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Dear Westminster Friends,
My wife Jean likes to shop. I like to shop (generally for about 7-10 minutes). So after I have checked out the tie rack
in T.J. Maxx, I head for the nearest bookstore. Once there, I review the college guide books to see what they are
saying about Westminster and our competitors. The Princeton Review book of “357 Best Colleges in America”
describes Westminster as a place “where professors have a genuine passion to teach, and enjoys an excellent
reputation for combining tough academics with real-world preparation.”
That sums it up pretty well, but there is an extra dimension to Westminster that is a little harder to communicate.
Prospective students tell me that they can “just feel it” when they arrive for their first interview. How then, shall we
select the students who are best suited to benefit from the Westminster experience?
The guide books have developed proprietary formulas to determine “selectivity” by the numbers – and numbers are
important. However, given the numerical levels of achievement required for Westminster students, we are working
to take “selectivity” to the next level. The objective is to assure the “best fit” for each student taking a place in the
freshman class.
Student interviews on campus and off have always been a critically important part of the admissions process. The
interview gives prospective students the chance to reveal who they are and to talk about their aspirations in addition
to presenting test scores and grade point averages.
Admissions counselors depend on the numbers and the interview, backed by recommendations from those who
have known the prospective student for years. Westminster-degreed teachers and Presbyterian churches all over
the U.S.A. are now part of the admissions process for students who have a 3.5 GPA in high school and aspire to
attend Westminster. Teachers and preachers know their students and church members well. They are helping to
reach the “next level” of selectivity through the Jerb Miller and Young Presbyterian Scholarship programs.
Nominated students are included in the College’s early-action admissions program in order to assure the first and
best opportunity to matriculate. Last year, 26 percent of the entering undergraduates were nominated for early
action. This year it is likely that 33 percent of the incoming class will be early-action Jerb Miller and YPS nominees.
We’ll keep trying to understand and describe the extra dimension that students “feel” when they take their first walk
through the quad. If you have a story about your first visit to Westminster and are willing to see excerpts from it in
print, please send it to me. I’ll need some good reading material for the next time Jean goes shopping.
Sincerely,
R. Thomas Williamson