Overheard in Transfer Committee — Spring Edition
We Admit It! Our Early Decision Committee deliberations are complete, decisions have been released, and we are on to Spring Transfer Committee. So transfers, it’s your turn to get an inside look at our process as it applies specifically to your applications.
Overheard in Transfer Committee Today: She’s one of the students who would need freshman housing.
We were reviewing the application of a second-semester transfer freshman (a student currently enrolled in their first semester of college who is hoping to enroll at W&M for their second semester of college and beyond). At William & Mary, we require all freshmen to live on campus (and approximately 75% of all students live on campus as the residential component is a very important part of the W&M experience). We of course fill all of our freshman residence hall beds when we enroll our entering class from our freshman applicant pool each spring. So any student who is applying to transfer who is still classified as a freshman (someone who has yet to complete two full-time semesters of college) must be housed on campus in one of our freshman residence halls.
Because all of our freshman residence halls were filled from our freshman applicant pool, whether or not we can admit any second-semester transfer freshmen applicants is based on whether or not any current W&M freshmen have chosen to withdraw or leave campus. Generally speaking, only a handful of students do so which limits our ability to admit second-semester transfer freshmen. We share this part of our process not to frighten away any prospective second-semester transfer applicants but to help manage expectations and explain that part of our process. Oftentimes we have to deny great applicants simply because we do not have anywhere to house them as spring transfer applicants. However, such students are encouraged to apply again for the following fall when the housing restriction would no longer be in play.
So there you have it spring transfer applicants: an inside look. This will likely be our only blog for Spring Transfer Committee (the small number of Spring Transfer Applicants makes that Committee a relatively easy one to get through). More on the conclusion of both our Early Decision and Spring Transfer processes to come through our Decisions, Decisions blog series.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate Dean of Admission
Comments are closed on posts older than one year, but we still want to hear from you. If you have a comment or question for us, please email admission@wm.edu.
If a student is a sophomore, are there more opportunities for housing?
@Kelsey, while there’s more housing for upperclassmen transfers, it’s still limited. But they are not required to live on campus so whether or not we admit them is not contingent upon housing availability.
Thank you!
So are there 0 spots or does the undertones mislead me?
do* oh the irony.
@AndrewC, not exactly sure what you’re asking?
How many spots are available for freshmen spring transfers?
@Mitch, it varies from year to year. The point of this blog was to give you a more general sense of how that process works. This year it’s pretty limited to only a handful of spaces.
Do you really deny everyone because you don’t have housing, or do you waitlist them? Because, for instance, my daughter would be willing to commute for 1 semester. Or start in the summer or defer to the fall, if she knew she were accepted. A denial of her #1 school when she was really qualified but you didn’t have a bed will crush her and means that she may look at another school for the Fall instead of knowing where she stands. Or question whether or not she’s good enough to bother completing the guaranteed transfer program.
When is the notification date, and do you give any preference to those who were wait listed in Fall?
@Jeina, unfortunately we cannot waitlist students for the spring. There simply isn’t time. Students who are admitted have two weeks to respond to our offer. Two weeks later they have Orientation so there’s not time in that remaining two weeks to go through a waitlist process. Additionally, transfer students cannot defer enrollment because their academic record can change every semester. The purpose of this blog however was to help first-semester transfer freshmen to understand that the decision we make on their application may not in any way reflect their ability or competitiveness. We require all freshmen to live on campus so that they can immerse themselves in our community and have that residential experience that’s so important to W&M. We don’t want to offer transfer freshmen a lesser experience because it’s just as important for them to have that community and residential piece to their W&M education. So if your daughter, or any other second-semester transfer freshmen is denied, don’t lose faith or confidence. Feel free to reach out to us and see if applying again for the fall will prove ore positive.
As to your other questions, just like we freshmen we do not project a notification date because of all the moving pieces. We will be sure to update this blog, our website and social media when decisions launch. Mid-December is still we believe a doable prediction even with the extended application deadline.
For students who were previously waitlisted, there’s no specific stated preference however, clearly that student was clearly very competitive when they last applied. Assuming they continue to perform at a high level, they will be very competitive this time around.
Thanks, appreciate the insight, and I now better understand the difficulty and requirements of the process for Freshmen spring transfers.
Thanks for the prompt reply! The FAQ says notifications are emailed by Dec 10th. You might want to look at that date online for anyone else who was waiting with bated breath by their email at midnight 😉 hope you get some sleep soon!
@Jeina, normally the date is December 10 but with the pushed back application deadline this year things changed a bit. We did address that issue in an earlier comment from another transfer student but understandably not everyone saw that. The best way to always know when we release decisions is via this blog.
If we are denied, is there any way to meet/talk with an admissions officer to see what we can do to improve our chances?
@Jennifer Harvey, there is information about that in the decision email for those who are not admitted so interested students can use that to follow up post decision if interested.
What phase of the admissions process is the transfer committee in right now?
@William and Mary Transfer, we’re not quite sure what you’re asking but as we get to the final stages, all of the “phases” happen simultaneously. So there’s some review of files, some Committee discussion, some prep work for entering decisions and checking them, preparing letters and emails, etc. Does that answer your question?
Yes it does! And because there are only a handful of spots open for freshman transfers, does that mean more upperclassmen will be admitted? Thanks!
@William and Mary Transfer, it doesn’t really work that way. Our spots for first semester freshmen are always fairly limited so how many upperclassmen we admit doesn’t vary based on that.
How many spots are available for male transfer applicants?
@Henry, the numbers are always in flux a bit but as we’ve said the spots are limited as they are generally. Remember, don’t be discouraged. One can always re-apply for fall when the residency component doesn’t come into play.
I’m confused how the numbers for that can be influx if decisions are being finalized?
@Henry, for example, we were just notified the other day of an additional spot for a transfer freshman. So there’s not tons of flux but just a little here and there.
Sorry for lots of questions! If denied in spring, will the fall transfer app process be the same? Also, Do you take into consideration students who have completed the AA guaranteed transfer requirements but weren’t able to complete the transfer form, so you know they’ll be transferring in a semester anyway? (E.g. My kid’s letter was rejected because, even though on track for the guaranteed degree, she had only 9/15 credits At that college as required in the letter, so then she would twiddle her thumbs for a semester, waiting on guaranteed admission for spring 2015).
I meant “will the fall transfer app be the same”… Not necessarily the process.
@Jenna, yes, the application for the fall will be the same as for the spring (a student would just complete the Transfer Common App again).
Certainly any student who performs well at a VCCS school is competitive for admission. The guaranteed admission agreement is one means of transferring from a VCCS school but far from the only. There’s no guarantee in your daughter’s case but certainly students who complete an AA, get good grades, take good course loads, etc. are generally competitive for transfer admission.
I hate to ask this question, but is there a chance that we will receive our decisions today?
@William & Mary Transfer, we’re working as efficiently as we can to conclude the transfer process. We appreciate everyone’s continued patience. Just like with ED, we won’t know we’re ready to release until we actually send the emails. We do not anticipate getting to that point today but it could certainly be any day now.
I’ve been accepted into other schools. And W&M is my top choice and will stay. The due date for my third choice’s down payment (not the right phrase, same meaning) was in Nov, and I paid $500 to secure a spot, before the decisions were released from the other two. Now, my second choice school also accepted me and wants $500 to save my spot, and I need to withdraw from the first school school before the end of this week. But I’m still waiting to hear from W&M… If I get in (and I hope I do!) I may have to pay $1,000 dollars to my other choice schools. I don’t mean this as to be rude to all of you on the admissions board, but as just a note of how this delay is impacting me, financially. So, can we at least know by tomorrow morning, so I don’t have to shell out another $500 to save a spot at a school I won’t attend if accepted to W&M?
@Wishing and Waiting, we certainly understand but would encourage you to contact the other school and see if they can grant you an extension on the deposit. We would absolutely do that for a student in your situation and hope most schools would. We all understand this process and are usually willing to work with students. Our process takes time and it’s still be just one month and two days since the deadline. Normally, there’s almost 5-6 weeks between the usual spring transfer deadline and the time we release. So we’re certainly aware that the delay is impacting students which is why we’re moving as rapidly as we can but appreciate everyone’s patience.
Thank you for the prompt response…. Should I stop hitting refresh on my inbox and relax the butterflies in my stomach for tonight at least?
@Wishing and waiting, you’ll know when decisions are launched because we’ll post our decisions, decisions blog while the release is in progress. If you don’t see that blog, no need to refresh your in-box.
Awesome, thank you very much!
God speed Admissions folk.
xoxo,
Wishing and Waiting.
I’m gonna take that walk around of W&W’s question as there’s a chance for tonight 😉
Best of luck to ALL of you! I’m glad that there are people who are in the same “boat” as I am that I can talk to! Is everyone in the midst of finals or are you all done? 🙂
I’ve got 3/5 are done. It stinks since my professors have all been so encouraging about my transferring out, that I didn’t have anything to report about W&M before our last class. =[
admit it said that it would not be today. However, for ed they said transfer decisions would be a 7-10 days. (7 days ago friday)
@Readers, @AndrewC is correct in that we won’t be releasing decisions tonight. Again, just watch for the Decisions, Decision blog and that’ll be your queue that they’re on their way.
Today’t the day than.
If you guys are not finished by tonight, will you be working through the weekend?
@Wishing and Waiting, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.
Good Luck to All!
What at time can we stop looking for the decisions blog today?
At what*
So Im not the only one who has made this blog my most visited of the month and keep hitting refresh? @W&MTransfer, I know your pain. When do we know that you WONT be releasing them for tonight? Can you at least tell us that? Im sorry to be pushy, but I did say I was very dedicated in my essays and it was mentioned in my letter of recommendation. (also, I fear my humor is being lost here, so please note I am just trying to be sweet and silly. And that Im using an alias e-mail to make sure what I say cannot affect my application.)
@William and Mary Transfer and @Wishing and Waiting, we don’t really have specific timelines per se but we would never launch decisions once it gets to be late evening. We know applicants are anxious but remember the review of applications is an enormous and detailed process. As is launching each and every decision. Please be patient as we work to bring the spring transfer process to a close.
I just got an email that said I didn’t get accepted. So rejection letters are already sent? I’m pretty disappointed because I thought I did well but I understand how tough my competition is and how limited space is. If I am getting my associate’s degree at the end of this semester, is it still possible to wait a semester and re-apply in the fall? Meaning do I have to attend a school during the spring in order to apply for the fall? Or are my chances here gone for good?
@Disappointed, we certainly understand. If you won’t have any new academic information, we’d essentially be reviewing the same application again next semester for the fall. So it’s not super likely that the decision would be different but hard to really say without knowing your application. As this blog suggests, we have admitted students who were denied previously. And as your decision email suggests, you can certainly follow up if you have specific questions.