Chances: Good Grades, Bad ECs

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

<p>Ok. These threads are REALLY annoying, I know. And I'm really curious. Anyway, here goes: </p>

<p>I'm a Caucasian female interested in studying economics/psychology/history (in that order of important) with a probable interest in teaching.</p>

<p>The Data:
As I said before, Caucasian female attending a good (top 50 in the state, but not great) public high school in Northern NJ.
SATS: 2330 (one sitting only), 800 CR, 800 W, 730 Math
SAT IIs: 790 US History
750 Math I
? Chemistry
? Literature
AP Scores: 5 US History, 5 Chemistry, 5 Lang and Comp, ? Spanish, ? Micro Econ, ? Macro Econ, ? AB Calculus, ? Environmental Science, ? Lit and Comp
GPA: 4.6 weighted, 3.9something unweighted
Rank: 2/328</p>

<p>ECS: (abbreviated list, without specific leadership or years) (in school) Marching band, National History Day Competition (2x State Winner/National Qualifier), Science Olympiad (leadership roles), Science Club (leadership), Drama Club (Leadership roles), literary magazine, National/Spanish Honor Society (peer tutoring), PAL (Peers as Listeners--freshman mentoring)</p>

<p>Awards: (pathetic) NJ History Day (State Award Winner), Science Olympiad state competition placement, History Club Member of the Year (schoolwide), VFW Voices of Democracy Essay Contest Winner (townwide), various schoolwide awards in science/mathematics. </p>

<p>Common App Essays: I'm fairly confident in my writing, but my topic-- about one of my teachers/Science Olympiad coaches who passed away in a car crash--is probably not the best choice. </p>

<p>OUT-OF-SCHOOL/VOLUNTEERING: Completed individual service project involving veteran interviews, service award for volunteering at local community theater</p>

<p>OTHER CLASSES: I haven't had an opportunity to do any summer programs/classes because I always work during the summer. However, I was accepted into the Columbia Science Honors program for my senior year, which means I'll be taking Saturday noncredit, elective classes next year. </p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE: Summer camp counselor for autistic campers (two summers), intern/employee in Medical Billing Office (one summer)</p>

<p>W/M Interest: I haven't gotten a chance to visit the campus yet (it's about seven hours away), but I might be able to over winter break, and if I get in, I'll definitely visit before making my decisions. I've communicated with a professor with the William and Mary/St. Andrews program. I'm going to apply to that program as well, but I know my chances for that are about nil.</p>

<p>Anyway, thanks a lot I'll try to rank anyone who ranks me, but I don't really know a lot about the process, so I don't know how useful my take will be. Thanks a bunch =)</p>

2

<p>Your test scores, GPA, rank, and curriculum are excellent, and I think you’ll be a strong candidate, even in the ultra-competitive OOS female pool. Why do you say that your ECs are bad and your awards are pathetic? I think they’re very much in line with the ECs/awards reported by the OOS female students my daughters know (and with my daughters’, since they are/were OOS candidates, too :)).</p>

<p>If you’re uncomfortable with your choice of essay topic, why not change it? You’ve got time, and it’s best to feel confident that your essay is the best you can write. You want to come across as someone who is enthusiastic about the ECs you’ve chosen. Remember that W & M also has an optional submission, which can be an essay. This gives you two opportunities to convince the admissions committee that you belong at W & M.</p>

<p>W & M does not consider applicant interest in making admissions decisions, so no need to worry on that score. Your academic factors are strong. I’d just caution you not to appear disappointed or unhappy with your ECs and recognitions. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks very much, you have no idea how much that reassured me. I though William and Mary would be fairly easy for me to get into based on SAT scores/GPA and then I had a moment of “oh. I don’t live in Virginia.” </p>

<p>I didn’t really think my extracurriculars/awards were pathetic, and then I went on College Confidential. All the people here posting for their chances are insanely involved, and I know I was just not as involved as I could have been in high school. I’m definitely lacking in community service, which is something that I know and realize and wish I could change about my high school experience. And the reason I want to change that has NOTHING to do with getting into college, either. I feel like I’ve done quite a bit to help the community around me as well, but everything is either a community service portion of another activity or doesn’t track hours, so I’m really screwed. In fact, as far as tracked hours go, I have nothing, which is completely unreflective of the service projects and activities I actually have done. </p>

<p>I didn’t realize there was an optional submission. They need to post their supplement on the common app, I’m getting so impatient. </p>

<p>Thank you though :)</p>

4

<p>Just did a quick search of the W & M undergrad admissions page, where I found a link to the Common App supplement. Here’s how the optional submission is described:

And here’s a link to the supplement itself: <a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/documents/10-11FreshmanSupplement.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/documents/10-11FreshmanSupplement.pdf&lt;/a&gt; This was a bit confusing, because the site says it will be posted in mid-September - yet there was a link already.</p>

<p>You write very clearly! I feel that you have a strong chance - keep us posted. :)</p>

5

<p>You definitely have some very impressive credentials and you sound like a student who should be in W&M’s applicant pool. That being said, we always caution students that our admit rates are low (32% overall, 27% for out-of-state) so it’s not a shoe-in for any student but you seem to be engaged in and out of class.</p>

<p>You mentioned you’re not confident in your essay topic. Remember, we want to learn about you. Writing about your coach while likely moving given the nature of the topic may not have you as the central focus. We always advises students to think of the essay as a personal statement…not just an essay. Emphasis on the personal (i.e. about you).</p>

<p>As for the Supplement, we’re working as hard as we can to get that up on the Common App site. We hope to do so later this month but as note already, you can see it on our web site and begin work on the optional submission. The required parts of the Supplement will take you 5-10 minutes to complete.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Thank you very much, you have both been extremely helpful :slight_smile: I had already looked at the supplement online actually, but I was reading it really quickly and completely skimmed over the essay part, so I was kind of surprised when people on here started talking about the essay.</p>

<p>Thanks especially for the essay feedback. I helped organize a fundraiser for the scholarship in her name, and I plan on applying for Teach for America after I graduate, as a direct result of my teacher’s influence on me. All of this is mentioned in the essay, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be OK as far as centering it around me. The only thing I’m truly concerned though is that I feel like the essay makes me look like a negative person or that I’m trying to get pity points. I’ve had a few classmates read the essay and they’ve all told me that it’s great, but they all knew the teacher and the relationship that I had with her. To an outsider, I’m afraid it looks like I’m trying to get pity points. </p>

<p>Thanks again though, I really appreciate the help.</p>

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<p>As long as you connect the essay back to you and how you’ve been impacted it likely won’t look like an attempt to get “pity points”. You can even say in your essay, I write this not to get pity points but to…</p>