Students wishing to attend the Williams Exeter Programme must apply to the Global Education and Study Away Office by the listed deadline (January 15th) and, prior to applying, should consult with the chair of their major department. Any questions students might have about curricular offerings at Oxford can also be raised with the Director of the Programme at Oxford. Students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA to apply to the Programme.
In addition to completing the formal application, students should expect to be interviewed at Williams and will subsequently need to complete an application for Visiting Student status at Oxford University. All admissions to the Programme are subject to approval by Exeter College. Students are expected to declare acceptance of a place offered by the end of February. It is normally expected that all students will have completed the college’s distribution requirement by the end of their sophomore year. In addition, all applicants must have a valid passport or proof of renewal at the time of application.
In making its decisions, the Admissions Committee of the Williams-Exeter Programme expects all applicants to have demonstrated capacity for rigorous, independent work and extensive essay writing, and looks favorably on those students whose intellectual maturity, curiosity and enthusiasm would best prepare them for a demanding course of study in Oxford. All applicants are required to solicit at least two letters of recommendation from faculty members at Williams by the application deadline. Because of the emphasis at Oxford on weekly written work for each tutorial course, at least one of those faculty members should be able to offer an assessment of the applicant’s writing ability.
All applicants interested in applying to WEPO should have sophomore status and must have completed three semesters of college work at the time of application. If applicants are off-cycle, they should apply when they are junior-seniors; not sophomore-juniors. This is due to the fact that once selected students begin their year at WEPO, they should already have four semesters of college-level work completed by this time. Transfer students are welcome to apply to WEPO but will need to meet the above requirements in order to determine if they are eligible to apply.
Application
The WEPO Application for the 2025-2026 academic year will be live in October. The application deadline is January 15, 2025. The WEPO Application can be accessed here.
Required WEPO Info Session:
All WEPO applicants are required to attend a WEPO info session before they can access the application. We will be offering two info sessions this fall:
September 26, 2024 at 7 pm in Griffin 3
October 21, 2024 at 7 pm in Griffin 3
Interested students only need to attend one of the above info sessions. If you are unable to attend a session, you can schedule an individual advising appointment with our office office. You can schedule an indiviudal advising meeting here.
Application Requirements:
Applicants can expect to submit the following:
- WEPO application (tutorial selections and essay questions)
- Two academic letters of recommendation (at least one of your faculty recommenders should be able to comment on your writing ability)
- Updated transcript
- Updated resume
- Passport information
- Interview
All WEPO applicants need to have a valid passport that does not expire until June 30, 2026 or later by the application deadline (January 15th) and will need proof of a valid passport in the application. *Keep in mind that if you plan to stay in the UK and travel after WEPO ends in late June, you will need a passport that has a valid expiration date past June 30th. We therefore recommend having a passport with a longer valid expiration date.
If you do not currently have a valid passport, please begin the passport application/renewal process now. In order to have a valid passport by the deadline, students should apply for a passport (if needed) by December 1st the very latest. Financial aid can cover the cost of a passport during the WEPO application phase for students on financial aid (students do not need to wait and should not wait until they are officially admitted to apply for a passport). Please contact your SFS advisor for more information.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Office of Global Education and Study Away, the current WEPO director, or alumni of the program. Please, however, do not contact or approach Oxford faculty or graduate students directly.
Fees
The tuition and room fees paid by students on the Williams-Exeter Programme are the same as those for a year spent in residence at Williams College. Students are responsible for some of their own meals and for all of their personal expenses. They are also responsible for the cost of their air travel to and from Britain.
Students are provided with three meals a day for their first four or five days in Oxford and with a weekly catered meal at the WEPO campus during the eight weeks of each term. They may also eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at Exeter. Students will be given a meal allowance to cover some of the costs of meals at Exeter. Students will not be charged the full Williams board fee during their year in Oxford, but they will pay a proportion of the board fee to help cover these costs (approximately 45%).
For planning purposes, students and their parents should expect the cost of a year on the Programme to be roughly the same as a year at Williams. Financial aid eligibility will be figured on the usual basis of tuition, fees, room, board, and personal expenses, as if the student were at Williams for the year. Similarly, the normal self-help contribution would be expected. Students should consult with the office of Student Financial Services for more information.