What are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>I'm a white male from a competitive high school in Virginia. I plan to apply early decision.</p>

<p>Intended Course of Study: Business Administration</p>

<p>8th Grade:
Algebra 1: A
Spanish 1: A</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Algebra 2: B-
Spanish 2 Honors: B+
English 9 Honors: B+
World History 1 Honors: B+
Earth Science Honors: A
Introduction to Business/Marketing: A
Health/P.E. 1: A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Geometry: A
Spanish 3 Honors: B+
English 10 Honors: A
World History 2 Honors: B+
Biology Honors: B+
Sports/Entertainment/Recreational Marketing Honors: A
Health/P.E. 2; Driver's Ed.: A</p>

<p>Junior Year:
Trigonometry: A
Spanish 4 Honors: A
English 11 Honors: A
AP U.S. History: A
Chemistry Honors: A
International Marketing Honors: A
AP Statistics: C+</p>

<p>Senior Year:
AP Calculus A/B
Spanish 5 Honors
AP Literature
AP U.S. Government
Physics Honors
Marketing Management Honors
AP European History</p>

<p>My overall GPA is around 3.8. Weighted is 4.43. (Honors and AP classes get extra .5) My grades in freshman and sophomore year were not particularly outstanding. I got A's and B's without really trying. This year, I was completely focused, and, even though it was my toughest year so far, I got straight A's, with the exception of AP Statistics.</p>

<p>One thing I'm incredibly worried about is my math classes. I've always been good at math. My fifth grade teacher wanted to put me in the double accelerated class, but I'd just moved, so that means I would've had to skip a year of math. I got A's in Algebra 1. There was no honors level. Algebra 2 didn't have an honors level either. It was still a very difficult year. (More than half of the class failed, and I had to learn to teach myself from the book.) I went into non-honors Geometry because it was recommended. Got A's in there. Went to go into honors Trigonometry, and I got my Algebra 2 teacher. I was having a hard enough time adjusting to my AP classes, so I panicked and stupidly transferred out.</p>

<p>^ Sorry for making you read the whole memoir here, but I can't stress how scared this makes me. I really didn't know any better when I made these mistakes. I'm taking AP Calculus A/B next year in an attempt to make up for it.</p>

<p>I'm in the top 20% of my class. (86/467 currently) </p>

<p>SAT Scores
CR: 650
M: 650
W: 640</p>

<p>(May take one last time in October)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
National Honor Society: 11, 12
National Beta Club: 10, 11, 12
Spanish Honor Society: 11, 12
DECA: 9, 10, 11, 12
Key Club: 12
Spanish Club: 9, 10, 11, 12
"Lead Up!" Club: 11, 12 (County offered leadership club)
Junior Advisory Council: 11
Senior Advisory Council: 12
Book Club: 9, 10, 11
Debate Team: 11
Jenga Team: 11, 12</p>

<p>Taekwondo: 1st degree black belt (About 3 hours a week with classes/helping out)
Library Volunteering: (2 hours every other week) Shelving/organizing/helping when needed</p>

<p>I visited William and Mary for the first time last summer, and I instantly fell in love. Since that day, being accepted has been my main goal. It's what's encouraged me to do better. I know this is where I truly belong. I visited the campus again a couple of weeks ago for an interview, and, like I said, I will definitely be applying early decision.</p>

<p>Thank you very much.</p>

2

<p>In my opinion, this is a great resume! You’ve shown an increasing slope in terms of the amount of advanced courses you are taking as well as your grades! I think you have a great chance at W&M. Btw, can you chance me? I’m a Highschool student at Virginia as well looking towards W&M :p</p>

<p>What highschool did you go to btw?</p>

3

<p>Hello, scienceguy. Thank you for the input. I can only hope that the W&M admissions officers feel the same way. :slight_smile: Answering your question, I go to Cosby High School in Chesterfield.</p>

4

<p>Glad to hear you’re interested in W&M.</p>

<p>Your course schedule is very strong and you’ve taken all of the benchmarks we look for (calc, fourth level of a foreign language and physics). We are a little concerned about your class rank. 80% of the students we admit graduate in the top 10% of their class. We certainly prefer an upward grade trend to a downward one but you should absolutely send your first-quarter grades with your ED app to show us that the upward trend is continuing. You may also want to explain the C+ in your AP Stats class since it’s your first C and also in a more advanced course.</p>

<p>If you can retake the SATs in October that might be a good plan. Your 1300 in Critical Reading and Math is solid but is towards the lower end of our middle 50% range. Since W&M superscores the SAT and only reviews your best outcome it can’t hurt you to try it again and generally we do get October SATs in time to consider during our ED review.</p>

<p>We’d also encourage you to pursue some leadership roles in your ECs this year. That’s a great way to make your application stand out from the pack. </p>

<p>Remember, W&M is highly selective admitting only 33% of those who apply. We are very fortunate to have an applicant pool that’s incredibly strong but because our process is holistic no student is automatically in or out but is instead thoroughly reviewed.</p>

<p>For more on any applicant’s chances, check out our Admit It! Blog ([W&M</a> Blogs Chance Me](<a href=“http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/]W&M”>http://blogs.wm.edu/2010/12/14/chance-me/))</p>

5

<p>Thank you for responding! Your post was very insightful, but I still have some more questions. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>If I apply early decision and I’m turned down, will you still see later that I did apply ED?</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve worked it out that, if I get straight A’s next year, my GPA will be about 4.55. I’m not sure how much higher I’d be ranked, but I’m not sure that’s enough to put me in the top 10%. Would you take into consideration that I was really close/that I go to a competitive school?</p></li>
<li><p>My school is really weak when it comes to statistics classes. Is there any particular way I should say that on my application?</p></li>
<li><p>And, while I’m on the topic of that statistics grade, my final grade was an 82.4 (or something like that). In many places, that’s a B, and, at my school, it’s only about a point away. Would you know that?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>^Sorry to ask so many questions, but I want my application to be as transparent as possible. I wouldn’t want you guys to look at something that can be explained and have it be a deal breaker.) :)</p>

6

<ol>
<li>If I apply early decision and I’m turned down, will you still see later that I did apply ED?</li>
</ol>

<p>Answer: If you’re not admitted ED two things can happen: you could be deferred to the regular decision pool (mean we will review your application again in the spring including updated information like first semester grades and send you a second decision in April) or you could be denied which is a final decision for the Fall 2012.</p>

<ol>
<li>I’ve worked it out that, if I get straight A’s next year, my GPA will be about 4.55. I’m not sure how much higher I’d be ranked, but I’m not sure that’s enough to put me in the top 10%. Would you take into consideration that I was really close/that I go to a competitive school?</li>
</ol>

<p>Answer: We do evaluate your transcript in the context of your high school so for those who attend super competitive high schools we do take into account that sometimes one bad grade can knock you out of the top 10%. Keep in mind however, that we’ll make a decision on your application before you get re-ranked next year and before you have time to earn As for a full year and that many of our applicants go to very strong high schools.</p>

<ol>
<li>My school is really weak when it comes to statistics classes. Is there any particular way I should say that on my application?</li>
</ol>

<p>Answer: you can use the additional information section of the application and your GC can also mention it in his/her letter of rec</p>

<ol>
<li>And, while I’m on the topic of that statistics grade, my final grade was an 82.4 (or something like that). In many places, that’s a B, and, at my school, it’s only about a point away. Would you know that?</li>
</ol>

<p>Answer: Because we do consider school context we consider things like grading scales and note that some grading scales are more difficult than others</p>