GMU and Washington & Lee

Submitted by: Chris and Pam H.

We took Chris to visit GMU as well as Washington and Lee (near VMI in
Lexington, VA –about a 3 hour drive from Alexandria). Bottom line: GMU
was just too big and Washington and Lee was just right. We were very
impressed with the historical campus of W&L. It’s a 1700 student, 4 year
school — Chris was able to have one-on-one time with the person
providing the information session, and he asked TONS of great questions
then and during the tour. One thing that I thought exceptionally
interesting was W&L’s focus on high school extra curricular. When I
asked more, they said they wanted to see students who were passionate
about their interests and they wanted to see that reflected in their
extra curricular activities. For example, if you’re passionate about
helping the homeless, the entrance essay and the majority of your
“non-academic” stuff should probably be centered around that. They want
to see a complete package and are especially interested in whether or
not kids buckle down in their junior and senior years.They also want to
get a sense of leadership and whether or not you’ve been a leader in
your area of “passion”. They warned not to “just pad up” your
application your senior year with a bunch of random extra curricular
stuff — they were looking for focus and kids who basically know what
they like.

Mr. P and Alexa were right about the essays — they’ll spend 5 minutes
on each application- MAX, especially if it comes in right at the
deadline. Essays should be concise, single spaced and no more than one
page.And again, everything should tie together.

Chris is more than likely destined for a small, liberal arts college.
We’ll be touring more of those over the next several months.

Another thing Chris liked was the ‘honor system’ at W&L. There is a
student elected executive committee that takes care of all honor code
violations – - basically, you lie, cheat or steal and you’re out. No
dorm rooms are locked (swipe cards for external door); all facilities
are open 24X7; there is a true sense of freedom and safety on the
campus. Chris felt as though he truly belonged.

Lastly, the college allowed Chris to sit in on a class. He sat in on an
English class, so now his nerves about “attending a college class” are
pretty well under control —- he got that part out of the way.
Freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus the first year;
guaranteed housing and 80% of the students get a single room if they
want/need it. The campus is small enough that there isn’t even a need
for a bicycle — we were able to walk easily around the campus.

Entrance requirements are SAT/ACT as well as an admittance essay. There
are two additional “subject area” SAT tests required as well. There
tends to be a generous amount of scholarship money available; all these
require additional essays. The school was the first accredited
journalism school in the nation, so if you go to this school, you will
definitely be a good writer. I believe that’s probably the reason for
all the essays.

The weather was great and we truly had a nice visit — I recommend at
least a tour if your son/daughter is interested in a small liberal arts
college.