People get into William & Mary for different reasons. Some people get in because they were stellar students and were at the top of their class. Others because they were heavily involved with their community and pursued their passions outside of school. Other people were mixes of both. The point is there is not one type of student here at William & Mary and although many students come from backgrounds of also being very involved, it is not necessarily a prerequisite. Colleges still admit primarily due to grades and academic potential, but the reason people care about extracurriculars is because it demonstrates passion, the desire to make the community more vibrant, or just a different side of yourself outside of your academic interests.
There are many ways to express this, and one way to do this is also with your essay or recommendations. If your essay really shows who you are and talks about some of those traits, or other people can talk about who you are as a person, it may not be necessary to have all those extracurriculars. Also since you mentioned you are from a neighboring state, come down for an interview the summer before your senior year. It is a great place to express that William & Mary is your number one choice and all the things you know and love about it. You can really show more of yourself there and my friends who have been interviewers in the past have loved meeting people who are intellectually curious, vibrant as a person, passionate about a subject, care about the world, or come with interesting stories to share. And just be yourself, you have a lot of value in who you are as a person that may not come off in all those EC’s.
Extracurriculars are helpful to be competitive, and I won’t deny that out of state admissions is competitive, but this is the time to highlight things you love and care about, so don’t shy away from it. Go ahead and include that you are the editor of your paper (that is pretty impressive, I was one myself), the cultural diversity that you bring that you have gleaned by part of those organizations, and your interesting backgrounds and care for civic engagement. All these are part of who you are, but not the only part. Don’t worry about what other people are doing, all you can do is be the best person you can be.
Last but not least, if this will calm your nerves, I will share a personal story. I applied to William & Mary four years ago and am currently a senior here now (HMU if you have any questions about the school, I’d love to chat). When I was applying, like you I was out of state, and wasn’t really sure if I was going to get in. For a while I had almost crossed it off the list despite it being my favorite school because of this fear of not getting in, the fear of rejection. Unlike you though, however, I was the opposite. I had an abundance of extracurriculars, but sometimes seriously lackluster grades in some important subject areas. I tried not to think about admissions for several months. However to my surprise, I ended up getting in when admissions were received. Since then I haven’t looked back.
Don’t give up hope and make your application the best it can be. But also know there are many great places out there. It’s easy for me to say now, but try not to stress too much, get started early, and get people you trust to help you out. Above all, let your voice show through. They are holistic in their admissions and want to admit people who are both academically capable and quality, wholesome people.
Best of luck in your admissions process! Let me know if I could be of help in any way or if you have any questions about William & Mary, I’m all yours.