Chances Please. OOS

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

<p>I'm a junior planning on applying ED to W&M next fall.
I?m a resident of FL (so, OOS) and in my third year as a boarding student at a college-prep boarding/day school in Sewanee, TN.</p>

<p>As of now, I?ve got about a 3.636 unweighted GPA, and I just took the SAT for the first time?I?m confident the scores can go up (composite 1200, total 1860, math 560, verb 640, writing 660) My ACT (also for the first time) was a 26.</p>

<p>I?ve taken these courses so far, and my school does not offer AP. However, we are able to go over to the University of the South (one of the top liberal arts schools in the country) and take actual university courses. I plan to take World Politics over there next year as well as another course, and I will take Spanish 5 (highest level), English 12, Religion (required), and Statistics next year.</p>

<p>So far, I?ve taken these courses:
World History I
World History II
US History
English 9
English 10
English 11
Algebra I
Algebra II Advanced
Geometry
Conceptual Physics
Biology
Geology/Environmental Studies
Chemistry
Spanish II
Spanish III
Spanish IV-V
Life Issues
Special Fitness
Orchestra</p>

<p>Summers:
2006 Interlochen Arts Camp Interlochen, MI
Summer Program
-Intensive Creative Writing program, Course of study: Narrative & Verse</p>

<p>2007 University of Tennessee at Martin Martin, TN
Summer Program
-Governor?s School for the Humanities</p>

<p>Activities/Honors
Athletics:
-Varsity Soccer, Girls 9, 10, 11
-Swimming 9
-Track & Field 9, 10, 11
Arts:
-Winter Musical, 10
-Spring One-Acts 10, 11
-Orchestra, percussion 9
-World Youth Honors Choir -- High School Singers
Women, Interlochen Arts Camp, Summer 2006
Extracurricular:
-10 days study abroad, March 2007, Mexico
-Blue and Gold Guide (student tour guide) 10, 11
-Student Vestry 9, 10, 11
*Co-Warden 10, 11
-FOUNDER Ipagala Youth Alert 11
*Program targeting assistance
of 2500 youth in Ipagala, Tanzania
-Honor Council 11
-Peace Jam 9
-Big Brother/Big Sister Program 11
- School Literary Magazine (Mountain Mirror) 10
-Certified Lifeguard, 2006
Class Activities:
-Junior Class Governing Committee 11
Honors:
-Academic Honors/High Honors 9, 10, 11
- Member, Sociedad Honoraria Hisp
-Life Issues Award 9
-Awarded, St. Mary?s Scholarship -- given to student who has contributed significantly to the life of the school academically, in extracurriculars, and in character
-Member recipient, National Soccer Coaches
Association of America Academic Award</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
-Cumberland Trail Conference, 2005-2007, 90+ contributed volunteer hours
-Babysitting, periodically for families</p>

<p>I'd appreciate anyone's input! Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You've got your work cut out for you. As an OOS female, you're going to be facing the most competition and the lowest acceptance rates. Retake the SATs because right now your scores are slightly above the 10th percentile for incoming freshmen. Also, take as many of the university courses as you possibly can, and get good grades to boost your GPA a tad. This is particularly important since your school does not offer AP courses and you will need to demonstrate that you go above and beyond to challenge yourself. In terms of extracurriculars, make sure to highlight your passion, commitment, and leadership in a few key activities.</p>

<p>As it stands, you've got quite a challenge ahead of you. Your top priorities should be the SATs and the college courses; without them your chances are slim at best. If you can boost your SATs up to about 1400 and wow them with your essay, you've probably got a 35-50% shot.</p>

3

<p>Javabytes is right, you're in the worst-category (well, "most competitive" sounds better) possible - OOS female, and I'm guessing here, probably not economically disadvantaged nor a member of a URM, nor a recruited athlete. So it's gonna be extremely competitive, and you really can't leave anything to chance. </p>

<p>The one thing you can reasonably change between now and when you submit your application is your SAT scores - you def. need to improve here. Since you've taken the SAT for the first time, you probably need to take it again this year, before the "real" (last for ED) one in October. Just by becoming familiar with the test, how questions are phrased, the pacing, etc, you should be able to add a good 100 points to your score. So, my advice:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Finish your year strong - get the highest grades you can, to try and pull up your GPA. Track your grades, and if you find you're at a B+, for example, ask for extra credit assignments or put in some extra work, and try and get that extra point.</p></li>
<li><p>Start your SAT prep now - but not at the expense of #1 above. We're not talking 40 hours a week, now, but get a good workbook, and spend some time studying, on a regular basis. Take the June exam, and see how things land, and find your weaknesses so you know what to work on. </p></li>
<li><p>Over the summer, start preparing for your essays - don't wait until two weeks before, start playing with good topics <em>now</em>. Get an armload of books on this - they're actually usually easy reads - and see what they have to say. A lot of it will be useless, but some will have the occasional pearl of wisdom. Just start jotting down ideas - one-sentence outlines - early and often, play with them, start looking for interesting subjects, and interesting treatments of subjects. Remember, you're not just writing essays for your W&M admission app, but for other schools, scholarship applications, etc, so it won't hurt to have a portfolio of different essays. A good essay will often be the difference between an admit and non-admit. </p></li>
<li><p>Also, spend the summer (yes, the <em>whole</em> summer - an hour a day isn't unreasonable) prepping for your SAT - whether it's a course (if you're a self-starter, these are probably a waste of money - but if you need the structure, might be worth considering). A combined 2100 on your SAT is your goal - you've really got to improve that math score. Use diagnostics to find your areas of weakness, and work on them. Take practice SAT's or SAT sections fairly frequently, making sure you time yourself <em>accurately</em>, or even shave some minutes from what's allowed - many people don't have problems with their math knowledge, but they run out of time, have poor strategies and so on. Taking a practice test without a running clock can hurt you. Anyway, that '2100' doesn't guarantee anything - even a '2400' wouldn't - but anything less and your chances diminish quickly. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>I'm not sure I'd advise ED - my feeling is that it's risky, because I've seen too many people waitlisted ED, then waitlisted or rejected RD, who I <em>think</em> would've been admitted had they only applied RD. I may be wrong on this - just my feeling. Seek more advice on this. </p>

<p>Your EC's appear very good and well-rounded. Good luck to you!</p>

4

<p>You've got great EC's and if you can increase your test scores and turn out a fabulous essay, I'd say you have a good chance. Also, you may want to take some higher level math courses, if at all possible. I understand if you just aren't a math person, but try to get yourself through Trig!</p>

5

<p>I know some of the Va schools are discontinuing ED, but I am not sure if W&M is one of them. I am pretty sure UVA is though.</p>

6

<p>W&M still offers ED.</p>

7

<p>Hey everybody -- thanks very much. I appreciate the input and if anyone else has anything to offer I'd appreciate that as well.</p>

<p>SATs are the priority right now and I'm going to get going on that.</p>

<p>I can turn out a mean essay so I'm not terribly worried about that, but I will work hard.</p>

<p>I just visited W&M and the Dean of Admissions said they look individually at each school profile, so the fact that we don't have APs is not a problem -- and trust me, our classes are AP level or higher - it's hard stuff. I know I can get some excellent recommendations as well, no problem. </p>

<p>The Dean of Adm. also said to come in for an interview sometime during the summer. He said 10 or 12% of applicants do so and that it is helpful. He seemed to make Early Decision seem like a good idea, though we'll see how that goes. </p>

<p>As for Trig, I've had college counselors and Admissions officers tell me that Statistics is just as good of a course and probably a lot wiser of me to take, not neccesarily because math isn't my strength, but also because it will actually be of greater use to me as I will probably pursue social sciences and humanities.</p>

<p>Thank you again! None of this ^ is here to negate anything y'all have written -- I greatly appreciate it!</p>

<p>Thanks!
S</p>