<p>Everyone should keep in mind, regardless of where you stand on the argument, that out-of-state students bring far more to W&M than finances. They provide perspective, diversity, and talent that may not always be abundant in Virginia. Along with Virginians, they help raise the profile of W&M through their tremendous academic credentials. To respond to Malvenuto, out-of-state applicants are not more qualified than Virginia applicants. The are simply selected more selectively because there are fewer spaces for them available in our class. W&M’s Admission Office works hard to ensure that we are admitting the best applicants from Virginia and from outside of Virginia and the only real statistical difference between our Virginian admits and non-Virginian admits is a slight different in middle 50% standardized test scores.</p>
<p>If anyone is interested, W&M students just completed their annual Road to Richmond project and part of this year’s discussion was this very matter ([William</a> & Mary - W&M students deliver message in ‘Road to Richmond’](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2011/wm-students-deliver-message-in-road-to-richmond-123.php]William”>W&M students deliver message in 'Road to Richmond' | William & Mary))</p>