Overheard in Transfer Committee — Preparation for Majors
Admit It! Transfers. You’ve been patiently waiting for your turn to be in the spotlight. Well your time has come. Transfer Committee commenced and our discussions are well underway. As with our freshman process, we are enjoying reviewing your applications and the discussions that ensue.
Overheard in Transfer Committee: Looks like he’s taken great courses for a bio/pre-med major
As is the case with freshman applicants, we do not admit students into a particular major or school. That being said, freshmen enter with all four years ahead of them; they’re an academic blank slate that can be guided from the get go. Transfer students however come to W&M with a more truncated timeline. They’ve already started their academic path. In the case of those hoping to transfer in as juniors, half of their college career is hopefully behind them. The last thing most transfers want to do is double back to basic introductory courses or pre-reqs needed to pursue their major which can then lead to extra time spent earning their diploma.
Today we were reviewing a student who indicated an interest in biology/pre-med. To his credit, he had taken great foundation courses (intro bio courses, intro chem and physics courses, calculus and statistics). Biology/pre-med is a pretty lock-step major which requires several courses across the math/science spectrum. Given that this particular applicant is finishing his sophomore year, he is likely fairly sure of his major, and we were glad that he’d taken the necessary foundation courses so that once at W&M, he could continue his studies without having to work backwards to fill-in pre-requisite courses.
We often have a similar discussion about those who indicate an interest in entering our Mason School of Business. That program requires six pre-requisite courses to even apply. How many of those courses has a transfer applicant completed? How many semesters have they completed already? Students applying to transfer during their freshman year still have time to complete some of these courses at W&M; students applying during their sophomore year have little if no time, unless they want to delay their entrance into their major and possibly spend extra semesters in college.
The point of this blog is not to compel transfer applicants to take every single pre-req for their intended major before arriving at W&M. In many cases that’s not even possible. Plus we recognize many transfer applicants come to W&M for a specific academic program and look forward to taking the bulk of their major courses at W&M. We also know that even transfers can still change their mind about a particular major. But we do want to ensure, especially with transfers, that we’re admitting students who can complete their academic pursuits in a reasonable amount of time.
Stay tuned transfers. More on your application process to come.
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.
Is there a chance that decisions will be released friday, like last year? I apologize for asking as I know it doesn’t really make a difference, but it does quell a little bit of the anxiety!
@Hopeful Transfer, as with freshman applications, we do not speculate on a release date for various reasons (described in a blog from March: http://blogs.wm.edu/2014/03/19/the-most-asked-question/). Know that we are working hard to complete the transfer process and will release decisions as soon as we are ready. We’ll put up a decisions blog when they are released.
How many transfer applications did you receive ? How many will be accepted ?
@Possible Transfer, we usually get around 900-1000 applications from fall transfers and we admit around 45% give or take.
I read on another transfer blog that the transfer day session will be held on May 3 and unfortunately I’ll still be at school and in the midst of finals week (I assume many other transfers will have the same conflict). In the event that I’m accepted, will there be another transfer day?
@William and Merry, unfortunately May 3 is the only date. Our students graduate the following weekend and leave campus so this is really the only date we can make work when the campus still feels like itself. We know it’s not a perfect day. Of course students can visit another day before their deposit is due but we won’t be having any events on other days.
@Admit it, thanks for the prompt response and all the effort that goes into making this blog; it’s answered a lot of my other questions about the application process and has been really enjoyable to read
If the transfer session is may 3, when will you release the acceptance letters so that accepted students can make plans to try and attend? It doesnt give much time for students that are away and studying for finals.
@hopeful, as we said in a previous comment on this blog, we don’t put a release date forward in advance (see our comment from April 21). We do however do our best to provide enough advance notice to those admitted so they can plan to attend the event. We know the timeline is a tight one and we do our best to work within it.
I am assuming that there will be no decsions sent out today for transfer applicants?
Or is there still hope that they will post them today?
@hopeful, as we mentioned we really don’t make any predictions about decision releases just because you never know if something will derail the timeline we have in place (one year the campus internet went out for example). Just watch for the Decisions, Decisions blog to be posted. That will be your queue to check your in-box.