<p>Novaparent: Has it occurred to you that the males who apply and are accepted are highly qualified applicants? My son was accepted to W&M and many other prestigious schools. His GPA (3.95 UW/4.65 W),rigor (8 APs, 3 UVA classes), 4 years Spanish/ 2 years of Chinese, Math through Calc BC, UVA Physics, AP Chem, etc. etc. etc. Not to mention the extra curriculars. I believe that W&M has many more qualified male applicants than they can possibly admit. And, they don’t necessarily admit males with lesser stats. We know of a highly talented young man whose GPA wasn’t quite as stellar as my son’s who was deferred ED and then waitlisted RD. </p>
<p>Like W&M stated, they have more female applicants. Therefore the percentage of those female applicants they admit is lower. It doesn’t mean the male applicants are less qualified. There are just not as many males as females applying. I bet male applicants with similar stats and qualifications as your daughter were waitlisted.</p>
<p>My daughter will be applying to W&M this year. She knows it will be a reach because of the number of qualified applicants, but she knows she has zero chance if she does not apply:).</p>
<p>OldUVAgrad, I’m sorry but you’re just plain wrong. It does not necessarily follow that the percenttage of women admitted is lower simply because more apply. Take a look at UVA and JMU, for example – both have MORE women apply AND admit women at a higher rate than men. Why? Because both are on record as ignoring gender in admissions, and women are generally more qualified coming out of high school. This is a fact, not just my opinion.</p>
<p>I’d also bet you’re wrong and that there are more males than females with my daughter’s stats who were admitted. Why? Because as part of W&M’s admitted policy of taking gender into account in shaping a well-rounded class there simply has to be a tendency to favor the male over the female on the margins given how many more females apply. Otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing the consistent pattern of a higher percentage of male applicants being admitted over females. The only other possible explanation is that W&M, despite its strong reputation, is deluged with applications from underqualified females. I don’t buy this explanation. There is no way that the average female W&M applicant is less qualified than the average female applicant to UVA.</p>
<p>I do find it interesting that every time this topic comes up both male students and their parents get all indignant about their own personal qualifications. No one’s saying that any particular admitted student isn’t qualified, but clearly not all students are equally qualified, and my thesis is that at the lower end of the spectrum equally qualified females are losing out to men. I’d love to see how the waitlist for females compares to the bottom 1/4 of admitted males. I’ll bet you couldn’t tell the difference. </p>
<p>Just ask any Northern Virginia high school guidance counseler what their experience has been with W&M admissions. They’ll confirm that boys have any easier shot.</p>
<p>Besides, why are we still arguing? W&M Admissions has said more than once that gender counts! What more need be said?</p>
<p>oldUVAgrad is certainly right. W&M is fortunate to have many highly qualified male and female students in our pool and far more of either gender than we can possibly admit. And Novaparent, please keep in mind that the proportionally, UVA’s male-to-female applicants is far less disperate than it is at W&M which statistically does allow them to admit men and women at similar rates more so than it allows us.</p>
<p>The issue here might be anyone’s definition of qualified. How does one define that in a holistic process that takes into account objective and subjective factors. We do not simply look at GPA and SATs. We look at extracurricular activities, essays, recommendations, talents, backgrounds, etc. Yes we may admit a male applicant with a slightly lower GPA than a female applicant but that male might have better extracurricular activities or a better essay. And the same is true if the genders in the above sentence were reversed. Qualified in our process cannot be measured merely with objective criteria.</p>
<p>“And Novaparent, please keep in mind that the proportionally, UVA’s male-to-female applicants is far less disperate than it is at W&M which statistically does allow them to admit men and women at similar rates more so than it allows us.”</p>
<p>Wrong.</p>
<p>You are “allowed” to admit without regard to gender and enroll a student body that mirrors the disperate female/male ratio of your applicant pool. You CHOOSE not to because you don’t think that ratio would be good for the school.</p>
<p>Son has an interview scheduled after a tour. I saw that the website says “comfortable clothes” is appropriate. Are shorts acceptable or should he wear long pants? Also i understand that students interview. Is it common practice to send a quick thank you note? Should it be hand written or is an email appropriate? Any advice would help!</p>
<p>S2012d2017 - Definitely don’t wear shorts. Wear something “smart casual” but if it is a hot day, a dressy short sleeved shirt (with a collar) should be fine. </p>
<p>Always, always send a thank you note after any campus, job, internship, etc interview. Email is fine, although it can also be typed and mailed if you don’t have the email address. It should usually be two short paragraphs where your son can say he “enjoyed our discussion on …” and later on reconfirming his strong interest (if this is the case) in attending W&M.</p>
<p>Last summer, our son wore khakis, button down shirt and tie(he is comfortable in this type of dress)to his interview. I agree, “smart casual.” S also sent a thank you note.Good luck!</p>
<p>Actually, shorts are just fine, truly. We know that many of the students interviewing are also touring campus and given Williamsburg summers, shorts are often preferable. The student interviewers do not expect students to dress up in any way. If students want to they are welcome to but there is no expectation of such. No thank you is expected either although our interns who conduct the interviews will be quick to tell you that they do enjoy getting cards in the mail!</p>
<p>novaparent, yes we choose to consider the gender balance of our class. However, if our male:female applicant ratio was more like UVA’s, we believe our admission rates would also be more similar than they are currently.</p>
<p>novaparent–I’m sorry your D was not admitted, but to beat the dead horse that she would have gotten if if she were a boy is crazy. Maybe she just wasn’t as highly qualified as the other applicants that year, male or female. Interestingly, our D got in this year with lower GPA and SAT stats than a good male friend of hers, who was waitlisted and then denied. Perhaps the holistic look at her application allowed her extracurricular activities and essays to stand out and make a difference in her decision. My guess is that the majority of applicants are well qualified and could fit into the averages that WM posts. WM needs to do what other highly competitive schools do, and build a well rounded class. As the Yale admissions director said, they want a well rounded class made up of angular students, not a class made up of well rounded students who are average many areas. Everything (yes, gender included) is looked out to ensure that the incoming class is balanced and made up of students who stand out in their particular area of interest. I am impressed that WM takes the time to ensure such a balance. Good luck to your D. I hope she has found a place where she is happy!</p>
<p>Just a quick clarification as we think many students on the waitlist got the wrong impression. Since we did not really use our waitlist this year, the students who were on the waitlist were not denied; they simply weren’t admitted off of the waitlist because no additional spots in the incoming class became available.</p>
<p>saneparent, congrats to your D. Did she join the Tribe?</p>
<p>Last year I wore a pretty T shirt and a cotton skirt to my interview. I was by far the most casually dressed student in the room, but I was comfortable (it was very hot), and the interview went well. I loved my interviewer! I did not get the impression at all the W&M expected me to dress formally or behave as anyone other than myself. It was the most casual interview I had throughout the entire college process, and I now aspire to become a senior interviewer at W&M in 2014.</p>
<p>On the subject of gender:
I am very glad that W&M tries to keep the ratio even. As a girl, I am very grateful for the the 45/55 ratio! I knew as an applicant that because I am an out of state white female, it would be more difficult for me to stand out than those of more variant backgrounds. But I like a good challenge!</p>
<p>skydancer, so glad you enjoyed your interview experience and are interested in one day becoming a Senior Interviewer yourself! And you’re right, dressing casually is fine. Dressing up is fine too but we have no expectations for interview attire.</p>
<p>Very hot day and he wore shorts and polo to interview. His interviewer was great: he said it was an easy conversation and he was impressed with her (and hopefully she with him). The info session was informative and tour was great. He can definitely see himself as a member of the Tribe. This school is on the list!</p>
<p>It’s so much easier to get into WM as a boy than a girl. My girlfriend got a likely letter from UVA[equally competitive] and got wait-listed at WM. I had a lower GPA/SAT than her and got in, and I didn’t get a likely letter from UVA. One of my friends got Echols Scholar at UVA but she was wait-listed at WM. All three of us are Asian so there is no AA to factor in.</p>
<p>plue00, remember that our process is not just about stats. It includes many subjective factors (ECs, recommendations, essays, special talents, perspectives, interviews, etc.). So sometimes students with lower SATs/GPAs get in while others with “better stats” do not because the intangible qualities are drastically different. Additionally, remember that to us there’s very little difference between say a 3.8 and a 3.9 or between a 1340 and 1360 so sometimes, while one person’s stats may appear better they may be negligably and of course, the intangibles of the student with “lower stats” may be far better than those of the student with “higher stats”. Enough so to outweigh the difference in stats.</p>
<p>I hope this makes sense and helps to explain our process.</p>