Chance Me Please!

<p>Hi everyone!
First off W&M is my dream school; size, location, education, proximity to colonial Williamsburg...it’s perfect. I first visited it 12 years ago during a trip to Williamsburg and I've been in love with it ever since.
I am a white male, in state, who is applying early decision this fall. I am most likely applying as undecided, but I am leaning towards business as a major (I am very interested in the Mason School of Undergraduate Business)
GPA weighted: 3.9 (My school is very competitive and is in Fairfax County so my Freshman year GPA isn't weighted at all, factoring in the weight it should be between a 4.0-4.1)
Class Rank: 10%-15% (I'm not exactly sure because my school doesn't release the information publicly, but I'm relatively sure its somewhere between these figures)
SAT: 2180 (Writing: 760, Reading: 720, Math: 700)
SAT Subjects: (U.S. History 760, Literature: 700)</p>

<p>Freshman Classes: Honors World History, Honors English, Honors Biology, Honors Geometry, Spanish II, Drama, Gym (I was exempted since I am a nationally ranked athlete)</p>

<p>Sophomore Classes: AP World History, Honors Chemistry, Honors English, Pre-Calculus, Spanish III, Journalism II (I sent in writing samples and took basic courses so I could skip Journalism I), Gym</p>

<p>Junior Classes: AP U.S. History, AP Language and Composition, AP Psychology, Honors Physics, Pre-Calculus, Journalism III, Spanish IV</p>

<p>Senior Classes: AP Comparative Government, AP Literature, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, Spanish V, Political Science, Leadership </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Figure Skating: I've been a figure skater for the past 12 years. I am 3x South Atlantic Regional Champion, and have been ranked as high as 8th in the United States. Although I was forced to stop competing my Sophomore year due to a combination of injuries and financial difficulties, I have continued to pursue skating at a professional level. I have met with several executives of international ice shows who have encouraged me to audition when I turn 18, and have been practicing this past summer with the Sun Valley Ice Show, one of the most renowned programs in the world.</p>

<p>Journalism: Although I didn't start journalism until my Sophomore year, I became the youngest editor in recent years (out of 20 editors, 17 were Seniors, 2 were Juniors, and I was the only Sophomore) I received several monthly "MVP"/editor's choice nominations and at the National Journalism Convention in Washington DC my commentary writing received a rating of excellent. I taught myself how to write basic script and use wordpress to create our newspaper's first website. After establishing, organizing, and managing our website for only a year it was nominated as a finalist for a Pacemaker, the most prestigious award in the nation for student journalism. </p>

<p>Model UN: I have received several awards at international conferences including a verbal commendation at the UPenn conference (despite that my partner couldn't make it due to heavy snow) and an Honorable delegate award at the W&M conference (even though I was in DISEC, the largest committee) </p>

<p>I also am in:
National Honor Society
National History Honor Society
National English Honor Society
National Science Honor Society
Quill and Scroll Honor Society</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Due to my skating and heavy workload I haven't had much work experience, however I have spent many a Friday night watching after my neighbors 7 and 9 year old boys:</p>

<p>Babysitting: 5 Hours a week (10-12th)
Pet Sitting: 1 Hour a week (9-12th)
Housework: 10 hours a week (9-10th) (My Dad lost his job when I was a Freshman and I was the only source of income for my family for about a year, I helped my Mom renovate our house because we needed to move so we could pay the utilities but couldn't afford to hire other workers) </p>

<p>I would really appreciate any advice I can get on how to be admitted into this school. My primary concern is my lack of 4 year EC's, I was still competing in skating my Freshman year meaning that I left school at 1:10 to go train until 6:00, so I had absolutely no time for anything else. I dropped Journalism this past year because I was dealing with an abusive teacher, I'm extremely proud of my accomplishments in the class and dropping it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made but my guidance counselor promised me that colleges would understand (she's writing a letter for me that explains everything). The other thing is that I'm not taking calculus, math isn't my best class and I've heard that the teacher is...difficult (both in personality and grading) I opted for AP Stat but am also taking AP Comparative Gov't, regarded in my school as the most ambitious class a senior can take. Do you think it's worth it to try and take Calc online? (I know its something W&M emphasizes...) Overall, my biggest concern is that I will appear lazy because I haven't done enough over all 4 years, I haven't exactly followed the most travelled path in high school but I think can justify everything. I'm just not exactly sure where in the application to do it or if I'll be able to convey it well enough to admissions officers at W&M.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Applying ED can certainly be a great choice. Our applicant pool ED is relatively small so it’s easier for any applicant to stand out.</p>

<p>Your SATs are strong and your GPA is certainly solid for Fairfax County (assuming your weighted GPA is over a 4.0).</p>

<p>As for your courses, why did you take pre-calc in 10th and 11th? That seems a bit odd and may require some explanation. If pre-calc in 10th is a typo and you took alg 2/trig that makes more sense. If you can take calc your senior year we would advise you to do so assuming you believe you can get a B or better. We do prefer AP Calc to AP Stats and taking AP Calc can help your chances of being admitted. Not taking it doesn’t make you an automatic deny but taking it can help.</p>

<p>Your work with figure skating is interesting and unique and it sounds like you’ve continued to be involved in various ways even after 10th grade so highlight that. W&M does value four-year commitments so if you feel you need to give some context to your ECs and their continuity please do so.</p>

<p>Also, have you considered doing an on-campus interview? If you didn’t do one this summer you can during the fall. This is a great way to add some personality to your application.</p>

<p>For more on 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>

<p>Thanks! I did make a typo, I took algebra2/trig in 10th grade and pre-cal in 11th. How does admissions feel about taking online courses? I would be willing to try taking AB Calc online if it helped, but I cant fit it in my normal 7 period schedule because it conflicts with AP Comparative Gov’t. I tried to sign up for an interview in June but everything for the summer was booked, I will definitely try to get a slot in the Fall though! Just wondering, does admissions take into account the skewed grading system for the Freshman year of the class of 2012. I took the hardest classes possible but didn’t get any weight for the honors, so my freshman GPA should be well over a 4.0 when it was really only a 3.7 (it kind of drags down my average since my sophomore and junior year I got over a 4.0)
Thanks Again!</p>

<p>Our first recommendation would be to take AP Calc in place of AP Comparative Government because you’ve already taken two social science APs and because you’re enrolled in another social science class senior year. However, if you feel you can do well in both the online AP Calc class and your other classes that’s a good alternative. Again, we don’t require calc for admission and not taking it doesn’t automatically make you a waitlist or deny but we do consider it one of the most challenging courses a high school student can take and for those like yourself who have been tracked to reach it (meaning you took pre-calc in 11th) we like to see those students take it.</p>

<p>We are aware that Fairfax County changed it’s grading scale and that earlier courses weren’t weighted. While we take that into account when evaluating GPA we will also be reviewing applications from other Fairfax students who took honors courses early on and earned higher GPAs. However rest assured that your academic merits are strong and are certainly competitive for admission.</p>

<p>Thanks! Unfortunately my school won’t accept schedule changes this close to the school year, but I’m going to start searching for credible online calculus courses right now!</p>

<p>Also thank you so much for your responsiveness and willingness to help, your communication and advice exemplifies why William and Mary is my dream school.</p>

<p>We’re happy to help Chromee. Feel free to post any more questions you might have.</p>