<p>Thank you, w&m admission!</p>
<p>W&MDad, the competition is simply stiffer during regular decision. We have 1100 students who apply ED and 12,000 who apply regular decision. It’s easier for any student to stand out in the smaller pool. That in no way means that those who applied ED are less qualified. The profile of our ED admits is almost identical to the profile of those who enroll from the RD pool. It is simply that the ED pool is much much smaller allowing any student to shine more easily.</p>
<p>Any student denied (whether during early or regular decision) would have received the same decision regardless of which deadline they applied under.</p>
<p>W&MDad, you are also fortunate that your son is a son rather than a daughter or the situation might very well have been different. All else being equal, a boy applying ED to William and Mary stands a better chance of being admitted than any other demographic.</p>
<p>While we certainly strive to have a good gender balance in our incoming class we realize that our pool is populated with more young women than men and as a result we shoot for an incoming class that compromises between perfect balance and accurately reflecting our pool.</p>
<p>There’s a lot to be said for having a strong representation of both men and women both in terms of the interaction on campus in and out of class and in terms of attracting future students.</p>