Committee is Coming, Committee is Coming
We Admit It! We are hype. This is the culmination of all of our efforts. This is where the magic happens. This is the pinnacle of our work. And we are ready to get the show on the road.
The Committee Snack Cart
So why do we spend the next three to four weeks in windowless rooms staring at application file after application file? Because this is what our work is all about; we are crafting William & Mary’s 320th class. For the past several months, we have all been ships in the night, passing each other only infrequently as we dare to take a break from independently reviewing each and every file in our individual regions. Now, we get to come back together as a staff and work together towards a collective goal. And don’t worry; we have all the sugar we need to keep us going for the next several weeks.
Each of us will present our individual geographic regions before a committee of our colleagues. We will bring to committee those files we deem to be the most competitive of those not already admitted through our multi-read review process. Together, we will discuss the individual merits of each applicant relative to the greater applicant pool. Then we vote. Our goal is to admit those students who present the most compelling cases. There’s no singular most compelling case. Some students are compelling because their academic merits are so outstanding. Others because they are running the show at their school. For others, it might be because of what they’ve overcome. Still others have honed a special talent, or have had really unique experiences, or blew it out of the water when they came to campus for an optional interview, or present a diverse background, and so on and so on. Some students, let’s call them well-rounded, will present a little bit of each of these types of compelling cases. We have built a very diverse and dynamic staff that will thoughtfully make these decisions. As a result we will build a diverse and dynamic incoming class.We look forward to taking this journey with you through our Overheard in Committee blogs and through the pleasure of once again, reviewing your application files. Whatever the individual outcome is of this process for you personally, know that we are honored that you applied to W&M, and we are constantly amazed by the accomplishments of our applicants.
Stay tuned. Committee will begin shortly.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate Dean of Admission
Comments are closed on posts older than one year, but we still want to hear from you. If you have a comment or question for us, please email admission@wm.edu.
Oh my gosh I want to get in so bad I want to cry! (To celebrate your 320th class you guys should totally release decisions on 3/20..even if that means the possibility of me being rejected on my birthday, just an idea!!) Good luck in committee, hopefully y’all like me:(
Glad to be the first to say “Good luck” to the Committee! I’m sure that the fruits of your labor will yield a crop of bright, motivated and creative students in W&M’s 320th class. Of course, I’ll be especially happy if my son is one of those chosen by the Committee to join the Tribe!
Well, I wasn’t the first after all, since Mollie beat me to the punch! Guess I was the first parent, though!
@Mollie, great thinking but it’s unlikely that our committee process will conclude by 3/20, but Happy Early Birthday!
@HopefulMom,many thanks for the well wishes and best of luck to your son.
Can you tell us where the ED Deferrals fit into this process? I know they were to be looked at again after you went through the RD apps. Have you gone through both piles, and what you are looking at now in Committee is a combination of both groups that you deem are the most competitve that have not already been put in the “must admit” pile?
I looked through past updates on the blog, and hopefully haven’t missed where you might’ve mentioned this. Hate to have you repeat yourself. Over and over. And over and over. 🙂 Thanks!
@Momofsenior13, we review those students who were deferred towards the end of our RD review process. During that review, some decisions may be fairly clear based now that we’ve seen the entire applicant pool (in which case we will make those decisions final) and some may be less clear and they will be presented in committee along with the RD students from that particular geographic region.
I have a question. I am from PA but i go to a boarding school in Ma so would i be reviewed in the PA pool or MA pool in terms of my school?
@Ebi Doubeni, our regions are based on your school’s location. This way we can ensure that all students who attend the same school (with the same classes/teachers/grading scale/etc.) are reviewed together so you’ll be reviewed with your classmates (if any applied) along with other students from New England.
Has the process of choosing Murray semifinalists and Monroe scholars concluded? When will those applicants be notified? Thanks!
@Caroline, for the most part Murray semifinalists (now called 1693 Scholars) have been contacted via email. We continue to review any late completed applications for that award but there should be few if any semifinalists left to identify.
We are wrapping up our Monroe Scholars selection process. Those students are notified by mail generally in early-to-mid March.
I remember how stressful this was 3 years ago when I applied. That was early decision though. Good luck to everybody! It was the happiest day of my life when I got in 🙂 Crossing my fingers for my brother this year.
Thank you admissions committee for all your hard work! You guys are amazing.
@Meg, good luck to your brother!
Is there a set date for notifying students? Will you admit students in waves, or will you admit all prospective students at once?
@Michael, there is no set date yet as we said in the blog. We won’t know that date until we’re upon it. We notify all students, regardless of decision, at the same time except for our scholarship recipients who hear from us just a tad earlier.
Just checking — will VCCS transfer students be in the same group, or are they in a different boat altogether? I know there’s a matriculation agreement in place, but how are transfer hopefuls dealt with in the process?
@Shuan, transfer students are a different review process all together. We will discuss that process in mid-to-late April when it’s more timely. Right now, we’re discussing strictly freshman applicants.
I am an out-of-state applicant, and I know that spaces for non-Virginians are limited. Still, I am keeping my fingers crossed! William & Mary is great.
@Ben O, the good news is 35% of our spaces are allotted to out-of-state students which is a solid percentage. We are thrilled to be able to diversify our class geographically to the extent that we can, but we are always cognisant of our status as a VA public university. Best of luck!
We live in another state but my son received Virginia state tuition because of my husband’s current job (he is currently living there and we are moving to Virginia). Do you consider him an out of state applicant or a in state applicant??
@Mom, we consider him an in-state applicant if in fact he was domiciled as in-state via the application for in-state tuition privileges that was part of the W&M Supplement. We will still review him with his out-of-state classmates (for school context) but will note that he is an in-state student and provide him the appropriate context for that.
I want to take this opportunity to say that 2 years ago when the youngest of my 3 children was in the college app final anxious months, William and Mary was perhaps the standout school for responsiveness, sensitivity and positive up to date information. Although, my son’s heart was set on the Ivies, as a parent, I will always be grateful for the treatment, respect and of course I will never forget the “good things come in small packages” email he received late one evening. Thank you for being a class act!!
@Ginny, wow. Thanks for the shout out! We appreciate it.
So Excited to hear that the review process is coming into one of its final stages! I have been anxiously awaiting good news from William and Mary ever since I submitted my application many months ago. I hope you guys enjoy re-reading all of the applications. Really, really hoping to become a member of William and Mary’s sure-to-be-awesome 320th class!!
@Caitlin, best of luck to you and all the Class of 2017 hopefuls.
I read that the VA General Assembly approved a budget revision that provides funding for another 1700 in-state students at W&M, UVA, VT and JMU. Will that allow the committee to select more students for admission to the Class of 2017, or will this take effect for next year’s applicants?
@Alex Lesser, current plans have us aiming for a freshman class of 1450 and an additional 20 freshmen in our joint degree program with the University of St Andrews just like last year. The recent press you saw on the General Assembly budget is actually referring to a plan that began being put into action several years ago; it does not refer to any additional growth in the size of our student body beyond that which we took on several years ago.
Now that you are in the final stages how many applicants did you receive for the Class of 2017?
@Inquisitive, we are still tallying that because we are still working to complete some applications. We are up a few hundred applications from last year but just don’t have an exact final count yet.
We have moved two times in two years which means three different high schools for my daughter. Will her application be reviewed by the Texas reader (current home) and then the California reader? Waiting with bated breath to hear the good news from William & Mary!
@Mom/Lori, your daughter will be reviewed by the regional dean for whichever high school she currently attends. As it turns out, the regional dean for TX and CA are the same. However, when students have attended multiple high schools we take note of that and understand that can impact their transcript and extracurricular activities.
If I was unable to have an interview, will this negatively affect my admissions decision? Do people with interviews have chance? What if I live further away than some people, and I couldn’t interview simply because of the distance?
@Mike, we interview only about 20% of our applicants so most students who apply to W&M do so without an interview. By extension, most of the students who are admitted didn’t interview just because it’s a relatively small portion of our applicants who take advantage of that optional component. Interviews can certainly be helpful and beneficial but we recognize that many students cannot participate and do not disadvantage them for that.
Does this mean that there are no more likely cards on the way?
@Justme, yes. As we mentioned in the blog prior to this one, our final likely postcards were sent on Feb. 18.
My daughter’s (early decision class of 2017) banner page shows a higher amount for cost of attendance than it did earlier. She is in-state. Any reason that would change?
oh!! Pick me! Pick me!! (Please)
@Grateful Dad, tuition hasn’t been set yet (although we anticipate it increasing). That would be a good question for Financial Aid.
@Aurora, good luck!