Surprise Waitlist from William & Mary

<p>I wouldn't sweat it nowayuva and worldshopper, you guys have great stats and i'm sure will have other choices which are good also. Worldshopper, a full ride to UR? that isn't bad at all... unless cost isn't a factor for you I would seriously consider that option. Just because I was accepted to WM and waitlisted at Yale doesn't mean I won't achieve my calling having not gone to Yale. Likewise, going to another school on par with WM or just below will not hold you down. People get really caught up in the prestige element and some times they psychoanalyze it a little bit too much. If WM is your dream school and sincerely the place you want to go, consider trying your best option out and achieve a good enough GPA so that you can transfer if that option does not work out.</p>

<p>im a new york stater who was surprised to even be waitlisted at w&m as both a female and out of state applicant. what i am confused about, however, is whether or not i should actively pursue acceptance from the waitlist. i am really unfamiliar with what the typical stats are of accepted students muchless those who have first been waitlisted. if i were to be offered admission i would readily take it. any opinions?</p>

<p>sats: 2150 (740 CR, 740 W, 670 M)
gpa: 4.02 (our of 4.0)
major - classics
captain debate team, class vp, series editor of newspaper, national merit, various latin medals and honors...etc, etc. </p>

<p>anywhere near? be brutally honest please!</p>

<p>mer0723, who knows anymore? Based on your resume, I would have thought you'd been admitted to begin with. It's hard to guess how much schools will actually use their waitlist in a year like this, but I'd guess those lists are going to be pretty long. Wish I could be more helpful, but it's such a crapshoot. My gut instinct is that it might be better to just go ahead and move on. That's what I'd likely advise D if in the same situation -- especially if you've already been accepted to some other nice schools.</p>

<p>I was actually one to be happy to receive a waitlist. While I know I probably wont get off the waitlist, it shows just how much I've improved my resume over the past two years. My end of sophomore years stats were a 2.7 gpa and a 1080/1600 sat. I worked my butt off my junior year and really improved my academic standing-</p>

<p>Waitlisted:
3.18 GPA overall, 4.5 Senior GPA
1410/1600 SAT
30 ACT
2 Varsity sports Teams
NHS
5 Clubs
40+ Hours of Community service
Tutoring at Community College</p>

<p>While this isnt great compared to most other W+M admitted applicants or CC'rs, I think I showed W+M that I had the potential to be there, and their consideration of my attendance was all that mattered to me.</p>

<p>Here is the data from last year's common data set:</p>

<p>C2 Number of qualified applicants offered a placed on waiting list 2,402<br>
C2 Number accepting a place on the waiting list 1,101<br>
C2 Number of wait-listed students admitted 62</p>

<p>I was excited to be waitlisted at WM....was expecting a straight out rejection</p>

<p>Mer0273:</p>

<p>I'm a parent of a current W&M sophomore and a current HS junior who is currently doing the college tour (she likes W&M but it does not have the programs she wants). I am also a W&M alum married to a W&M alum. We are out-of-state (Delaware).</p>

<p>Having gone through this process with my son 2-3 years ago and currently in it again with my daughter, and having been in education at all levels (higher ed, secondary, and, now, elementary), I can assure you that you are qualified to go to W&M and that waitlisting is not a sign that W&M does not want you. The reality is that W&M, as do all the top schools, gets far more applications from well-qualified students than they have spaces for. How do they choose from among the 2x or 3x qualified applicants for the x spaices they have? Sometimes it is for things that no one on the outside of that admissions conference room will ever know -- over you they chose the kid from Atlanta with pretty much your grades, scores and ECs, but whose passion/talent is in music and voice because the choir director lobbied for a new soprano. Not fair, not unfair -- it just is. </p>

<p>Also, all of these college rankings have changed the way students apply to college and the way colleges accept students. U.S. News is the biggest and has negatively affected the process (IMHO). One thing that helps boost their rating is having a high yield rate -- the percentage of accepted applicants who actually enroll. That is why you sometimes hear of kids who get accepted to Harvard and rejected at Tufts and Boston College - Tufts and BC knew the kid would get into Harvard and know that 99.99% will choose Harvard over them, so they reject the kid so that their yield rate won't suffer. This is why they all stress that you need to demonstrate your interest. Other things that tell them you won't hurt their yield: early decision if they have it, legacies (having two parents and an aunt and an uncle who are W&M alums was a big clue that my son was highly likely to be good for the yield rate and was certainly a big check mark in his favor).</p>

<p>You are also hampered by being out of state -- they are just more limited in who they can take from out of state due to state law (not sure if it is still required that they be at 70% in-state, but I'm sure it is close). </p>

<p>I was in-state when I went to W&M. My wife was out-of-state from New Jersey. She was rejected by W&M right out of HS. She went to community college and reapplied for transfer for Spring of freshman year. She was rejected again. She reapplied for transfer for sophomore year and was waitlisted. She had put in the deposit somewhere else and less than a month before heading off, got the call from W&M and, as you say you are willing to do, she readily took it. She worked hard, graduated just a little bit below the middle of the class, but has had a great career and is very successful (she makes 3-4 times what I do, although that is skewed a little bit as I started over teaching elementary school as a second career).</p>

<p>The point of all my bloviating is that you should:
a) be encouraged that you are qualified to go to W&M and the tiny, miniscule differences between being waitlisted and accepted are sometimes just pure chance. Were you a tuba player instead of a debater you might have been the one in and someone else who was waitlisted.<br>
b) pursue getting off the waitlist -- call them, write them, have your debate coach call them (my wife believes the thing that did the trick for her was when one of her community college instructors called and lobbied for her).<br>
c) make sure your second choice, where you will need to put in a deposit and start preparing to enroll, is also a good fit for you and has what you want. The likelihood is that you will be very happy there and will have a good experience -- your stats indicate you will probably do well anywhere you go. I have met very few people who look back and say they wish they had gone somewhere other than where they went. (The only regrets I hear are from those who feel they missed out on the full college experience by living at home and being a day student.)</p>

<p>Good luck wherever you end up. Enjoy it and make the most of everything that school has to offer.</p>

<p>Go Tribe - Hark upon the gale!<br>
or
Wa-Hoo-Wa
or
Hook 'em Horns
or
(fill in the blank)</p>

<p>K9Leader</p>

<p>if you were waitlisted, did you do the interview?</p>

<p>I was waitlisted. I just wrote a letter telling them that I was still definitely interested. I was one of the lucky ones who got a call offering them admission. All I could say is that writing the letter is a good idea!</p>

<p>wow i cannot believe that almost a year later I am in my second semester at w&m. i was taken off the waitlist with little or no pursuit. i love it here!</p>

<p>W&M is one of the top/most sought after schools in the country. Applications have almost doubled the past several years. Its not surprising that great applicants get rejected. The lucky few that do get in should savor their reward and embrace the W&M experience. Good Luck to all.</p>

<p>I just received a letter today saying that I was waitlisted at william and mary. I have to admit, I was extremely surprised because I thought it was a match school for me and that I had a good chance of being accepted. I received a likely letter from UVA a couple weeks back, and I thought that I would also easily get into wm, so I have no idea what happenned.</p>

<p>I just got waitlisted too! I thought I was going to be rejected lol! Oh well, there's still UVA...</p>

<p>Waitlisted :-( Here are my states:</p>

<p>GPA
3.94 UW
4.37 W</p>

<p>Rank
2/217</p>

<p>ACT
29</p>

<p>ECs
Varsity Soccer
Varsity Golf
Boys State
People to People
Bunch of other stuff</p>

<p>GREAT essays and recs</p>

<p>Idk I thought I would have a decent shot at getting in...guess not. And I'm still waiting on UVA as well</p>

<p>Waitlist is not rejected! From what I read there's def still a chance! But it goes to prove that statistics aren't everything, and that admissions, especially out of state, is totally unpredictable. Also, even if you don't end up getting in, you should feel VERY proud of your accomplishments, they are impressive!</p>

<p>Are the posts only for instate waitlisted? Did any OOS RD's receive these? My D really wants to go to W&M--she has great stats--however looking at some of these instates stats getting waitlisted is unbelievable.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure they do put OOS applicants on the waitlist, I remember seeing a girl from New York who said she'd received one in one of the posts. I have a feeling the numbers they place on the list follow the 2/3 instate, 1/3 OOS rule though, and they do give instate students priority.</p>

<p>Yeah, while seeing all these amazing stats makes me feel slightly better about being waitlisted (I'm in good company) I find the whole admissions process infinitely more confusing. The fact that there really isn't a more objective way of doing things is regrettable.</p>

<p>i have to say i was a little bit shocked....people with far worse grades, lower SAT scores, and fewer extracurriculars got in..and i was wailisted. i also got waitlisted at GWU. but i got into Cornell CALS and the Eight Year Med. Prog. at Union (only 20 are selected to join from 500 applicants). i guess one lesson learned is that nothing really is a "safety school".</p>

<p>it's comforting to see that others who are very amazing are also waitlisted...meaning that the competition was tough this year. good luck to all of you. :)</p>

<p>I know of several highly qualified students who were rejected/waitlisted by W&M. I even know a UVA Echol's scholar who was waitlisted by W&M, it's ridiculous! I honestly believe that the school's trying to even out its numbers. The only students who were accepted by W&M from my Virginia high school (regular decision) were either boys or minorities. A few of them are people I would never have thought would be accepted by W&M, because they're complete (for lack of a better word) idiots. Though Caucasian females WERE accepted by W&M early decision...</p>