Hi, I’m Katie. I have my heart set on going to William & Mary (I’ve visited, interviewed, and researched every bit I could and love everything I find), but I really need to have a backup or two in case I sadly don’t get into W&M.
I’m predominantly interested in English, possibly getting into Creative Writing if I can but becoming an editor or even an English teacher are other options I’m considering. I’d prefer colleges like William & Mary-medium-small, a lot of school spirit/energy, not much of a party school, more serious students, and a friendly atmosphere.
I have a 4.31 GPA, I’m in the top 10% of my high school class (if 10.6 counts?) and my SAT scores are 630 reading, 680 math, and 690 writing. Sad to say I have only a few extracurriculars, including marching/concert band, volunteering at a daycare, and dancing.
Personally, I can be a little quirky and an overall dork/geek, and more casual than white-collar style-wise (in case you needed to know my general personality).
I’d prefer schools in Virginia, North Carolina, and possibly Maryland. I’m thinking of University of North Carolina Wilmington but I don’t know much about their English program and I haven’t visited their campus. ~I wouldn’t be able to visit to colleges before applying, but I could during spring break.~
If recommended colleges could be as easy or hopefully easier to get into that’d be spectacular! Please don’t hold back any ideas or tips you have! Thank you!!
You should definitely look at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. It is a public LAC and often described as an easier to get into version of W&M. You also might like Goucher, located in a nice suburb of Baltimore.
Holy Cross very good LAC near Boston(not in the Carolinas) has a great combination of academics and school spirit. HC might be a little easier to get into than W&M. Holy Cross also meets 100% demonstrated financial need.
It looks as though you have a good chance at W&M. I don’t know what county you come from but you can see William & Mary’s admissions stats for previous years on this link. It breaks it down by county or city. For example, UVA took more than 50% of my county’s applicants while W&M took only 38% of our applicants. More stats to obsess over!
I think U of Mary Washington is a good safety for you. Financial as well as more of a liberal arts school than most state schools. Fairly small. Please come back and let us know where you are going. Good luck!
I’d go with UNC-Asheville instead of Wilmington, possibly. Also, consider Guilford as a safety. You would probably qualify for a decent scholarship. They might be a little smaller than you’d prefer, but Greensboro has a growing arts and cultural scene, and you would probably receive a good enough merit package to bring their costs in line with some public colleges.
I second St.Mary’s College of Maryland and UNC Asheville. Look at Hendrix outside Little Rock, Arkansas, if you can expand your area a little. You would get in and likely get merit aid.
“Sad to say I have only a few extracurriculars, including marching/concert band, volunteering at a daycare, and dancing.”
Stop knocking yourself. Those are excellent ECs that, I presume, reflect your interests rather than a lot of silly resume padding. It’s what you’ve accomplished in the your ECs that matter - and by accomplished, I don’t mean how many prizes did you win. I means whether you feel as sense of accomplishment, pushed yourself, made a difference as a result of your effort. Admissions wants to know who you really are and what you can contribute to campus life.
Make sure you run the Net Price Calculator for each school. Most out of state public Us won’t give you any scholarship $ and the price can be quite high.
In VA - U Richmond and Wash & Lee
DC - American U and Catholic U
PA - Franklin and Marshall (not too much further if you are looking at MD schools)
NJ - The College of NJ
Thank you!!