I am an OOS female from New York, going for a history degree. I will be a senior next year, class of 2019. I apologize for the lost post ahead but William and Mary is my dream college.
3.7 GPA (approximation)
Three AP Classes at the moment, currently a junior
-AP WH - High 90s, 4 on exam
APUSH - High 80s did not take exam
AP Psychology - 97, do not know exam grade but probably a 4 or 5
AP English Lang and Comp - High 80s, do not know exam grade, confident in a 4 or 5
(These are all unweighted by the way)
Plan to take:
AP English Lit and Comp.
(Seniors can only take one AP Class because they were all scheduled at the same period)
Took SAT with Essay, do not know grade yet. Plan to take World History and/or US history SAT in August.
Next year I am in a program that allows me to take some classes at the college; I am taking pre-calculus and Intro to Music.
Took a course called "Advanced Topics in Biology" last year which is an honors course and I got 90s in
Clubs/Activities:
-Model United Nations (I am public relations director, a position that I have had since the start of my junior year and will be next year)
Volunteering at a local library
Piano lessons outside of school
Summer Camp Counselor
-Travel Club
Varsity tennis team (Freshman and Sophomore year)
Other:
I will be attending a summer pre-college program this year at the college. It is an American History course condensed into three weeks.
I plan on submitting an art piece with my application because several students have mentioned that this is an option. I have reasonable talent at drawing as I have been doing art for 5+ years.
William and Mary is my dream school, and I really want to go here. Will applying early decision increase my chances of acceptance? Are there any other ways that I can increase my chances at being accepted? I may post an updated version of this when I receive my test grades.
I second the “don’t have a dream school” recommendation! College admissions are a bloodbath these days, so please plan to find several safeties you could love.
Yes, applying early decision probably would help your chances, but being out of state is not going to help them.
Your school is definitely not doing you any favors by scheduling AP classes that way! W&M is accustomed to seeing a lot of AP classes on transcripts. Make sure it is clear that you took what was available to you. If the school sends out a school profile that lists a whole bunch of AP classes that you didn’t take, it would look as if you didn’t challenge yourself. This goes for ALL your applications!
Yes applying early decision will increase your chances if it is your top choice, but you should know that William & Mary offers very limited aid to out of state students. Itis important to figure out ahead of time whether William & Mary is affordable for your family, otherwise applying early decision may not make much sense. Writing a stellar essay, getting really good recommendations, and doing an on-campus interview are other ways you can increase your chances.
The question I have to you is: “What makes you stand out? What makes you unique?” Those aspects are not immediately clear from the information that you have provided, so it is important to do so to create a compelling reasons for those colleges to admit you. Those are two key questions that you will have to answer for yourself before you apply to any college, but especially William & Mary where out of state admission is so competitive.
My daughter just went through the college admissions process, and I echo the sentiments above that say college admissions are crazily unpredictable. If you truly have a top choice school, apply ED. And apply early action at any other schools that offer it. Then you will have an earlier indication of where you could attend. And if it doesn’t work out the way you are hoping, you will have time to change course and look at some other schools. My daughter had a 4.96 GPA in HS, great extracurriculars and test scores. She didn’t get into our best state school, but did get in OOS to WM where she will attend.
Just visited the college. Love that you are attending a summer program there this year as the feedback from the tour group I was in was mixed.
Some students loved the campus and the facilities while others thought the technology and support system were outdated. Many people thought that the school seemed interested in making $ as there seemed to be a fee for everything (printing if needed, tutoring, laundry, etc). Many had visited other less expensive colleges where these features were included with tuition.
In my opinion, this is going to be a very difficult school to predict your chances of acceptance. From what was said, I believe your essays ability to hit the proper emotional strings is going to be more valuable/just as valuable as your grades and test scores (assuming your scores are at least in the 1300’s on the SAT).
There is also the opportunity to do an interview with a rising senior this summer. You should take advantage of this while you are on campus. Admissions said that about 25% of the applicants participate in the interview process.
You should also think about applying either Early Decision or ED2 as the acceptance percentages are higher.
Also, if cost is a concern for you, make sure you sit down with Admissions or a Dean and talk about ways to graduate in 3 years. You can take international classes at the same tuition cost as a Virginia resident. This could save you $ and make the college more affordable.