Pass/Fail - Admissions Perspective

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

<p>Hi-
My son is a rising junior and is taking 3 AP classes this year plus the usual others. He's always been in band (marching and concert), which is a huge time commitment at his school. He's a fine, but not stellar, musician and is thinking of taking band Pass/Fail. He usually gets As in band, sometimes a B here or there, but he'd like to eliminate the pressure of shooting for As in memorized music, scales, etc.</p>

<p>My question is how this is going to look from an Admissions perspective. Does it look like he wimped out, or does it really not matter since it's not an academic subject? i.e. Would this hurt him?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance to all who have an opinion to share, especially W&M Admissions.</p>

2

<p>If your son wants to take band pass/fail that’s just fine. Grades in non-academic elective courses don’t really play a role in our review process. That being said we don’t encourage students to absue pass/fail and take class after class pass/fail but certainly taking band pass/fail is just fine and won’t affect chances for admission.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, W&M – I’m always so impressed with the help you give us here!</p>

4

<p>No problem justwonderful. Feel free to post any questions you have here or private message us if you wish the question to be more confidential. We’re happy to help</p>