<p>You’ve never worked in an admissions office it seems. </p>
<p>The above is well meant, nicely articulated. Most of it, imho, is superfluous and grossly overstated. This stuff is not rocket science.</p>
<p>If your dd had one eye, could not hear absent of a cochlear implant, was in fact an all american LAXer or the like, then maybe a chance. Diversity is the gig of the day. Nothing more, nothing less. The composition of this class is not the result of some mystical magical methodology.</p>
<p>There simply aren’t enough spaces for great gals like your dd. She’s unique to you, Mom, and all too commonplace to W&M admissions profilers. She’s not sufficiently odd or different.</p>
Well, I agree with this. Selective colleges are building a class in each admissions cycle. They don’t necessarily want “well-rounded” individuals (remember those halcyon days when that was the ultimate compliment?) - or perhaps I should say they want a certain number of those to go with a certain number of cross-country runners, bass-baritones, people to edit the newspaper, and those much-prized oboe players. They need a certain number of Virginians (from all areas of the state, meaning that it’s more selective for someone from NOVA than someone from East Gibroo). They need a certain number of full-paying students, because it’s a state school and there isn’t an endless supply of financial aid money. To maintain W & M’s reputation as a world-class university that offers its students and faculty an engaging atmosphere, they want people from big square states and little teeny states and a whole lotta other countries. (If the entire student body consisted of highly accomplished OOS females, it wouldn’t be W & M.)</p>
<p>I don’t think I understand this:
One eye? Cochlear implant? </p>
<p>If by suggesting these as attributes that are likely to engage an adcom’s support - well, maybe, but the kid would have to have written a killer essay about the situation, because how else would the adcom know? (Just scanned the Common App and saw no question related to physical limitations.) If there are one-eyed students with cochlear implants walking around the W & M campus, I suggest that their writing skills and demonstrated ability to deal with some serious stuff got them there. Merely being “odd” or “different” won’t do it for you. </p>
<p>I truly sympathize with the parents of waitlisted students who are bewildered about it. My middle d was waitlisted at Duke when she reallyreally wanted to be admitted. She had better SATs and a better GPA than the two guys who were admitted from her hs, depth in two time-consuming ECs, and a more winning smile. But she wasn’t an All-State violin player, as one was, or a math prodigy, like the other one. Wasn’t a double legacy applicant like one of them, and couldn’t apply ED, like the other. She was disappointed, but after a short while, it made sense to us. They had already admitted their share of white female valedictorians from NY who play the flute pretty well, so she wound up on the waitlist instead. She’s graduating from Vanderbilt next month and, to my knowledge, hasn’t thought much about Duke since April, 2005 (she didn’t accept her place on the waitlist, btw). Duke was looking for something she wasn’t, and that’s perfectly reasonable.</p>
<p>I agree completely. A candidate needs to use those attributes, experiences, things that set them apart to communicate how they’ve contributed to making them different, not merely in physical attributes, skills, gifts, etc. Still, they keep students in the game.</p>
<p>Conversely, as we all learn in life somewhere sometime …and is clearly expressed by many frustrated, disappointed folks on this thread …being good or even great in what were once the traditional measures, areas is no longer sufficient. Necessary for sure, but it helps to be good …and different …and being able to offer humor, intrigue, or insight about it all in a couple hundred words. A harsh reality of colleges and the work place. Good only gets people on base.</p>
<p>And with more and more jobs being redistributed from the private to the public sectors, stay tuned. The playing field will never be level again.</p>
<p>"I can’t follow W&M’s standards. My daughter was waitlisted. Top private school in a major city, 3.7 GPA unweighted, 2050/2400 SAT, conservatory quality musician, fluent in an exotic foreign language, excellent writer, great recommendations … what more could they want? "</p>
<p>It seems that college admissions are getting tougher every year, especially now with the crappy economy, people are looking more into state run schools, like W&M as a place to get to rather than private schools, like for example Richmond, another great school, but private, especially if they live in Virginia. Why pay up to 40K to be at UR when you could get the same quality education (if not better) at W&M for much less, when you’re a Virginian? If your daughter lives in VA, I feel for you, since I was in those shoes seven years ago at this time, though my grades weren’t as great. But if she isn’t from Virginia, be aware that W&M is state run, and Virginians deserve a greater shot at getting admitted, as well as the fact that it’s the law. Average SAT’s for a W&M Out of stater were close to Ivy League level if not at Ivy League level in my day (not too long ago) given the rep we have as a top notch public university.</p>
<p>I wondered if anyone has any real information about the likelihood of anyone coming off the wait list this year, in view of the economy. I would figure many Virginians will accept W&M’s offers, leaving few if anyone being accepted off the wait list. My daughter is out of state, and was wait-listed.</p>
<p>readercc, if it’s any help, the two kids from my son’s school are turning down W & M – one of the kids is my son, who got a wonderful National Merit offer from another OOS school. The other student is choosing between two other Virginia schools. So there is hope, as we have heard others will turn down W & M for other schools.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted as an OOS transfer. Although I’d love to go to William and Mary, my top choice for transfer is Brown University. The fact that I wasn’t accepted at William and Mary makes it seem pretty unlikely for me to actually get into Brown, which is disappointing…</p>
<p>Arcadefire don’t be discouraged. Many of my friends that were wait listed at UVA got into Michigan / Brown / Cornell and many great out of state colleges. State schools are having a really tough year for admissions.</p>
<p>Well, my daughter will be turning down W&M (no engineering, alas) for Bucknell, or, maybe U. of Delaware. I’d like to say that that is a spot off the waiting list, but not necessarily. It all depends on how many of the other accepted students accept or turn down their offers. You may be right that a higher percentage of Virginians will choose to go in-state to W&M rather than big-ticket private (Duke, Wake Forest, Emory, etc.). On the other hand, a higher percentage of OOS accepted students may choose to go elsewhere (Duke, Wake Forest, Emory, etc.) since W&M’s OOS costs have crept up to the privates’ costs and the privates offer more merit aid, so W&M no longer undercuts them on price (which may be to your D’s advantage if she is OOS).</p>
<p>Or, maybe not. Who knows? There will probably be some colleges that get more acceptances than they expected (or are prepared for) and some that will have to go to the waitlist more often than they expected. </p>
<p>Good luck, whatever happens and wherever she and your money end up going!</p>
</p>