher and a student who designed experimental rockets for space travel.
Business
Full-time MBA
The Mason School of Business is poised to welcome 122 full-time candidates to its MBA Class of 2019 and Major General James Wright MBA Class of 2018.
The cohort is highly professional with an average work experience of four years at notable companies such as: Accenture, AFLAC, Aluminium Bahrain, Anheuser Busch InBev, Cognizant, Comsys, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Escalante Golf, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Infosys, Japan Post Insurance Company, Larsen & Toubro, Maltem Consulting, NTT West, Owens & Minor, PWC Vietnam, Riverfront Investment Group, Siemens, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Tokai Tokyo Securities, Wells Fargo, the U.S. Military and U.S. Peace Corps.
With the school’s commitment to providing a global learning community, international students make up 40 percent of the incoming class, representing countries such as Bahrain, Costa Rica, China, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tunisia, United States and Vietnam.
The Mason School is also welcoming its seventh cohort of Major General James Wright MBA Fellows from the U.S. Army and one candidate from the U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers, as well.
Master of Accounting
W&M’s Master of Accounting program will welcome 105 students as part of the Class of 2018. Sixteen percent of those students are students of color, and 21 percent are international students, representing China, Bahamas, South Korea, Nepal, Togo, Zimbabwe, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and Sweden.
Women make up 49 percent of the group, and about 25 percent of the students hold an undergraduate degree from William & Mary. The average GPA for the students is 3.57.
M.S. in Business Analytics
In its second year, the program has seen significant growth going from 47 students last year to an expected enrollment of 88 students this year. A total of 374 people applied for the program, and 150 were admitted.
Sixty of the enrolled students are American citizens, representing 21 states. Seven are permanent residents, and 21 are international students. Students of color make up approximately 22 percent of group, and about 40 percent of the students are women.
Thirty-seven of the students have undergraduate degrees from William & Mary, and more than 60 percent attended a Forbes Top 100 undergraduate institution or the equivalent.
The average GPA of the group is 3.492. The average GRE score is 322, and the average GMAT is 720.
Flex MBA
The Flex MBA Program, ranked 16th in the country by U.S. News & World Report in 2017, will welcome 45 new part-time evening MBA students at orientation on Aug. 19. This group of highly qualified professionals averages 32 years of age with an average of nine years of professional work experience, ranging from two to 34 years. The cohort hails from a dozen different industries and four branches of the U.S. military, including representation from some of the area’s most prominent employers such a Huntington Ingalls Industries, Riverside Health Systems, Continental Automotive, Ferguson Enterprises, Canon of Virginia, STIHL and Cox Communications. The cohort’s diversity adds a great deal to the classroom experience with nearly 40 percent women represented, and students hailing from the U.S., Belgium, India, Russia, and Israel.
Flex MBA students will be starting the fall 2017 semester in a brand new Peninsula Center in Newport News where students will enjoy tiered classrooms, well-equipped team rooms and common study/gathering areas.
Executive MBA
The Executive MBA Program begins each January, and although the Class of 2019 cohort is still coming together, a class of 25-32 senior leaders is expected from organizations within a 300-mile radius of Williamsburg — typically Baltimore to Raleigh and Virginia Beach to Abingdon. The Executive MBA cohorts typically average about 40 years of age with 18 years of professional work experience. The Executive MBA Program includes two domestic residencies and has a significant global focus with two global residencies. Regular classes are held on the William & Mary campus every other Friday and Saturday, and about 60 percent of each cohort is promoted or doing a higher-level job well before they even graduate. The Executive MBA Program was recently ranked 36th globally by CEO Magazine.
Online MBA
The Online MBA program continues to grow and expand. The fall 2017 class is expected to welcome about 80 new students to its online community. About 55 percent of the class resides outside of Virginia, representing 18 states and the District of Columbia. They bring an average of 11 years of professional work experience in a wide range of industries such as financial services, consulting, manufacturing, government and healthcare.
Education
The W&M School of Education expects to enroll 230 students — a 20 percent increase over last year — in its graduate programs in teacher education, counseling, school psychology and administration. The students, who were selected from 530 applicants, have a mean undergraduate GPA of 3.4 and mean graduate GPA of 3.8.
With almost 30 different degree programs, the School of Education draws a diverse group of students aspiring to transform students, schools and communities as teachers, counselors, school psychologists, administrators, researchers and advocates.
Students of color make up 25 percent of the new class, whose members hail from locations around the country and globe — as near as Williamsburg and as far away as China.
Fifty-two students will pursue doctorates, 169 enroll as master’s students, and nine will attain educational specialist degrees. While the majority (68 percent) will attend full-time, 73 students will be part-time students, with many pursuing their studies while continuing to work full-time.
The new students come from a wide range of backgrounds, both within the field of education and beyond. New students include: two former college football players, including one who played for the Tribe, as well as a tennis professional; an analyst at the Department of Commerce; an Eagle Scout; a university-level director of admissions; and a U.S. Army commander.
Law
William & Mary Law School enrolled a new class of 188 J.D. students on Aug. 14 selected from more than 4,000 applicants. The Law School’s Class of 2020 is among the best in the nation with a median LSAT of 163 (87th percentile) and median undergraduate grade point average of 3.74. Members of the new class have degrees from 128 undergraduate colleges and universities with 11 percent from William & Mary or the University of Virginia. The majority graduated with academic honors and 22 have membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Twenty percent self-identified as students of color. They represent 33 states and the District of Columbia and hold citizenship or dual citizenship in five other countries.
Forty members of the new class have participated in study abroad programs and a third speak other languages. Many are athletes and 20 have participated in NCAA sports. Over half took advantage of internships to explore various work environments including many in their chosen profession. They have experience as interns for Bank of America, law firms, governors, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Morgan Stanley, the Pentagon, political campaigns, the White House, U.S. Attorney's offices and state legislatures. Fifty-five percent of students in the new class have full-time work experience, some as paralegals, legal assistants, and legislative aides. Several have served in the military, and one earned the Army Bronze Star Medal.
Three are attending law school under the auspicious of the highly selective Army Funded Legal Education Program (FLEP) or the Navy’s Law Education Program (LEP). The students include AmericaCorps and Teach For America Corps members and others who have taken active roles in campus organizations and community outreach.
Master of Laws
W&M Law School also welcomed 16 new students into its LL.M. program, which serves students who have received legal training outside the United States. These international students represent Bulgaria, China, Italy and Saudi Arabia, and one is a U.S. permanent resident from Afghanistan.
Marine Science
The graduate program at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science will gain 20 new students this year, with 18 of them starting in the fall and two next spring.
Sixteen of those 20 students are women. Two are from international locations, and the rest are from the United States, including three from Virginia. Fourteen of the students will be seeking master’s degrees while six are pursuing doctorates. Two of the students received their undergraduate degrees from William & Mary.
Among the matriculating students is someone who helped design a jet-propelled kayak and taught in MIT’s Women’s Technology Program for female high school seniors. Other students include: a North Pacific Observer for the National Marine Fisheries Service, a person who conducted research in Antarctica with VIMS Professor Deborah Steinberg and someone who has published and presented on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
