Weak link in D's application for W&M?

<p>We have visited W&M but need to return this summer for tour/interview. We are OOS and are not applying for fin aid.</p>

<p>She is willing but not excited about taking SATs a third time. Below is her superscore. Taking ACTs in fall and at least one more SAT subject test.</p>

<p>Rank is 3/450, 740M, 650CR, 690W SAT, GPA is 4.0/4.0 unweighted, around 4.6 weighted. Will graduate with 12 APs. Very active in school with leadership positions in 2 varsity sports, SGA and another community service group. Sits on an advisory council with principal. Had an interesting winter job and has an internship this summer.</p>

<p>She seems too busy this summer to prep for ACT, subject tests and another round of SATs but has said she will do what it takes. I know W&M OOS is very competitive.</p>

<p>Thanks from a long-time lurker.</p>

<p>Dukes21, your daughter seems like she has many great qualities to offer W&M. 12 APs is outstanding (especially if they include calc, physics and upper-level foreign language) and a rank of third is remarkable. Her SAT of a 1390 is on the low end of our middle 50% range for OOS (which is 1380-1430) but it is in the range and SATs are only one part of our process ([W&M</a> Blogs Your Four Hour Record on a Saturday Morning](<a href=“http://blogs.wm.edu/2011/06/14/your-four-hour-record-on-a-saturday-morning/]W&M”>http://blogs.wm.edu/2011/06/14/your-four-hour-record-on-a-saturday-morning/)). It also sounds like her extracurricular activities are incredibly strong with both demonstrated commitment and leadership. And if she’s coming to campus this summer to interview that will allow her the opportunity to put her personality into the application.</p>

<p>We would not necessarily recommend taking both the SATs and the ACT. If your D is strong in science, maybe just take the ACT (since it has a science section not replicated on the SAT). If science is not her thing, maybe just try the SAT one more time. No matter what she does it can’t hurt since we evaluate only the best score.</p>

<p>If your daughter determines W&M is her first choice, she should apply ED as that can have a competitive advantage. Given that pool is only 1100 strong (as opposed to the 13,000 applicants we receive overall) it’s easier for any student to stand out.</p>

<p>Overall, your D does have a lot of compelling aspects to her application so she shouldn’t worry too much. If she is smart about her search and applies to some reach, some safety school and some schools in the middle that she likes she’ll end up somewhere great!</p>

<p>Thank you – this is very helpful. She is worried she can’t improve on her CR score (it went down the 2nd time she took it) so the thought was maybe the overall ACT score can make up for it. She is usually a strong test-taker. </p>

<p>She can’t wait to visit this summer.</p>