Getting To Know: Washington College (MD)-Again
I visited Washington College nearly ten years ago, shortly after I became am admissions advisor. Back then, I worked with a student in my practicum who had chosen the school over Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall. She became enamored with their Psychology department and the opportunity to study Neuroscience, rare for small colleges. More recently, an admissions representative contacted me, wanting to give me an update. There’s also a Washington College Pinterest page that you can check out.
I got an opportunity to interview Johnnie Johnson, the college’s Vice President for Enrollment Management, and I invite you to listen now.
As I was researching this school I found the 2014 Glad You Chose Us YouTube by the WACappellas. The next year students made a new video, Come Join the Family. Another, This is WAC came a year later. These were quite entertaining. I wish that the college continued to use a student musical video as a marketing tool. I got to hear the students when I was on campus ten years ago (photo below). In addition, the team names, the Shoremen and Shorewomen, as well as the mascot, Gus the Goose, are unique to college sports. Ten years ago, I spotted the Goose Country sign in the book store that you see below. However, I saw students wearing shirts in Glad You Chose Us that called the college Goose Nation. Johnnie told me that Goose Nation is the proper name.
Washington College is the tenth-oldest college in the U.S.
According to the College’s history, General Washington gave the “College at Chester” a founding gift of 50 guineas, agreed to serve on its Board, and gave permission for the new school to use his name. Washington served on the Board of Visitors and Governors for five years until 1789, when he became President of the United States. He accepted an honorary degree from Washington College that same year and became a leading alumnus. In addition to George Washington, five other American Presidents have visited campus: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and George H.W. Bush. I found four plaques that commemorated presidential visits when I visited in 2014.
The Washington College campus follows a red brick Colonial (18th century)style theme.
Newer buildings such as the Gibson Center for the Arts (photo below), the Casey Academic Center, and Goldstein Hall matching the coloring of the older ones. The campus layout is open and pedestrian friendly, the grounds well maintained. At the time that I visited I felt that first-year residence halls were showing their age. However, they have been updated. .Town and campus are not connected together as you might find at a school like Dickinson or Gettysburg. However, students have a nice waterfront to use for boating, exercise, and relaxation.
Chestertown, founded in 1706, was Maryland’s second-largest port, after Annapolis, through the 18th century. The U.S. Census reported that it was also the geographic center of the United States in the very first Census taken in 1790. The college name is often abbrieviated as WAC for Washington at Chestertown to show the long standing connection between town and gown. But while the town is historically interesting, works closely with the college, has nice shops and restaurants, and hosts several festivals, it’s really a more tourist-oriented community, However, WAC is close enough to Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. to have brought numerous public figures to campus. The nearest shopping center is in Middletown, Delaware, about a half-hour drive from campus.
In one sense Washington College is like sports rival Gettysburg College (PA).
The college has taken considerable responsibility for the stewardship of not only the campus, but also the host community and its history. Here are examples:
- Part of the Center for Environment & Society is located on the Chester River waterfront. The Waterfront Campus also includes the college’s Hodson Boathouse to support the rowing and sailing teams as well the Lelia Hynson Pavilion that hosts public and private events.
- Washington College’s Starr Center for Study of the American Experience is located in the historic Custom House downtown. The Custom House is not only an academic center for public history; it is also a starting point for tours of historic Chestertown.
- The president’s home, the Hynson-Ringold House, an 18th century historic landmark, is located downtown.
While past presidents of Washington College have lived in the Hynson-Ringold House since 1950, the other initiatives in town and on the waterfront came to fruition five years after my last visit. I’d like to thank my friend and colleague, April Paris Joseph for these photos of the waterfront that she took on her recent visit to the college and Chestertown
Who should consider Washington College?
My feeling from my visit ten years ago and from watching more recent YouTubes of campus and community is that you have to appreciate a small college and a libera arts education. Washington College had over 1,400 students when I visited in 2014. Today, the school has just over 900. However, the college competes in the same number of sports, so now varsity athletes represent about 40 percent of the student body. The college expects to grow to 1,200 students over the next few years. The next incoming class is expected to have 300 students,
When a school has become this small, you really need to visit before you apply and after you are accepted. The phrase Come Join The Family is quite appropriate. Plus, there are some really nice resources at WAC, such as:
- A River and Field Campus for environmental sciences that is the largest conservation easement in the state of Maryland. This complements the waterfront campus.
- The English department has a solid Creative Writing program, that includes Journalism, and a Visiting Writer’s Program. The college’s Sophie Kerr Prize is the largest undergraduate student literary award in the country. This is also one of the few colleges of any size that has a literary house.
- Opportunities to study American History in depth, including internships and fellowships, are impressive. I have seen only one other school sell this better: Gettysburg. But St. Mary’s College of Maryland comes close.with field study.
- I would say that the same is true for opportunities to study Political Science.
- Business Management is the most popular major, and there are specialized business minors, rare for a school this size. It’s very easy to double major or gain business skills with a liberal arts major.
Washington College is cross-shopped against other Maryland and Pennsylvania liberal arts colleges.
The school competes in the Centennial Conference is sports. Some of their member schools such as Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg are also the college’s major competition for students. That conference also includes Ursinus College and McDaniel College, both among the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL). Washington College is the smallest school in the conference. But, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, Washington College’s endowment of $273 million (FY 2023) is largest than either CTCL. The same is true when comparing the college to Allegheny or Juniata, two other CTCL schools in Pennsylvania that have some similar strengths, including generous financial aid awards for the students they really want. Washington College is also likely to be shopped against St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the state’s public liberal arts honors college.
Much like CTCL schools, Washington College shares many of the attributes of more selective liberal arts colleges.
These attributes joint degrees, experiential learning programs, and a demanding capstone requirement. It also has a chapter of Phi beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society. In addition, only four classes had more than 29 students. And, much like most CTCL schools, Washington College appears to look harder for reasons to admit versus reasons to deny.
- Two-thirds of all applicants for the Class of 2027 were admitted.
- Eighty percent of those who applied Early Action were accepted. They represented close to half of the class.
- Eight-nine percent of those who applied Early Decision were admitted. But they represented less than a fifth of the class.
- Less than a fifth of the class submitted SAT scores. The average was a 1260.
- The average ACT score was a 28.
- The average high school GPA for the class was a 3.6
Given this information and the small size of a freshman class (230 when it was 410 seven years before). I would recommend that prospective students apply early and submit SAT scores if they break 600 on both sections of the test. This was one the few schools that I have visited or followed that places importance on an admissions interview as well as demonstrated interest. WAC appears to attract a curious, fairly bright student who might not have gotten A grades in every subject, but found a particular liking to one or two of them. It might help to take the interview to earn how the college will accommodate those interests.
Further, Washington College has less than half the number of students as Dickinson, Gettysburg or Franklin & Marshall. A prospective student will have fewer people to meet over four years. So, it helps to visit and get to know who chose the school, who is happy is there and why. Most recently, Washington College retained 87 percent of the Class of 2027. The college graduated approximately two thirds of the students who entered in 2016 and 2017 in four years. These are very good numbers, though the more selective schools like Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg do better.
Washington College has some incredible scholarship opportunities.
All admitted National Honor Society and Cum Laude Society students who have an unweighted GPA of 3.0 or better receive at least $30,000 in an academic tuition award. The Presidential Fellows program can also be quite generous Maryland residents with strong academic records but also substantial need can qualify to become Washington Scholars who receive full tuition and fees as well as room and board. Just over a fifth of the Class of 2027 received merit awards that averaged over half of the estimated total cost of attendance. However, 2023 graduates who took out loans owed an average of over $37,000. If you really like Washington College when you visit, make sure that the costs work out, and that you feel confident that you can keep the merit award.
Nearly everyone lives on campus.
Washington College assigns first-year students to one of three halls: Caroline House, Kent or Minta Martin, all of which are more than 50 years old. Kent and Caroline are co-ed halls while Minta Martin is all female. All three halls are Wi-Fi enabled while individual rooms are air conditioned. Freshmen may also live in special interest houses. But interestingly, none of the freshman halls have elevators, even Minta Martin, which has four floors . Unlike many other liberal arts that have Greek life, fraternities and sorority members live in college-owned housing. Greek life attracts ten percent of the men and an about a fifth of the women. Rising seniors may apply for permission to love off campus during their last year in college. However, it did not seem to make sense to be obligated to a lease if you did not plant remain in Chestertown after graduation.
Conclusions
Washington College shares many assets with Gettysburg College. However, the WAC community and college have a longer history together. In addition, Gettysburg has over twice the undergraduate population and places more importance on Greek life. But a student who was interested in Gettysburg for Biology, English, Psychology or Political Science might also like Washington College for the academic approaches to these subjects and the attention from the faculty. I really recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to interview and visit.
In the world of higher education perception is reality. A “very good” school that wants to be known as a “great” school needs to do better at getting its message out. This is especially true if it offers much the same assets as its peer and aspirant schools as well as similar outcomes for its more diligent graduates. Washington College is one school that needs to improve its brand message more than it needs to improve upon the interesting academic options.
Listen to my interview with Johnnie Johnson now!
Report Card: Washington College (MD)
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: B+/B+
- Freshman Retention: B+
- Curriculum: A
- Costs:B
- Comforts: B+
- Community: B+
- Connections: A (Baltimore/Washington Corridor)/B (Philadelphia)/C (elsewhere)
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