Under cloudy skies, William & Mary’s Class of 2029 and new transfer students found a green and gold lining as they moved into residence halls with the help of family and friends on Aug. 21.

“I’m so excited to be here,” said Sam Engleby ’29 of Denver, Colorado. “It’s finally real.” 

New students received a warm welcome from orientation aides in neon shirts who waved signs and whooped up welcomes. Orientation aides Caitlin Johnson ’28 and Hallie Pellish ’28 even choreographed a special dance to greet new arrivals.

“We are so hype,” Johnson said.

Bridget Glennon ’27 was just as jazzed. “Honestly, it’s my favorite day of the school year,” she said. “It’s like Christmas. There’s so much happiness.” 

In total, the university is welcoming nearly 1,900 new undergraduates to campus this fall, including both first-year and transfer students. The group brings with it a variety of interests, achievements and backgrounds, and they’re already making history with an anticipated record number of Pell Grant recipients.

Move-in activities will continue through the weekend, along with orientation. While some graduate programs are already underway, undergraduate classes begin Aug. 27. That same day, the university will host its Opening Convocation ceremony, which officially kicks off the new academic year.

A warm welcome

Sidney Latta ’29 of Ashburn, Virginia, was grateful the rain held off and her parents were on  hand to help her load her belongings into Poplar Hall, one of newly opened residence halls in the West Woods complex. Even though she is the first of her siblings to head off to college, her mom, Jocelyn Latta, said she had steeled herself for the goodbye.

“She spent the summer in Asia so, yes, I will be sad, but I’ve already gotten most of it out of my system,” said Latta. 

Kids who like to play the “license plate game” would have had a field day during move-in. By 8 a.m., cars from Minnesota, Colorado and Tennessee had been spotted. Plenty, too, from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Ella Grimes and her family made the 11-hour drive from Andover, Massachusetts. A high school soccer player, Grimes said she’s most excited to make a new bunch of friends. Same, too, for Sophia Purdy ’29, who was moving into Gooch Hall after a three-day road trip from Colorado to Williamsburg with her parents, aptly named William and Mary.

“It’s like it was meant to be,” she said. “How could I go anywhere else?” 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by William & Mary (@william_and_mary)

A steady stream of cars and trucks loaded down with luggage, lamps, bedding and bins made its way through a highly organized check-in procedure. In the residence halls, residence assistants were affixing name plates to doors and making welcome signs.

“We have our first community meeting at 7:30,” said Olivia Jordan ’28, the RA assigned to the fourth floor at Poplar Hall. “The idea is that everybody can have dinner with their parents, say goodbye and then meet their new friends for the first time.” 

By the numbers

The Class of 2029 is expected to include approximately 1,650 students who were selected from 16,987 applicants.

The group is academically talented and boasts an average GPA of 4.34. Among students who submitted standardized test scores, the SAT middle 50th percentile was 1390-1520 and 32-34 for the ACT.

The class includes students from across the United States and around the world, representing 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and 23 countries. International students make up 3% of the class. In addition, 9% are first-generation college students.

The first-year class brings with it a variety of unique interests and experiences. The class includes a member of a winning marching band in a Metallica-themed contest, a co-founder of an educational Instagram account with more than 180,000 followers, a TEDx Talk presenter, a National History Day Finalist, a creator of a platform and podcast in support of those living with Parkinson’s and a World Cube Association competitor and off-string yoyo artist.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new students to campus and see them flourish as part of this vibrant community,” said Associate Provost for Enrollment & Dean of Admission Tim Wolfe. “We never cease to be impressed with the students who find their home at William & Mary, and we look forward to getting to know our first-year and transfer students in the months to come.”

Pell Grant record

This fall’s new undergraduate students — both first-year and transfer students — are expected to include a record number of Pell Grant recipients. Twenty-one percent of incoming in-state undergraduates are Pell Grant recipients. This is the second year in a row that William & Mary has met its goal of having Pell Grant recipients make up at least 20% of incoming in-state students — a target originally set for 2026.

Overall, the university has seen a 34% increase in Pell Grant recipients over the past two years, thanks largely to outreach efforts and targeted programs to reach first-generation and limited-income students. In 2022, the university announced it would cover tuition and fees for all in-state, undergraduate Pell Grant students. The next year, William & Mary announced a generous gift to establish a scholarship and applied learning endowment for out-of-state, Pell Grant students. That same year, the university launched the Commonwealth Impact Partnership Program, which works with Virginia high schools to identify and nominate high-achieving, limited-income students.

“We are proud of reaching our goal early and setting another new record, but we are even more excited about the impact these efforts are having on access and affordability at William & Mary,” said Wolfe. 

Celebrating transfer students

In addition to welcoming a record number of Pell Grant students, the university is welcoming about 215 transfer students this fall — the largest such cohort in 14 years. This group also includes a record number of students from the Virginia Community College System. 

Senior Assistant Dean of Admission Monica Pinier, who worked at VCCS before starting at William & Mary five years ago, attributes the increase to a variety of factors, including strong relationships with those institutions and work to modify guaranteed admission agreements. 

William & Mary’s reputation for affordability and accessibility is also appealing to transfer students, noted Pinier.

“Sometimes students are wooed by a really big scholarship at another institution, only to find that it was only good for one year, or they thought they could handle out-of-state costs, but it’s just too much or not worth it,” she said. Additionally, students from Virginia sometimes initially want to move away from home.

“They take it for granted sometimes that we are here in Virginia … and then realize that there’s this gem in their backyard. We have excellent retention and graduation rates, we meet up to 100% of demonstrated financial need for in-state students who have financial need — and that’s huge.”

In addition, William & Mary’s strong sense of community can be very attractive to transfer students who may not have found that at other schools. 

“It’s getting out there that we’re a very welcoming campus for students of all backgrounds,” said Pinier. “I love that people recognize our sense of belonging. That’s something that’s really a unique thing.”

In addition to Undergraduate Admission, William & Mary’s work to attract and retain transfer students happens with the help of units across campus, including the Office of Student Veteran Engagement, Office of Student Transition Engagement Programs, University Registrar, Academic Advising and Financial Aid, among others.

Transfer students bring so much to the William & Mary community, including a variety of life experiences and unique perspectives, said Pinier, who takes every opportunity to talk to people on campus about them.

“It’s just important that they know that when we talk about William & Mary students, yes, the majority are traditional students, but we have a really good number of amazing transfer students every single year,” she said. “They are successful, we retain them and they bring a lot to our community. And I think that’s great because it takes a lot of bravery to leave one institution and go to another.”

Susan Corbett and Erin Jay contributed to this story.