<p>William and Mary is my D's first choice, but I am beginning to think she probably will not be accepted; she's OOS, hasn't even tried to cure cancer, and had a rough, stress filled first semester of senior year with tough courses she didn't want to drop resulting in hard earned, less than stellar grades. Would she be better off to take a gap year interning, traveling, etc. and then try again? Or should she just settle for another school? She doesn't want to try to transfer and feels she would prefer to wait if need be.</p>
<p>teachandmom, guessing your D already applied since she’s a senior in which case she’ll receive a decision from us in about a month. While she certainly will not need to have cured cancer (or attempted to do so) in order to be admitted, we are selective and unfortunately have to turn away a lot of great students (both in and out-of-state).</p>
<p>If she’s not admitted, a gap year will likely do little to improve her chances for Fall 2012 because we’ll have no new academic information on which to make a decision. </p>
<p>Best advice, wait and see what admission decision she receives. Maybe she’ll be waitlisted and then W&M might still be an option. If not admitted, she will need to pick another institution. The good news there is that there are multiple good fits for any given student and while her experience will be different elsewhere, it won’t be worse; simply different.</p>
<p>Thank you, W&M admission. The wait is long, stressful, and the “unknown” about next year is somewhat depressing!</p>
<p>The wait and the unknown will be over soon. No doubt your D will have many wonderful options for next year and by May she’ll know what to do.</p>