WM Accepts 4,400 Students For Class of '15

By Amber Lester Kennedy Thursday, April 14, 2011

The College of William and Mary mailed acceptance letters to approximately 4,400 students recently, in anticipation of enrolling a freshman class of 1,450.

The freshman class will increase by a total of 50 undergraduates as part of a compromise with state legislators who were pushing William and Mary and the University of Virginia to accept more in-state students. By adding 50 students annually, the undergraduate enrollment will increase by 200 students over the next four years.

The college is calling next year’s entering undergrads the “strongest and most diverse” in the university’s history. The group of admitted students comes from the college’s largest undergraduate applicant pool – 12,800 applicants for the class of 2015, a record number for the seventh year in a row.

Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admission Henry Broaddus shared some highlights from the applicant pool:

• 31.6 percent of the admitted students are students of color.

• The percentage of first-generation college students increased from 9 percent to 9.6 percent of admitted students.

• 86.1 percent of the admitted students with a high school rank finished in the top 10 percent of their graduating class. Only 38.5 percent of the admitted students attend a high school that reports class rank, however.

• The percentage of legacies increased from 5.8 percent to 6.1 percent.

• SAT scores were comparably strong to previous years. The middle 50th percentile for the SAT Critical Reading and Math scores was 1300 to 1490, compared to 1300 to 1500 a year ago. The median score was 1400, the same as last year.

Because of the slight increase in class size, the admission rate went up from 31.8 percent to 34.6 percent. The college is also adding another 20 entering students as part of its new joint degree program with the University of St. Andrews. The program, announced a year ago, will allow students to spend two years at each institution to complete a joint degree in either economics, English, history or international relations.

Admitted students will be in town this weekend to visit the campus as part of Saturday’s “Day for Admitted Students. Approximately 3,000 visitors will take part in activities to learn about the campus and meet students, faculty, staff and administrators.

“Next year’s entering class will be as strong as ever, and these students reflect the extent to which William and Mary continues to be a destination for the best and brightest students across the Commonwealth and around the world,” Broaddus said. “We look forward to welcoming them to the Tribe.”