@kokotg right. But the school put 1722 on the waitlist. Not 655. The acceptance rate off the waitlist is dependent on how many kids put themselves on it. That’s not something the school controls. I understand why a school has a waitlist. I just think it’s tough of the kids.
@homerdog sure…but that percentage of kids who accept a spot is probably similar every year. Just saying that in Williams case anyway, the odds of getting in off the waitlist aren’t any worse than the odds of getting in just by applying in the first place. But, yeah, my kid has 3 waitlists and 5 acceptances right now; really hoping he’ll get excited about one of those acceptances and not spend a couple more months hoping a waitlist comes through for him. I don’t know if we’d survive it!
Last year was an anomaly. They usually take none or very few off the WL. Considering that after ED, they need fewer than 300 kids to fill their class, 70 is a huge number. I wonder if that had something to do with increasing yield? ED nets 100% yield, and using the WL is pretty close to 100% as they usually know the kid will accept before they offer him a place from the WL.
But they do deny 70% of applicants, so viewing it that way, the number of kids offered a WL spot is perhaps not that high
Do you know what the difference between ED and RD acceptance rate was
https://communications.williams.edu/news-releases/3_19_2019_class2023/
Just released their stats this morning
huh. didn’t the letter last night (the rejection letter, that is) say they only accepted 1 out of 19 applicants? That doesn’t mesh with the 12.4 they’re saying. Maybe the 1 in 19 was just for regular decision?
@bhs2019 good for you!!!
Colleges routinely place students on wait lists as many of those students are legacies. Colleges are trying to keep the donations flowing in from alum. It is a very soft deny, for sure. It is always about the money in the end because colleges are businesses. Best of luck to you all!
Daughter accepted: 3.98 UW, 4.83 W GPA, 1510 SAT (one and done her sophomore year), one significant EC, various school clubs, volunteering revolves around her EC, works 15 to 20 hours a week and more in the summer, 2 stellar recommendations (both counselor and one teacher said she was one of the best students they had ever encountered, did not see the other teacher recommendation), QuestBridge finalist.
Also Accepted: Swarthmore, Macalester, Connecticut College.
Waitlisted: Pomona, Dickinson
Still waiting on five decisions (2 reach and 3 very high reach).
Waitlisted
First gen, hispanic, questbridge applicant (not a finalist though)
1440 SAT 32 ACT
Pretty good ECs (orchestra since forever, musical theatre, research through an army program, lead programmer in a few clubs)
Submitted a visual art supplement
Essays were good. Not great, but still good.
I’m actually happy I got waitlisted and not denied. Williams was a reach for me for sure! I’m definitely accepting my spot on the list lol.
@memelover123 it looks like the RD rate as of now is 10.5% (could be higher with WL admits) . The ED rate, according to a recent Washington Post article was 37% of the 688 ED applicants. That leaves 951 slots for 9027 applicants and yields an admit rate of 10.5%.
A few other interesting facts. Applications were up at Williams, but only by 1.6%. By way of comparison of schools with available stats, Bowdoin applications were up by only 2.4% and Northwestern was flat. Makes me think that many selective schools are starting to hit a plateau as the influx of international applications is normalizing.
Obviously based on the very impressive stats of the folks on this board, it is pretty clear that Williams is a very selective institution.
For those of you on the wait list, keep the faith. If the matriculation rate is similar to that of last year, Williams will probably need to admit at least 35 more students (they admitted 1240 last year incl. WL and so far in 2019 admitted 1205). And the number may be even higher. Why? Because as Williams stated int their press release, their goal is to have 550 students per class, but last year they enrolled 533. So they admit at least 17 off the WL to get to 550 or even more to make up the difference from last year.
The above said, agree that they are unlikely to take as many as 76 since they already admitted 1205 students compared to 1163 last year at this stage. Best of luck to all!
To those admitted, I highly recommend attending the Williams Previews program - it is a great event. if you cannot make it to the event, then I strongly recommend a visit/overnight some other time in April (Williams is currently on Spring Break for the rest of March).
For those on the waitlist, if Williams is truly your first choice, be sure to communicate that someway. There have been many instances in the past where applicants from the waitlist are admitted and go on to become some of most impactful campus leaders and graduates. The holistic process is imprecise and do not assume that a waitlist response is necessarily a rejection, it just means you are very close.
Hamilton applications were up 33%, Swat was up about 7%, Amherst and Bates about 7% too.
Colby applications were up 10%, also.
It seems like the national universities that are extremely well-known for being phenomenal schools (such as Harvard) are plateauing with regards to application increases, while the top-tier liberal arts colleges (Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, etc.) are gaining traction.
Does Williams mail decision packages?
@EmptyNestSoon2 from my understanding, not writing the supplement doesn’t hurt you. When I attended Williams’ fly-in program in September, the admissions officers said that the supplement is truly optional and that you should only do it if you feel it will show off your writing skills. I chose not to write it and still got accepted in December.
DD waitlisted. Very proud. Of the four areas of interest she expressed in her essay, Williams only had one and only 10-12 students in that major from there last entering class. It is a great school and would be a wonderful experience for virtually anyone, no doubt transformative. I would have liked that for her. But, with yields at 44% and the purported pool of WL in previous years half of the admitted pool, the admit rate off the WL is about the same as RD, <7%. Trying to convince her that this is very solid validation of her accomplishments, because it is. Of course, they missed out on a future superstar! 
Sounds like your daughter is a great student and will thrive wherever she decides. Williams WL is an accomplishment to be proud off and her chances may be better than you estimate. Perhaps an email to her counsellor with nicely worded summary about why Williams is the perfect fit for her will make a difference
@TennisParent. Thanks for the kind words and suggestions. Will encourage this approach!