William and Mary is my top choice! Please chance me.

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

<p>Hi! I am a full IB diploma candidate junior at Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond,VA.I visited William and Mary this past October and fell in love with the school. I would love it if you could chance me for Early Decision for next fall.I know that William and Mary has a higher acceptance rate for Early Decision because of the much smaller applicant pool. Please also tell me about the statistics of people who get into William and Mary from my school Early Decision.</p>

<p>GPA
Freshman Year:3.3
Sophomore Year:4.0
Junior Year: 4.47
Cumulative:3.9ish
*Do you all notice an upward trend in GPA?</p>

<p>Classes
Freshman:Biology, Intro to Painting and Drawing, Geometry, English 9 Honors, Spanish 2 Honors, Western Civilization Honors
Sophomore:United States History Honors, English 10 Honors, Algebra 2, Spanish 3, Advanced Painting and Drawing, Chemistry
Junior:IB Environmental Systems and Societies SL Class and Lab, IB Theory of Knowledge(first semester), AP Government, Pre-Calculus, English 11 Honors/IB, Spanish 4 Honors, IB Geography
Most Likely Senior Year Classes: IB Biology HL, IB Geography HL, IB English HL, IB Math Studies SL, IB Spanish SL, IB Theory of Knowledge (second half) </p>

<p>SAT
Writing: 660
Math: 550
Critical Reading: 590
*These scores were from my March SAT and I plan to take them again.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
JV Field Hockey-9th and 10th
Varsity Swimming- all four years
Richmond Forum Page
Volunteer Internship at Maymont Foundation
Volunteer at Children's Museum and Visual Arts Center of Richmond
Spanish Club
UNITE-applying for officer for next year this spring
Youth and Government
Model UN
National Honor Society
Spanish Honor Society
I helped to start a tutoring program at Crestwood Elementary School which is my leadership project for IB. I tutor every Tuesday.
+200 hours of CAS hours </p>

<p>Jobs
Lifeguard at Country Club of Virginia- summer 9th grade
I have been working as a Lifeguard at Willow Oaks Country for about two years.
I work on the weekend as a lifeguard during the school year at NOVA Aquatics of Virginia.</p>

<p>William and Mary is my top choice and I will definitely be applying Early Decision next fall. I know my SAT scores need to get higher for me to be looked at as more of a competitive applicant.I also know that William and Mary is a school that thrives from all of students who are service and community oriented.Community Service is a very important part of my life and I will be applying to the Sharpe Community Scholars Program if I am accepted to William and Mary. Please give me some insight about my chances for Early Decision! Thank you so much! I really appreciate all that the Undergraduate Admissions Staff does at William and Mary. I also love reading the Admit It! Blogs because they are so insightful!</p>

2

<p>Even though you likely targeted the W&M Admissions person for an assessment, in my opinion you have a few things going for you…</p>

<p>Tailwinds:

  1. In-state student! If you were OOS, you would have no chance.
  2. Applying ED is great as they admit nearly 1 in every 2 applicants and 38% of their class is filled by folks coming thru ED.
  3. Being a Full IB diploma candidate as IB is highly regarded by W&M. (search CC for a post on this from W&M).
  4. Lot’s of EC’s–which is somewhat expected from a small private school.</p>

<p>However, there are some things going against you…</p>

<p>Headwinds:

  1. Female. W&M accepts only ~36% of in-state female applicants (my guess).
  2. SAT scores. You already pointed this one out. On CC search “the Xiggi method” and "SilverTurtle’s guide to SATs
  3. Course rigor and grades in 9-10th grade. You need to explain the circumstances behind only taking a few honor level courses in 9-10 grades (and no AP US History). It could be that you overcame something and have grown! If so, tell that story.
  4. Leadership roles. I see lots of EC’s but no leadership. Senior year would be a great time to step up the leadership.</p>

<p>Overall, it’s a close call in my opinion. I do know that your HS has many W&M alum working there and it has sent many students to W&M. So, you may want to ask for help in the process and get folks to rally behind you!</p>

<p>my 2 cents…</p>

3

<p>Glad W&M is your top choice and that you’re planning on applying ED. We encourage any student who knows they want W&M more than any other school and who waives the right to compare scholarship/financial aid packages should apply ED. The smaller applicant pool makes it easier to stand out.</p>

<p>Being a Full Diploma Candidate at Trinity Episcopal is certainly looked at kindly as we recognize many of your classmates will not opt for the Full Diploma. While we do notice upward trends we encourage you to continue to continue kicking it into high gear and get good grades this spring and send us your first quarter grades when you apply next fall. </p>

<p>We would also encourage you to retake the SAT since your current score is well below our middle 50% range (1280-1430 Critical Reading + Math). 25% of the students we admit do score below a 1280 but improving your score can only improve your chances.</p>

<p>We would also encourage you to pursue some leadership roles your senior year. Given that there are only about 100 students in your senior class we do like to see leadership since it’s generally more easily obtained in a smaller class.</p>

<p>You can also consider doing an interview this summer as an optional part of your application. You can register for one online beginning May 1 ([William</a> & Mary - Summer Interviews](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/interview]William”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/interview)).</p>

<p>We do not have statistics on students who apply from individual schools although the counselors at Trinity are very knowledgeable about W&M and work with us closely so they can be a good resource.</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it! I look forward to completing my application this summer for Early Decision!</p>

5

<p>The new Common App will be available as of July 1. The W&M Supplement usually becomes available in September. You’ll be able to submit an application once both are up and running.</p>