After a Competitive Application, a Talented Pool of W&M Freshmen

By The W&M Press Room Friday, August 13, 2010

When William & Mary freshmen swarm Williamsburg on Aug. 20, the group will include a nationally competitive martial artist, a junior Olympic fencer, a dancer in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and the co-author of a translation dictionary to help African refugees.

The college is calling 2010 “a banner year” for the incoming graduate and undergraduate classes.

“Excitement and reinvigoration always characterize the arrival of new cohorts of undergraduate, professional and graduate student,” said President Taylor Reveley in a press release. “This is especially true when our new students are strikingly accomplished. Those arriving this August are just that – smart, committed and talented in countless respects. It will be great to have them with us.”

For the fifth year in a row, William & Mary received a record number of applications, with 12,500 students applying to attend the undergraduate school. The school was also more selective, admitting 32 percent of applicants, over 34 percent admitted last year. The enrolling students - some 1400 - bring a middle 50th percentile of 1280-1430 on the SAT math and critical reading sections. Of the students who attended high schools with rankings, 79 percent finished in the top 10 percent of their class. Twenty-six percent of this year’s freshmen are students of color.

“The academic profile of this class is stellar,” said Henry Broaddus, dean of admission. “They arrive in Williamsburg with an impressive record of achievements both in and out of the classroom. Admitting this class from so large a pool with so many talented applicants presented us with an exciting and difficult challenge.”

William & Mary’s graduate and professional schools also received a record amount of applications. The College of Arts & Sciences saw an 8 percent increase in applications to graduate programs – a 23 percent increase over the past two years. The Law School saw a 26 percent increase in applications to the juris doctorate program, receiving nearly 6,300 applications for just above 200 seats. Since 2007, applications to the law school have increased by 48 percent.

At the School of Education, where students will be the first to work and learn in the new building, applications increased more than 20 percent. The Mason School of Business, which opened a new building last year, also saw a boost; applications for full-time MBA students went up 12 percent.

The academic semester for undergraduates begins Aug. 25. This year’s entering class of about 1,400 students includes 44 international students and 140 first-generation students. Sixty-five percent of the students come from Virginia.

“This is a diverse class with a wide range of backgrounds,” Broaddus said. “They are an intelligent and engaged group that cares about the world around them, and we are confident they will make their mark at William & Mary.”