William & Mary Forum

[02082010]

Grad fellowship (instate tuition and $4k stipend) but those requirements are ridiculous. GPA requirement and you have to work 8hrs a week in the library? Even though the ABA frowns upon 1Ls working at all.

Stats here are 170+ sub-3.0 URM.

Actually, from what I understand, the grad fellowship is a pretty good deal, even with the work requirement. A few people I know at W&M got it last year and it doesn't take much time (they just sit at a circulation desk for a couple hours every now and then). You would be studying in the library anyway, so it's not like you would be going out and commuting somewhere. Also, out of curiosity, what was your GPA requirement? The people I knew needed to maintain at least a 2.0 (pretty low if you ask me), but I was wondering if it varied.

My letter said B average, which I assume is median.

[Green Crayons]

Can we get some stats for the acceptances? Congrats btw yeah, i'm bitter

Mine are in my profile. It's not likely I'll attend so hopefully my spot can go to someone on the WL that really wants it. The scholarship changes things a little, but not much.

Same here. I will send in my withdrawal sometime this week, so hopefully my spot goes to someone on TLS!

+1 on this. Will be sending in my withdrawal this week.

[wadeny]

Grad fellowship (instate tuition and $4k stipend) but those requirements are ridiculous. GPA requirement and you have to work 8hrs a week in the library? Even though the ABA frowns upon 1Ls working at all.

Stats here are 170+ sub-3.0 URM.

Actually, from what I understand, the grad fellowship is a pretty good deal, even with the work requirement. A few people I know at W&M got it last year and it doesn't take much time (they just sit at a circulation desk for a couple hours every now and then). You would be studying in the library anyway, so it's not like you would be going out and commuting somewhere. Also, out of curiosity, what was your GPA requirement? The people I knew needed to maintain at least a 2.0 (pretty low if you ask me), but I was wondering if it varied.

My letter said B average, which I assume is median.

Wow, I guess they must have upped the requirements. It's still not a bad deal, but I now understand your reservations a little more.

[Miltiades]

Thanks to the withdrawing folks. Perhaps the scraps off your plate will fall to me.

[dark]

It did sound like there were quite a few conditions. I think for the grad fellowship I had to maintain a B average? I know conditional scholarships are generally frowned upon....anyone know if a B average at W&M is that hard to maintain? What percentage do you generally have to be in your class to keep that?

The curve at WM is set between a B and a B+, so you could be in the bottom 50% of the class and still keep your fellowship. -I'm a current student and I have one of these btw. Its nice to have, although now that exams are coming up, I find myself envying the extra 8 hours my non-fellowship friends have during the week to study.

[Notor]

Have you guys ever worked before? I am finding myself cringing at the thought of people complaining about 8 hours of work a week. I mean seriously guys, its 8 hours of sitting in a library.

[Displeased]

The grad fellowship is a pretty fantastic deal. The work requirement is not a hassle by any stretch of the imagination. You basically just sit at the reference or circulation desk and study for your assigned work period, and maybe spend 15 minutes or less doing actual real work. I probably do the majority of my studying during my graduate fellowship work hours.

The grade requirement is around median. I think a 3.0 is supposed to be exactly median at W&M, but I know some people who fell below median but still managed to keep their grad fellowships. Obviously there's a chance that you could lose the scholarship, but even if you do, out of state tuition at W&M is still fairly low.

[dark]

Have you guys ever worked before? I am finding myself cringing at the thought of people complaining about 8 hours of work a week. I mean seriously guys, its 8 hours of sitting in a library.

Not all fellowships involve working at the library desk with nothing to do, sitting around and doing your homework. For example, in my first year, I got assigned to take out the recycling around the school - not really conducive to cracking open those books when you wheel a cart around and empty containers.

I also worked in the courtroom where I was given organizational tasks that tended to take up the entire 2 hour shifts I worked in (compiling spreadsheets for purchases, sorting through boxes of equipment, watching and labeling videos, briefing and reporting on white papers relating to courtroom technology, etc). Finishing early wasn't really an option as when I finished early, I'd just be assigned another task to do.

All in all, I was never able to do homework during my fellowship hours.

In your second year you will be assigned to help Professor's with their research. This means your hours are supposed to be spent doing their work, not your homework

8 hours a week is not unmanageable at all and I'm happy to have a fellowship and the costs it saves (heck, that's what brought me here in the first place), but I'm still going to envy people who don't have to do work.

[NatSec]

for those that had the "decision pending" status on the SC, how long did it take for you to find out?

[Bustang]

Went "Decision Pending" this morning.

[eire1013]

i withdrew my acceptance this morning, good luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

[NancyBotwin]

Finally went "Ready for Review.' Those who have Decision Pending, how long did it take to go from ready to that?

[am10]

I've been ready for review/decision pending since 10/26, so I don't think it necessarily means they are close to sending an answer. I think it's just what they say until they make their answer.

[hypermeganet]

I went from Ready for Review/Decision Pending to just Decision Pending on 11/5 (the day they sent out the status checker). I've not moved from that since.

[NatSec]

so what i'm hearing is that the "decision pending" just means that they have made a decision to make a decision at some undisclosed point in time.

[southxii]

Yes, they're in what they like to call their "planning to plan" phase.

[Pearalegal]

i withdrew my acceptance this morning, good luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

...its the beginning of november, wtf.

[wackjickham]

i withdrew my acceptance this morning, good luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

...its the beginning of november, wtf.

I suppose if you've already gotten in to a school you'd rather attend, there's no point in taking up that spot from someone else who really wants to go there.

[southxii]

Unless you're planning on applying again in the same cycle to see if you can get accepted twice? That would be a good reason to withdraw.

"Oh you got into xxxxx? Well i got in too, TWICE."

[Pearalegal]

i withdrew my acceptance this morning, good luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

...its the beginning of november, wtf.

I suppose if you've already gotten in to a school you'd rather attend, there's no point in taking up that spot from someone else who really wants to go there.

Haha, I know, but it just seems so early to be cutting out options and scholarship leverage. Unless they were ED.

[oneforship]

Haha, I know, but it just seems so early to be cutting out options and scholarship leverage. Unless they were ED.

I am planning on withdrawing this week, because I'm about 99% sure I would take my other acceptance at sticker over W&M at full price, so I guess no reason to hold onto a spot I'm not interested in.

[robin600]

Thanks for those who are withdrawing early because they know they absolutely don't want to go there! It's one of my top choices and I'm still not in yet.

[SamSeaborn2016]

Dear Bill and Mary,

Please make a decision. I've been decision pending since early October...

[wired]

Got my packet in the mail today.

They waived the out-of-state fee ($10,200) and granted $4,000 for the fellowship. Then they gave me a $3,000 scholarship outright for a total of $17,200 off of the $30,000 tuition. That's a great deal in my opinion. Good to know I have a very viable option for law school.


(169 / 3.38; Good softs for the Bill of Rights Institute Fellowship, e.g. EIC for a prelaw journal, volunteering for a Constitutional documentation organization, etc.)

[DCLawGW]

Does everyone see a Seat Deposit with an amount due of 0.00 below the application fee on the status checker? Sorry if this has already been answered.