What are my chances of getting in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
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<p>Hi all! I am out of state student, female, from Texas and am absolutely in love with William and Mary. It is a gorgeous school with a great reputation! That being said, it is my first choice school and I want to know my possibilities of getting in.</p>

<p>Education:
I go to a super competitive school called Plano West, ranked #63 in the nation and one of the largest high schools in the US. I'm top 11% of my class with a weighted 4.1 GPA. I will be graduating with 11 AP classes. I have a 1460 combined CR and Math SAT score, and I am an AP scholar.</p>

<p>Activities:
- Plano Youth Leadership (highly competitive program to get into and great tool for building leadership skills), orchestra four years (officer for two), competitive piano player (top ten finalists in a competition that encompasses the whole state of Texas and an honorable mention in a competition that encompasses the whole Dallas area), founder of my own A-Cappella Club that performed for Children's Hospital and a retirement home, over 90+ hours in food pantries and retirement homes, part of neuroscience club/National Honors Society/Key Club, and was on Varsity swim team freshman year and club swim team sophomore year (but had to end up quitting due to the work load I had) </p>

<p>Work:
-Lifeguard for two years
-Teach piano lessons to 15 of my own students (just this year)
-Have been teaching swim lessons for 2 years, and I babysit</p>

<p>I plan to major in biology.</p>

<p>Thank you for your help guys!</p>

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<p>Congrats, you have very strong stats, and are certainly a “match” for W&M.</p>

<p>Of course, you have to understand that “Female, OOS” is probably W&M’s most competitive admissions group, so the usual advice would apply …</p>

<p>Early Decision gives you a better chance to stand out, and a better chance of admission. Of course, the cost of OOS tuition and relatively scant finaid for OOS attendees makes ED a tough choice for many. But it is your best opportunity. </p>

<p>Your combined SAT score is good; - puts you at the top-end of the middle 50% or in the top 25%, depending on how you look at it. Of course, improving that can’t hurt, especially if there’s a large difference in your CR/M sections, e.g. 800/660. If re-taking, for ED, Oct is pretty much the last chance to ensure get your scores reported (some schools say they’ll accept the November date, others say they <em>may</em> use the November series for ED if they arrive in time but isn’t guaranteed - I think W&M probably falls into that latter category.)</p>

<p>Are you considering a Music minor in addition to Bio? A strong music submission can positively effect your changes of admission: <a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/music/students/admissionsrecordings/index.php”>http://www.wm.edu/as/music/students/admissionsrecordings/index.php&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>With 11 AP’s, I think a major in Bio/Music minor should be do-able - depending on your AP results, you may see a lot of credit awarded. </p>

<p>And of course,you’ll want a strong and engaging essay, something that’s uniquely personal to <em>you</em> - your passion for music seems an obvious thing to play off of, but don’t force it - remember, it’s not a recitation of your resume, but something uniquely “you”. </p>

<p>Be creative, and avoid the cliche subjects so often abused. It’s difficult to have an original topic, per se, but you yourself are unique, your experiences, and who you are are different from every other person, so draw on that. I find that rather than looking for some grand theme, I look for a fragment of an idea or an experience, and build from there. Tolkien claims that one day, whilst grading some students papers, he spontaneously wrote “In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.” Years later, he wrote the stories expanded that fragment into an entire world. So, my advice is find a small-but-intriguing idea, play with it awhile, and see if it grows into something interesting. . </p>

<p>My notion of a “test” for an effective personal essay (which may not be shared by anyone in admissions) is to have a close friend or relative read it, and watch their reactions. If they don’t smile or laugh out loud, or if their eyes don’t mist up on their first read, I say keep looking. </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you so much Squiddy! You have really given me a lot of insight :slight_smile: I will be sure to do well on the essay! Best wishes.</p>