Chances? I love William and Mary :)

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

<p>Hi!! I'm a junior at a highly-ranked public school (# 2 in state) in MA (OOS) and I've been interested in William and Mary. I really wish I lived in VA because of the amazing state schools, but unfortunately i don't :( </p>

<p>AP Classes- Biology- 5, APUSH-4.
Next year i'm taking AP Chem, AP Composition, and AP Euro
and senior year I plan on taking 4-5 AP's
so that's 9 AP's overall--most rigorous courseload offered
everything not AP was an honors class</p>

<p>UW GPA- 3.7, Weighted- 4.24 <Hopefully with my increase in AP classes, both will go up!</p>

<p>ACT- 30 (I plan on re-taking this junior year)
SAT- haven't taken yet- will this year
SAT II- 710 on Biology (I'm going to take more next year)</p>

<p>Extra-curriculars </p>

<p>Violin:
I am in school orchestra (first chair). Grades 5-present
New England Conservatory youth orchestra. Grade 10-present
I've taken private lessons from grade 4-present
I've won the music department award since freshman year</p>

<p>Piano Lessons: Kindergarten-present. </p>

<p>Guitar: I teach myself? I've played for 4 years. It's more of a leisurely thing so I'm not sure if it counts </p>

<p>Sports: I play tennis in the spring and Field Hockey in the fall </p>

<p>Clubs: Microfinance Club- I'm Secretary
Leo Club, Math Club, Peer Tutoring, UNITE (leadership)</p>

<p>I am on student council!</p>

<p>Volunteer Stufff: I volunteer at a hospital 4 hours a week during the summer and I occasionaly go to Project Just Because. I also Tutor 150+ hours so far</p>

<p>Work: During the spring/summer I work at an ice cream shop, and throughout the year I work at a tutoring center. (I teach little kids math!)</p>

<p>Leadership: I'm on student council and Secretary of Microfinance club. I was chosen to attend the START leadership conference and won the Peter J. Baltren award there. I was chosen to be a part of the club UNITE in my school which is another leadership club </p>

<p>I plan on majoring in Biology/microbiology/maybe neuroscience??? not sure, haha.
Thanks in advance!!</p>

2

<p>I think you’re off to a really good start! Your ACT is on track with W&M, but definitely take the SAT as well because a lot of people do much better in one than the other. SAT IIs aren’t required at W&M, so don’t get too hung up over them. It seems like music is your passion (from what you’ve said), so if that’s true then you definitely want to keep pursuing that. Any college will look highly upon being passionate about something! It’s impressive that you have demonstrated leadership as a Junior, but maybe try to get a leadership position in something music-related? Also, make sure you get in a fourth year of a language, and I’m pretty sure W&M likes to see Physics and AP Calculus. Of course, this isn’t required and your schedule is already pretty rigorous so if that’s not possible then you’ll be fine anyway.
I really hope I helped!</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much! This is tons of help! I’m definitely gonna take an SAT, but I don’t think I’m very good at them hhaah. I took a practice one online and got an 1850… I’ve been studying though so hopefully that’ll help :slight_smile: </p>

<p>As for foreign language, Do you mean language all four years or up to “French Level 4” or whatever? I’m in french four, and I would like to continue but next year, the only French 5 offered is AP and is an online course :frowning: no one really does too well in it.</p>

<p>For music, I was considering sending a tape of my playing of the violin as an arts supplement, I’m just not sure if I’m good enough. I mean, I excell in school orchestra, but I’m certainly no prodigy. Will it be detrimental to my application if it isn’t amazing?</p>

<p>Also, my school uses this website called naviance, and it shows you the average weighted GPA of accepted applicants from my school and it’s a 4.59 D: my school’s really smart I guess… will that make it harder for me to be accepted?</p>

<p>Sorry I have so many questions and thanks again for the great answer!!</p>

4

<p>cmjcmj12 had some great advice. However, regardless of how many APs you plan on taking we absolutely recommend calculus and physics if at all possible. If you complete French 4 this year that’s fine especially if the only next option is an online course.</p>

<p>Also, as cmjcmj said, pursue leadership positions. Whether it’s as a captain on one of your sports teams or an officer in SCA. That can really help strengthen your application.</p>

<p>As for GPA, it varies from school to school. W&M doesn’t have an average GPA because, for example, there are tons of schools in VA where a 4.59 isn’t even possible but clearly it is at your school. Generally the most competitive students are those that have mostly As and are in the top 10% of their class.</p>

<p>If you try the SAT this year and don’t do as well as you did on the ACT, take the ACT one more time for good measure as we take your best outcome. A 30 is solid but is a bit below our middle 50% range for OOS students.</p>

<p>If you believe you have talent in music and plan to pursue it in some way during college, feel free to make a fine art submission as part of your application. Also consider doing a summer interview next summer.</p>

<p>Remember, W&M is highly selective but we review holistically so every applicant has a chance. For more on our process, 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>

5

<p>Thank you!! :slight_smile: I hope to run for more leadership stuff senior year. And I’ll be taking AP Physics and BC calculus most likely! Hopefully my GPA will go up with an increase in AP classes. I have gotten most all A’s with an exception of first semester Sophomore year I got 3 B+'s :frowning:
I will check out the admissions blog, it looks really helpful!
Thanks again!!</p>