Decisions, Decisions — Fall 2014 Transfer Edition
We Admit It! Transfers, your time has come. Decision emails are being sent at this very moment. The long wait is finally over. Below is all of the information you need to know regarding how we release decisions. Following that is information on each of the three decisions we make. We ask that you read your decision email and this blog carefully to address any questions you might have. Once this blog is posted we will be signing off as we complete the decision release process so we will not respond immediately to any comments. We will respond either late this evening or tomorrow.
How Decisions Are Released
- All students who applied as fall transfer applicants who had a completed application will receive their decision via email, regardless of decision.
- Emails are sent to the email address you provided in your Common Application.
- We are in the process of queuing up and sending hundreds of individual emails. This can take some time. We cannot predict exactly when your email will land in your inbox. Please be patient as this process plays out.
- The sender of the email will be “College of William & Mary.”
- The subject will be “Good News” Or “William & Mary Admission Decision.”
- Those admitted will also receive an admission package in the mail. Those who are waitlisted and denied will only receive an email.
What to Do if You Do Not Receive a Decision
- DO NOT PANIC. Not receiving an email does not imply anything about your decision.
- Please first check your spam and junk folders as some email clients may send our emails there.
- Contact our office during business hours via phone (757-221-4223) or email (admission@wm.edu). We will investigate further. We will follow up with you if there’s a reason we did not release a decision (maybe your application remains incomplete) or we will try to resend the email using a different email tool. All emails we resend get sent after 5:00pm each weekday evening. We will also send a hard copy of your decision via mail in case for whatever reason you cannot receive our email.
Admits
Congratulations, and welcome to the Tribe! We know your stories, accomplishments and talents will add enormously to the classes of 2016 and 2017. You come from all walks of life, and you have accomplished a great deal in your college career thus far. We know you will impact the rich fabric of the existing W&M community, and we hope you decide to continue that journey at W&M. The link provided in your decision email will take you to a welcome website designed specifically for transfers. The site provides information on our Day for Admitted Transfers program (good times in Williamsburg next weekend), transfer blogs and a timeline of what comes next.
So give yourself a pat on the back, or a round of applause, or both. Register for our Day for Admitted Transfer Students and consider joining us on campus in the fall. Again, congratulations from all of us in the Admission Office. When it comes to transfers, we believe it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. We hope you decide to finish at W&M.
Waitlist
While a waitlist offer is a positive decision, we understand how it doesn’t often feel that way. We know that you had hoped for good news and this news is neither good nor bad; it’s often likened to admission purgatory. The waiting isn’t truly over and we understand that you might feel frustrated. That being said, a waitlist offer is recognition of the strong record you compiled in your application. While we are not as selective for transfer admission as we are for freshmen, we are still selective and can admit only a relatively small cohort of those who apply. Like you, most transfer applicants compile a strong application that’s competitive for admission which compels us to make some very difficult decisions among many qualified students.
Should you decide to remain on the waitlist, complete the response form linked in your decision email. Then, there’s unfortunately nothing to do but wait. For us, the transfer waitlist process plays out in late May and early June. Should space remain available, we will reconvene the Committee and decide who is the most competitive for admission. Waitlisted students are encouraged to send us an updated transcript once final grades are available. You can also send us a statement of continued interest should you wish to do so.
Whether you choose to remain on the waitlist or not, whether you’re eventually admitted to W&M or not, whether your journey ends at W&M or elsewhere, we thank you again for applying and wish you all the best as this process concludes.
Deny
We want to start by saying that we never take pleasure in denying any student admission to W&M. We know that it brings frustration and sometimes heartache to hopeful applicants. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of our selective admission process that we regret. This decision is not a judgment on your abilities or accomplishments. It’s merely a reflection of a very competitive applicant pool where most students meet or exceed the criteria upon which we evaluate applications.
If W&M remains your ultimate goal, it is possible to reapply once you have additional coursework and grades to show us, and to receive that “Good News” you had been hoping for. But, we also recognize having been through this college application process at least twice now (if not more times than that) you may simply want to move on. Let’s face it; most people don’t enjoy going through this process once nevertheless several times. We do hope, and firmly believe, that you have other great options from which to choose and that those universities have rightfully recognized your potential. Our loss is their gain. We know that these other colleges and universities have so much to offer you and you to them. We wish you the best of luck.
To all of our transfer applicants we thank you again for your interest in W&M, for sharing your stories with us and for accompanying us on this application journey. We Admit It!, we’re glad to have this application cycle come to a close, and we look forward to welcoming our new freshmen and transfer students to campus this fall.
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.
I can’t put into words how happy and grateful I am to be admitted. Thank you so much, admissions deans, for all of your hard work and time! Today marks the start of a new W&M path, and I’m going to smile looking back on this day for the rest of my life.
I have not received an admission decision not have I received an email telling me my file was incomplete. Are incomplete files usually notified before hand ?
I’ve wanted to go here since I was in first grade; it’s not often that a childhood dream gets realized:) I’ve been screaming and running around outside and everyone thinks I’m insane. Congrats to everyone else who’s gotten in!!!
@Hopeful Transfer and @William and Merry, congrats and welcome to the Tribe!
@Transfer Student, have you received any email communication from us regarding your application (that we received it, that we completed it)? We did email students whose applications were incomplete recently so if that’s true for you, you should have an email letting you know that.
I have not received an admission decision as well.. I received the email saying W&M received it but I didn’t receive the one saying W&M completed it nor the one saying my application was incomplete.
I have also not received and email of any sort, and I have received an email confirming the completion of my application. Does it simply take a while to send? Thank you for your time!
@Transfer Student, it sounds like your application is incomplete and maybe the email notification of that just got lost in spam or cyberspace. You should follow up with our office on Monday by phone or email to determine what’s outstanding and how you can submit it to get your application completed and reviewed.
@Transfer Student (who submitted the comment at 11:09), all the decision emails should be in in-boxes by now. We’d recommend following up with our office on Monday so you can determine why you have not received a decision.
@admit it
No I have not received any email telling me that my file was incomplete or anything of that nature. I was under the assumption that my file was complete because of two reasons 1.) I did not receive an email from the admissions office letting me know that my file was INCOMPLETE. 2.) I called the office several weeks ago to confirm that they received my materials.
@TransferStudent (who submitted the comment at 11:14pm), if your application was complete you would have received an email saying so. And as we said in our reply to your previous comment, maybe the email regarding your incomplete application somehow got lost in spam or cyberspace (it’s unfortunate but it happens). As for the phone call you had, we cannot speak to that. Our best guess is your application is incomplete but if you follow up on Monday, we should be able to confirm that and let you know what to do from here. If your application is complete (again if you don’t have an email saying so it likely isn’t), we can research why you didn’t receive a decision email. Without any identifying information we cannot be more specific in this forum.
On average how many people that were put on the waitlist will be admitted?
@Waitlist, there’s really no average. There are some years where we’re not able to admit anyone, there are other years where we’re able to make a good number of offers. There’s no rhyme or reason or way to predict what will happen from one year to the next unfortunately.
What was the percent of transfer applicants that were accepted for this coming fall?
@Curious, we’re still wrapping up this process as their are still some incomplete applicants but generally we admit around 45% (give or take) of those who apply for fall transfer admission.
Hello, I am a transfer applicant,and I have not yet received my admission’s decision email as of yet. I have already received an email confirming that the Admission’s Office has absolutely everything they need as per the requirements of the application. Seeing as how the Admission’s Office is closed for the weekend, what can I do for now? Also, could it possibly be simply a glitch in the system? Thank you for your time!
@Issue, if you received an email saying we had completed your application and you’ve checked your spam and junk filters for the decision email then we have to assume it’s a glitch. Sadly that happens. You’ll just need to contact our office Monday and as we said in the blog we’ll resend the decision that evening.
Okay, I will do just that, thank you very much!
Your blog has been so helpful through this very exciting process! I could not be happier about my acceptance! When will we be notified about our financial aid packages?
@Financial Aid, congratulations on your admission! Financial aid info is usually emailed about a week after decisions are released.
I can’t find a way to notify W&M that I have decided to attend another school. Am I missing something or do you just assume that I’ve moved on when you don’t have my deposit on May 1st?
@Moving On, you can email us at admission@wm.edu and let us know you’ve decided to withdraw your application. Best of luck to you wherever you’ve decided to attend.
I was accepted on the waitlist, and I was wondering if it is too late to send a Arts Submission?
@Waitlist Applicant, it is too late. As our classes have ended for the spring, faculty are not available to review new art submissions. You’re encouraged to send a final transcript and a letter of continued interest if you wish.
Hi admissions team,
I commented on here before because my file was incomplete. Now that it is complete, is there a chance I could be notified soon? The only reason I ask is because I really want to attend transfer day with my family on Saturday, May 3.
@Transfer Student, once a file completes we do need time to review it and make a decision. We try to do that as quickly as possible to notify students of their decisions. We cannot guarantee an exact turn around time but it is normally within 1-2 business days.
@Admit it
Well, judging based on your previous history of consistently lighting fast dashing responses to my comments on this blog (including this ultrasonic reply on 10:42pm), I must have trust in that my decision will indeed arrive within 1-2 business days. Thank you, once gain, for defying the laws of physics.
Godspeed,
-hm
@Transfer Student, hopefully we can get you your decision soon. You can also of course follow up on the status of your application after a few days.
Thank you! : )
It seems that some of the wait list applicants are being notified of acceptance. I believe you had indicated this process to be complete by mid June. Is it typical that most of those accepted from the wait list occur early during the period from now through mid June?
Thank you
Planning Parent
@Charles Belsky, as we mentioned in a comment yesterday, the May 1 deadline has just come and gone so we are just beginning to evaluate our class to what extent we will or will be looking at those on the waitlist. Unfortunately there is no typical time frame. It depends very much on to what degree we need to admit students from the waitlist and how quickly those we do admit respond to our offer. That process can play out over some time.
Hi there admissions,
I wont be able to make it out to transfer day today (still stuck in California :/ ) but I was wondering if there was anything from todays events being presented online. For instance, anything via Livestream that i can watch? -Much thanks
@Transfer Student, unfortunately no. We don’t capture any part of the event on video. The welcome website and transfer blogs can be helpful. And any specific questions can of course be asked of our transfer dean or our office in general.
Hi admissions,
I was put on the waitlist and was wondering how much time I would have to respond if offered admission.
Thanks
@Waitlisted, we work with students individually when admitted off the waitlist. We ask that students make the decision ASAP because we cannot proceed with other offers until we hear back from those we admit. At most, it’s two weeks.
Hi Admissions,
Is it true that the waitlist has been opened for transfers? Also, thank you for this wonderful blog! It has been super helpful throughout this entire process.
@Optimistically Waitlisted, we won’t make any decisions about the transfer waitlist until the May 15 deposit deadline passes. We can’t know if we have space available until we’ve heard back from those who have been offered admission.
That makes sense. Thank you for your fast response!
What do you typically look at when you are taking people off the wait list? Is it whomever has the highest GPA? Or more well rounded?
@Waitlisted, we just try to determine who is the most competitive just like we do when we make initial decisions. So academic and personal qualities come in to play. Oftentimes, final grades can be very helpful when looking at the transfer waitlist.
I’m on track to get the same semester GPA that I got last semester so I’m not expecting a big change in overall GPA. Will having a 3.4 hurt my chances?
@optimistic tribe, without knowing more about your courses, school, etc. it’s hard to answer your question. A 3.4 is a little below the 3.5 benchmark we recommend but again, there’s context to everything so depending on your course, schools, activities, etc. the 3.4 can be better evaluated.
I was placed on the waitlist and was wondering if any offers will be made tomorrow. If so, how will we be contacted?
@waitlisted transfer, students can still submit deposits tomorrow so we’ll need some time to review everything and determine whether or not we will use the waitlist. Once that decision is made, we’ll provide a blog with that update and about the process.
Hi there,
I just heard back from the financial aid office about my package. I am beyond ecstatic because this confirms that I will be able to attend this fall. Thank you so much office of admissions for all your help through out this process. I am grateful for all that you do.
On to a more pertinent topic, If anyone reading this is looking for off campus housing, connect via college confidential or respond to this message if interested.
@TransferStudent, so glad you can join us on campus this fall! Make sure you get your deposit in as today is the deadline.