William & Mary officials tout ‘Spring Pathways’ program that offers students a different path to admission
WILLIAMSBURG — William & Mary says a spring admissions program it launched four years ago has helped more than 400 students get into their choice school when they might not have otherwise.
The university launched its Spring Pathways program in 2020 to guarantee admission to waitlist applicants who had their hearts set on attending and were willing to wait a semester.
Monica Pinier, senior assistant dean and the coordinator of undergraduate transfer admission, said the program differs from the regular waitlist in that it guarantees entrance. Admission for the general waitlist depends on a variety of factors, including space. One year, Pinier recalled, no students were accepted from the waitlist. Currently, there is no cap on how many can participate in the pathways program.
The program requires applicants to begin at a community college or sign up for a study abroad semester in the fall while maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average. Pinier said the requirements are meant to keep students from falling behind socially and academically. By already starting their college career, students who transfer in through the program are on track with their peers who were admitted in the fall.
Emma Dunlop is a sophomore who was admitted through the Spring Pathways program. Dunlop said William & Mary was one of her top choices but she began to consider other options when she was waitlisted. After hearing about the pathways program, she visited the campus and talked to study abroad program coordinators and decided to pursue the option.
Dunlop grew up in Northern Virginia and visited Williamsburg with her family almost every summer. They would stop by the campus, which Dunlop always thought was beautiful. When it came time to look at colleges, Dunlop was drawn to the university’s business school. The proximity to home also was a plus.
Because Dunlop had always wanted to study abroad, everything seemed to fall into place. She spent her first semester in London with some students who eventually also ended up at William & Mary. Though she felt a little out of place as a transfer student, she said the university’s orientation program and joining extracurricular activities helped her fit in.
Pinier said that the university has tracked students who took the pathway and found that there was no difference in GPA or retention in comparison to students who were admitted in the fall.
Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com
