A recently released advice book for college-bound students recognizes the University of Mary Washington as an “overlooked gem” that deserves more attention from applicants and parents.
“Acceptance” chronicles a year in the life of Gwyeth Smith, a nationally renowned guidance counselor for a New York public high school, and seven of his students as they go through the college admissions process. “Acceptance” was written by David Marcus, an education writer for Newsday, who has spent more than two decades in journalism and is co-recipient of a 1994 Pulitzer Prize.
In the book, Smith urges students to look at the “fit” of a college, and not just its perceived prestige. He also lists 40 colleges he considers “overlooked gems” from his 40 years of admissions counseling.
UMW is among five “gems” listed in the Mid-Atlantic region and is one of only two Virginia colleges on the list. The other is James Madison University.
“Mary Washington combines public university tuition with the personalized experience of a private college,” Smith says in a press release issued by Penguin Press, the book’s publisher. Smith calls UMW “an up-and-coming university, with increasingly higher standards.”
Smith praises the university’s many internships in Washington, D.C., and Richmond, and its “charming” location in Fredericksburg. He commends the “job-friendly” majors at Mary Washington, such as geography, historic preservation and conservation.
More information about the book can be found at www.davemarcus.com.
UMW has received national recognition in many college guidebooks, including Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Peterson’s Competitive Colleges, Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges and Forbes online magazine. UMW is listed in the Princeton Review’s 100 “Best Value Colleges for 2010” and recently became the only institution in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to be named as a “best buy” in the prestigious Fiske Guide to Colleges 2011.