Overheard in Transfer Committee: It’s Your Turn Transfers
Admit It! Transfers, you’ve been clamoring for the spring 2012 installment of Overheard in Transfer Committee. Signed, sealed, delivered (or more accurately typed, uploaded, published). Transfer committee for fall 2012 applicants started yesterday so we’re off and rolling.
Overheard in transfer committee today: “No idea why W&M.”
The Transfer Common Application’s personal statement asks each student to explain why they wish to transfer. It provides an opportunity for you to explain why the school you currently attend is not the best fit and what kinds of qualities you’re looking for in your future college/university. While we would love to think W&M is your one and only true college love, we know that you are likely playing the field and submitting your application to multiple schools. With that being the case, you’re not able to specifically identify in the Transfer Common Application what it is about W&M that compels you to apply.
But we have a remedy for that; the additional optional essay found on the W&M Supplement to the Transfer Common Application. That essay asks you to address why you wish to transfer to W&M specifically. This helps both you and the Committee to consider whether or not W&M is a good match for you. After all, it does neither you nor us any good to admit you if you’re only bound to transfer again (such as when a student says they want W&M for a program we do not have – we know that student hasn’t done their research and that admitting them would not be in their or our best interest). So we sincerely appreciate that you take the time to deliberate about and articulate why W&M is the right next step for you and that you allow us to do the same.
When that supplement essay is blank it doesn’t mean your transfer application is dead on arrival but it’s a piece of the puzzle we would like to evaluate but can’t. So when we stumbled upon an application that didn’t address the supplemental essay we took note hence the “no idea why W&M” (meaning the person who reviewed the application had no idea why the applicant wanted to finish their degree at W&M). It made us question how serious the applicant was and how thoughtfully they had entered into the transfer process. Again, this is one part of many and the presence or absence of this essay alone never makes or breaks an application, but every little bit helps.
Until next time transfers.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Senior Assistant 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.
Is there a specific day that the acceptance email for transfers will be sent?
Finally there is an update about transfers!Can’t wait to know about the transfer decisions!! 🙂 I saw on College Confidential that the admissions sent out a small percent of admits a few days ago. I didn’t get any emails, but the @W&M Admissions said that the rest will be released Late April/Early May. Do you know the exact date and time? Is it usually midnight or during the day?
@Piaoyang, we don’t know an exact date yet and we won’t know an exact time (emails can’t be timed exactly as you know). But when we have a date/timeframe we’ll let everyone know.
I know undergraduate research is stressed at W&M; if we are doing research/ presenting research at a conference at our current institution (and made a point of mentioning it in the application) how is that looked at? Just another class/ extracurricular, or is it a “plus”?
Also what role do SATs play in transfer admissions?
I used the common application only for William & Mary and I wrote specifically why I wanted to attend W&M in the regular essay. I didn’t do the supplement because I was told that it would be redundant if I was only applying to W&M. Will this negatively affect my chance to get in? Not that it matters so much now but I would like to know. Thanks!
@bpenn04, of course not. As long as the “why W&M” is addressed somewhere we’re happy. It’s when it’s not addressed in the Common Application essay (often the case as people are applying to multiple schools and therefore cannot make that essay specific) or in the supplemental one that we’re disappointed.
@Lauren, sorrybyour comment got trapped in spam so we didn’t see it until today. Yes, doing undergraduate research could definitely be a plus factor and would definitely help us know that W&M might be a good fit for you
Is there anyway we can turn in a supplement essay this week? I’m expecting no, but it never hurts to ask. Thanks.
@Elle, you can turn in additional information by fax (quickest means of getting it to us) but we cannot promise that we will have a chance to review it given how far along we are in the process.
For the transfer applicants that have already received an acceptance via email, when should we expect the welcome packet in the mail?
How far along in the application process is the committee? I didn’t know you all would consider additional information after the application date! I have a few additions to fax in and I’m wondering how close the committee is to finishing its work.
About how many people have already received acceptance emails?
@Natalie, those packets were mailed last Tuesday. Remember, if you didn’t provide a mailing address (i.e. your current college address) it was mailed to your permanent home address. Everything that was mailed (save the letter) can be found on the transfer welcome site linked in your email.
@D.J. committee comes at the end of the process so that’s why we told @Elle she could still submit materials but that they may not be reviewed. Generally additional materials should be sent close to the application deadline in order to be reviewed.
@Amy, about 30% of those we’ll admit received early admission notification.
Hello William and Mary Admissions,
Do you have any idea as to when we should expect to hear any news? I have several deadlines looming and I am going to have to start making decisions soon about what college I will be attending in the fall. I would like to be fully informed before making any decision.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Michael
@Michael, we’re still on target for our late April/early May decision notification but the exact date won’t be known until it’s upon us. It’s perfectly okay to ask the other schools to which you’ve applied if you can have an extension on any deadlines given that you’re waiting to hear from other schools.
I applied to be a transfer student from another country. And we still do not have our mid-terms yet. So will it interfere the admission process due to the fact that i did not subbmit my mid-term grades?
@Claire, it might be best to simply email us and let us know your school doesn’t yet have mid-term grades so that we know that they’re not available instead of assuming you didn’t send them. You can just email Vanessa Pryor (vdpyro@wm.edu), our transfer application processor.
Do you have any personal statement essays that you can share that were super impressive or unimpressive? Were they a big plus or negative in the decision making?
When are admitted transfer students be able to register for courses? Will it be after final transcripts are due, or before? I’m just curious as I paid my deposit and was looking at availability of courses online and I want to make sure I can get into a language program since I will need to start at the beginning. Thanks!
@James, that’s hard to say. We definitely appreciate personal statements that are thoughtful and that address whatever extenuating circumstances need to be addressed. They are certainly helpful in our process though of course not the only factor on which a decision hinges.
@Christina, registration for all new students (transfers and freshmen) occurs over the summer (generally late summer). It is hopefully after transfer credit has been applied.
Will there still be an opportunity to apply for fall on a space available basis?
@Sandy, our application process for the fall semester (for both freshman and transfer applicants) is closed. The application deadlines were several months ago. Unfortunately if you haven’t submitted an application you can’t at this point. We do admit transfer students for the spring semester and that application deadline is November 1.