A little perspective please...

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>I am quite interested in William & Mary and would appreciate it very much to see what my chances are at this point. Constructive criticism is welcome!</p>

<p>Female; Caucasian; Midwest; Junior at a private Catholic school
GPA: 3.99 (unweighted; straight A's with one A-)
Most likely will be salutatorian</p>

<p>All classes I have taken/am taking/will take:</p>

<p>Religion: Christian Relationships, Justice & Peace, Church History, Hebrew Scriptures, New Testament, Christian Vocations, World Religions</p>

<p>English: American Heritage I, Drama & Poetry, American Heritage II, Speech, British Literature, Shakespeare, Advanced Composition, Classics in World Literature, A.P. English</p>

<p>Math: Geometry, Algebra II/Trig, Pre-Calculus, A.P. Calculus</p>

<p>Social Studies: World History, U.S. History, Government, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, International Relations Seminar, A.P. Microeconomics</p>

<p>Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Advanced Biology, Human Anatomy & Physiology</p>

<p>Foreign Language: Spanish II-V</p>

<p>Fine Arts: Concert Choir (freshman and senior)</p>

<p>Business: Computer Applications</p>

<p>Physical Education: Freshman Physical Education, Weight Training, Health</p>

<hr>

<p>I am taking the ACT tomorrow and I'm hoping for at very least a 30 (32 is my actual goal). I will be taking AP tests next year for Calculus, English, Microeconomics, Spanish, and Biology. My school doesn't offer AP courses for juniors or below very easily.</p>

<p>I've recieved countless awards and scholarships from my school and community and my essay should be pretty good.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (all four years - senior activities are pretty much set but could change I suppose):</p>

<p>·Spring Musical Cast Member; minor character (11th) and lead (12th)
·Fair Trade Ministry; secretary and founder/leader of Fair Trade store through my church; 4 years
·Mission Ministry; have been on a mission trip overseas; coordinator for my church ministry, and core team member of a state-wide organization for mission; 4 years
·Ballet; 3 years
·Church choir; 4 years
·Admissions student ambassador; chosen to work with my school's admissions office to plan events and recruit new students; 3 years
·Peer Mediation; selection and training process, meet with high school students individually and plan activities for local middle school kids; 4 years
·Cross Country (Varsity), 1 year</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for your honest comments!</p>

2

<p>Glad you’re interested in W&M.</p>

<p>Looks like you’re pursuing the right type of courses although only 3 APs is a little light for most of our applicants. However, if your school limits the number of APs students can take or offers very few APs than 3 APs may be just fine. If there’s a fourth AP out there you can take it might help boost the rigor of your schedule. Your grades of course sound stellar.</p>

<p>The mid 50% range for OOS students on the ACT is 31-32 so 32 is a good goal. The good news is you’re starting early so you have left yourself time to take the ACT again or try the SAT this summer or early next fall. We only evaluate your best outcome.</p>

<p>As for your extracurricular activities, there are a few options you can pursue to highlight them. 1) Pursue leadership positions in your senior year (having a lead role is one example), 2) maintain as many consistent ECs as you can (we like to see 3 and 4 years commitments, and 3) if you’re serious about ballet, send in a fine arts submission as part of your application.</p>

<p>You can also consider coming to campus this summer to participate in an optional interview. It’s a great way to put your personality into the app.</p>

<p>For more any any applicant’s chances of admission, check out our Admit It! Blog ([W&M</a> Blogs Chance Me](<a href=“http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/]W&M”>http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/))</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much! I appreciate the quick response!</p>

<p>The ACT went well today, so hopefully my score will be up to par. I am taking every A.P. course my school offers and the highest level course in every subject area. Would taking A.P. tests without taking the corresponding courses help my application significantly?</p>

<p>I’m hoping to continue all of my extracurriculars and expand my leadership if possible. How does my leadership look at this point? Obviously there is always room for improvement.</p>

<p>I’ll be visiting campus in a few weeks! Thank you again!</p>

4

<p>Glad you feel the ACT went well.</p>

<p>If your high school only offers 3 APs and you’re taking all of them that is quite commendable. If you choose to take AP exams without the class and do well that’s also impressive but unless you do that junior year, we won’t know about it when reviewing your application.</p>

<p>As for your leadership, we don’t expect students to have much of that as juniors (especially if you attend a larger high school) so what you’ve achieved so far is fine and indicative of most of our applicants. If you can obtain a few leadership roles as a senior (you mentioned you will have a lead role so that’s a good start) that’s great.</p>

5

<p>Thank you so much for the advice! Okay, one last question - what other extracurriculars that I am currently involved in would you consider “leadership”?</p>

6

<p>We consider having lead roles in theatre productions to be leadership. We would also consider founder/leader/secretary to be positions of leadership. We would encourage you to continue to pursue these such positions and other similar position. Examples could be captain of cross-country or President of Peer Mediators if such a position exists within your high school.</p>