Washington and Lee is a small liberal arts school in Lexington, Virginia. While it’s one of the oldest schools in the nation, It only became a coed school in the 1980s. Washington and Lee is a liberal arts school through-and-through. There’s also a big emphasis on the outdoors and the surrounding Shenandoah Valley environment. The school is known for its semester scheduling, with a short spring semester where students focus, in-depth on a single course. There are about 1,800 undergrads and the acceptance rate for the class of 2025 was 19%.
Please describe how you have familiarized yourself with Washington and Lee University and what aspects of W&L's community are most exciting to you. (Optional) (250)
This is not optional. This question can basically be read as “Why Washington & Lee?” We advise our students to develop an area of expertise over the course of high school, the more specific the better. For example, Science is too broad an area. Ornithology is better. This is an opportunity to draw a connection between your area of expertise and what W&L ha to offer academically. Start off by telling us an origin story of how you came to develop your academic passion. This could be as simple as something like you did a project on it in 7th grade. Just make sure it’s highly specific. Science is too broad. Biochemistry is ideal. Then, talk about the major or area of study at W&L that relates to your area of interest that you would opt to pursue. Talk about the upper-level classes you would want to take if admitted. Finally, discuss the relevant extra-curriculars.
Please describe an aspect of your life outside of school that is important to you, such as an extracurricular activity, a job or a family responsibility. How does your involvement impact you and those around you? (Optional) (250)
Ok, the first thing we want to point out here is that we often tell our students not to repeat parts of their application. Each component of the application is an opportunity for you to share a new aspect of your personality with the admissions committee. That’s one of our strategies for having students stand out from the rest. That said, this prompt is asking you specifically about activities that might already be on your resume. We recommend choosing something that’s important to you, but maybe not the biggest thing you do in life. Tell a story with a beginning, middle, end about what you do that implies or shows the impact you have.
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