Chances at William & Mary?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can give me some insight as to my chances at William & Mary, applying RD this year. I'm applying to the W&M class of 2016, Out of State Male (Connecticut)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.81 (4.0 scale)
Rank: School Doesn't Rank
SATs: 2160 (CR 700, Math 700, Writing 760)
SAT II's: Lit 730, Math 1 730, US History 720</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
1. Varsity Rower (Fall & Spring), 3 Varsity letters
2. Summer Internship in construction company Marketing Dept.
3. Volunteer at Middlesex Hospital (Over 100 hours)
4. Yardwork...all the time (I basically spend every weekend working for someone...comes out to about 400 hours a year, give or take, so about 8 hrs/week)
5. Member of AVON Club (High School organization that runs open houses, orientation, food drives, etc)
6. I work as a referee for the town rec league
7. I play intramural basketball in the winter</p>

<p>Academic Honors:
National Honor Society Grades 11 & 12
Scholar Athlete every year
School Honor Roll every marking period of HS</p>

<p>Oh and My classes this year and last (The two most important?)</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Lang & Comp
AP US History
College Prep Chem (1st Sem) moved up to Honors Chem (2nd Sem)
College Prep Precalc
Honors Latin 1
Ethics/Guitar 1</p>

<p>Senior Year:
AP Literature
AP Euro
Honors Physics
CP Calc
CP Latin 2
Law/Humanities</p>

<p>William and Mary is far and away my first choice; I've been in love with the campus, its people, and even its admissions process from Day 1...all of the colleges little quirks and its charm, coupled with the outstanding academic reputation it has have drawn me in, and I'd really like to get a feel as to my odds.</p>

<p>Any insight anyone can offer would be great. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>These are the other schools I’m applying to, if anyone has any input there:
Bucknell
Dartmouth
Union
UConn (likely Honors Program)
Drew (safety)</p>

3

<p>Oh, and if anyone has suggestions on other similar schools I could add to my list that would be great</p>

4

<p>Anyone? Please?</p>

5

<p>You definitely have the right SAT scores. However, you lack any significant extracurricular achievement (besides Rowing). Also yard work doesn’t really count as an EC unless you were officially employed (payed taxes).</p>

6

<p>ECs are probably my weakest point…I’m more worried about my grades though. My sophomore year was just a mess, I didn’t really apply myself until Jr. Year because I was just apathetic…I was always finding a reason not to do something, and it killed me. My Junior year was amazing, straight As and 1 B+, and I’ve continued that this year</p>

7

<p>…but its those first two years I’m worried will come back to bite me</p>

8

<p>It’s so hard to know. You are within range, but the out-of-state makes it harder for you. However, being male makes it easier for you…so it’s pretty tough to make a guess. Your stats and EC’s all look great. I’m in VA and most of the students that were accepted to W & M from my S’s HS had a 4.2 GPA, but a 2100 SAT (just looked at their Naviance from 2011 and his HS is a “feeder school” btw). </p>

<p>I like using the College Data website for “chances”. It was actually extremely accurate with my S’s apps. last year. The site uses the Common Data Sets and it’s up to date with the 2011 application year, so I’d recommend you set up an account and put in your list of schools. It’s really, really helpful. Much more helpful then us random people on CC. </p>

<p>I wish you luck! Great schools on your list :). If you get waitlisted at W & M, don’t give up. Keep sending grade and awards updates and make it clear to them that you’d take the spot if offered immediately. That’s music to their ears so that they aren’t waiting to fill their class far into the summer. I hope you get in and aren’t waitlisted (or the “R” word which I won’t say!), but thought I’d mention it in case you are WL. Best!!!</p>

9

<p>Tribebisongreen,</p>

<p>My son is applying in-state at W&M. You definitely have the stats and class rigor to get in out of state, but W&M uses a very holistic approach and will put significant weight on your essays and ECs. My son’s school in NOVA generally sends 20-plus students to W&M each year, with twice as many acceptances and over half rejections. The stats at his school show that W&M does not hesitate to reach for a student it likes or reject a boring student with 2250 on the SATs. Figure out ways to supplement your application to focus on a few current activities you are doing, ask for an interview, and make it known to the admissions department that W&M is far and away your top choice (although they may wonder why you did not apply ED). The rest of your school list looks good with Bucknell in my view being your best bet. Some other suggestions would be St. Mary’s, MD, New College of Florida, Wake Forest, Kenyon, and Davidson.</p>

10

<p>Muckdogs07-</p>

<p>Thanks for the input. One of the things that attracts me to WM is that approach; the kids who have gotten in from my HS have ranged from 3rd in the class, 2300 SATs to middle of the road kids with a 3.5 and an 1810. It’s all about the presentation. I REALLY wish I’d applied ED, but I just wasn’t happy with my essays yet and I didn’t want to rush anything and regret it later. My supplemental essay centered around my transition from passive, mediocre student to living up to my full potential and becoming a leader for myself, and specifically accepting the challenge the school presented. I’m happy with how it turned out, and I’m just wondering if it will be enough.</p>

<p>Jkiwmom-</p>

<p>Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’ve been thinking already that if I get waitlisted I’ll hang on and hope…they have a high acceptance rate of their WL students!</p>

11

<p>My advice is do send in your app and make sure your essay stands out from the rest of the applicants. The essay is a very important part of the process. Being male will help a lot, so is not being from NJ. My daughter had a 33 ACT and 2200 SAT with a 3.9 GPA and was waitlisted. She is a female from NJ - which was her weak points as far as applying. However, I will tell you something we did not listen to last year. People on the board say that chances are you will end up being happy at the school you ultimately end up at. My daughter was very upset when she was waitlisted. Due to finances she chose a school that gave her major merit money. She is immensely happy where she is - in fact she does not think she would be this happy at any of the other 13 schools she applied to. So even though your heart is at W&M right now, be sure to apply to a lot of schools and chances are you will end up at the one that is right for you. Senior year is stressful. Relax and good luck.</p>

12

<p>Holy Cross(don’t need to be religious) would be a good choice. HC has very good crew program competes at Div1 level with Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale. Holy Cross has strong academics and HC graduates do very wellin CNBC payscale salary studies. HC HAS GOOD SCHOOL SPIRIT AND A January 15th application deadline.</p>

13

<p>I didn’t love Holy Cross as much…the campus was definitely more conservative than I’m looking for (though I do agree with you that its not as religious as one might think)</p>

14

<p>Everyone has had great contributions thus far and I thank you all for that…does anyone (or anyone else) have any specific input on:

  1. What specifically my chances might be at W&M
  2. How my list is looking in terms of my chances at my other schools (Bucknell (2nd choice), Dartmouth (3rd choice and I know its unlikely), Union)</p>
15

<p>Also, I’ve been looking for other schools to apply to somewhat blind-meaning I haven’t visited the campuses yet and won’t until after I receive a decision from them, but I’m applying because some info about each of them draws me to them. So, CC crowd, how are my chances at:</p>

<p>Colby
University of Richmond
Washington & Lee
Lehigh
Dickinson
Lafayette</p>

<p>I should also add that while it’s difficult to tell from my SAT scores (700 CR/700M/760 W), I am a far stronger student in English & History than I am in math or science. As a result, I’m hoping to find a school that’s strong in liberal arts to possibly major in philosophy or something of the like. Thanks for any input!</p>

16

<p>Hey did you recieve Good Thing? I am also out-of-state student! I think you have a big chance of getting offer from W&M with the excellent academic performance!</p>

17

<p>Sadly, no. I was rejected actually. I’m really disappointed because W&M was really my first choice school, and this puts me in a tough position choice-wise because I was also waitlisted by my next 5 schools in choice-order, and I currently have to choose between the Honors Program at the University of Connecticut and the Union Scholars program at Union College. While I know those are both fantastic options, I really felt W&M was the school for me and I’m sad to see my hopes dashed. I’m thinking of applying as a transfer though, and I have no intentions of giving up on my dream school!</p>

<p>Best of luck to you and your decision; were you admitted to the class of 2016?</p>