What classes to take to increase chances of getting in?

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

Hi all!

I am going to be a junior in high school (class of 2020) and I was wondering what classes I should take to increase my chances of acceptance to the College of William and Mary?!

I am from Florida, and therefore would be applying as an out-of-state student, during “early decision”. ( IN TWO YEARS :slight_smile: )

Freshman year the “advanced” classes I took were: English 1 Honors, Biology Honors, and Algebra 1 Honors. I ended all four quarters will an “A” in each class.

Sophomore year the “advanced” classes I took were: Chemistry 1 Honors, Geometry Honors, AICE European History (waiting on end of class score), English 2 Honors, and Pre-AICE Theatre 2. I ended the year with a 3.9 unweighted GPA and a 4.17 weighted GPA.

This year (junior year) I am planning on taking…AP Chemistry/AICE Marine Science, AP English 3, AP US History, Algebra 2 Honors, and Pre-AICE Drama 3. I am torn between AP Chemistry and AICE Marine for my science this year, as I feel AP Chemistry would look better on my transcript but I am extremely passionate about marine science.

William and Mary is my DREAM SCHOOL. I read online that William and Mary’s “ED” acceptance rate is around 50% (but I feel that it will be lower for an out-of-state student). What classes should I take this year to improve my chances? What classes should I take senior year? I read on the W&M website that they like to see Calculus, Physics, and a fourth year of a foreign language (and one should be an AP class). I am going to take physics senior year, but I am worried that my math will keep me from taking AP physics. Do I need to take Pre-calc before calc? I am good with math, however I am “behind” because I went to a private school for middle school, then transferred to a public school for high school and their curriculums didn’t match up, and I took algebra 1 twice (since my public school wouldn’t accept the credit).

My extracurriculars are as follows…

  1. Horseback riding (7+ years)
  2. I work at a local horse rescue, and I was recently promoted to barn manager!
  3. I volunteer at a nonprofit, therapeutic horseback riding center, every Wednesday and have volunteered at the center for four years.
  4. I am in my school’s Key Club, and have currently volunteered fifty hours with the club! I plan to be in this club until I graduate.
  5. I am part of my school’s marine science club!!
  6. I scuba dive.
  7. I am planning to join my school’s drama club, and I am also planning to compete with them at the Florida Thespians competition later this year.
  8. I love to run!! I get it from my Mama, she runs six miles everyday!
  9. I sew. I love to sew saddle pads for the nonprofit riding center I volunteer for!

I also took the PSAT at the beginning of my sophomore year and scored a 1230. I would love to hear any recommendations for when to take the SAT/ACT! I have heard I should take it the end of my junior year. However, I am afraid that I will be swamped with AP tests that I will not be able to study as much as I would like for both tests.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my post! I really appreciate any advice :slight_smile:

2

Congratulations on your hard work and success!

Glad you love William and Mary; it’s a very nice place, and has excellent academics. And VIMS, which sounds like a cool thing for you, though I’m not sure what opportunities it offers undergrad students.

http://www.vims.edu

Your high school counselor is probably the best person to advise AP Chemistry v. Marine Science. Generally, competitive colleges/universities look for students to take the most challenging schedule that works for the student. That said, it’s also important to do well in the class. And if you have a passion for marine science, taking that might make sense for you. Also, I think in some cases the possible teachers can impact the answer to that question. What if an AP Chem teacher or teachers are not particularly strong, and the marine science teacher is the most dynamic teacher at the school, and might be someone who can really write an effective LOR? What if it is the opposite? The answer really depends a lot on you and your situation, so you, your teachers, and your counselor probably know best.

On SAT/ACT question, study as much as you can, online or otherwise. I think a good strategy–if it works financially and time wise–is to take the SAT and ACT in February and March in the spring semester of junior year. They are different tests, and sometimes one test suits a student better than the other. Unless you get a score you love, then take whichever seems a better fit for you (if one does) one or two more times. A fair number of schools super-score–take the highest scores on the individual sections and create a new composite scores. Often the super-score is higher.

I believe you can take at least one of them in June after your AP tests, and maybe then again in September. That is still in time for ED applications.

You probably need to take pre-calc first. But talk to your counselor on that one. Is it offered over the summer, so you could do it then and then take calc senior year. That just depends on your school district.

Good luck!

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W&M is an awesome school. My advice to you, however, is *not to have" a dream college. Have a whole arsenal of dream colleges.

Keep an open mind. College admissions is a weird and chancy business, especially with the very selective schools and top students. When you start doing your applications, ignore the standard advice about reaches, matches, and safeties. For top students and very selective schools, there are schools that could fill their freshman classes ten times over with well qualified students whose stats are better than the published arithmetic averages for that school. Better to think of them as a lottery. Your academic achievement entitles you to a lottery ticket, but you can’t expect to win the lottery.

Hence, you want to have several safeties that you would be happy to attend. One or more should be in-state. (Good scholarships in Florida.) A bunch of match/reaches. And a few lotteries.

W&M is close to being a lottery school for out of state students. ED will help, but it’s a tough admit. Do take the excellent advice above, about standardized testing.

4

Something to crow about,

https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2018/wms-students-ranked-happiest-in-the-nation.php

5

Welcome to the William & Mary forum and well done for all of your hard work so far!

William & Mary strongly recommends you take all of the three core sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics) and to make sure that you are challenging yourself in the curriculum that you are taking, however this does not necessarily mean that you have to take the most rigorous version of every subject. For instance I opted out of AP Physics and took AP Environmental Science and Honors Physics instead because I was more passionate about the subject and I knew my own strengths. Several other of my friends from my high school also took APES instead of AP Physics and also were accepted to William & Mary. So as long as you have the core sciences down in some form, you don’t necessarily have to take the Advanced Placement versions of the subject though it definitely a plus.

Another thing to consider: do you plan to pursue marine science or something similar in college? If so you might want to check out Virginia’s Institute of Marine Science – William & Mary has active connections to the site and you can take classes there. It may be helpful to already have college credit for chemistry which will be an active part of any science curriculum, alternatively you can take it when you are in college, but you will have to weigh that with the background and the benefits of the experience of the marine science course that you are thinking about.

You should definitely take the PSAT again as well your junior year. If you do really well, you may even qualify for the Merit Scholarship which often translate into great scholarships at many universities. I personally recommend taking tests not around when you are taking other tests. So scratch out the month you have midterms and AP testing. October of junior year can be a good time to take it because you have all summer to study and the coursework hasn’t picked up that much yet. Plus I believe the PSAT is in the same month so you can knock both those tests out at once.

A word of advice if you are considering early decision: you should make sure that the school is affordable for your family before you apply since you are expected to attend if you are admitted. William & Mary offers very limited aid to out of state students, so make sure that you take that into consideration. It seems that if you are from Florida, there are many schools that are excellent in marine science and may be better suited for that that William & Mary, but it’s all up to you.

Best of luck with the process! If you have any other questions about William & Mary, don’t hesitate to reach out.