Decisions, Decisions – 2016 Regular Decision Waitlist Edition
We Admit It! We wish we could send more good news to more wonderfully talented applicants. Unfortunately, the small class size that makes William & Mary appealing to so many also forces us to make some tough decisions among lots of very qualified students. As a result, we’re not able to admit all of the students who are competitive for admission. While it may not feel like it, a waitlist decision is a positive one. To us it means we genuinely wish we had more spaces in the incoming class. If we did we would have offered one of them to you.
It’s tough being on a waitlist, mainly because of the first part of the word. Just when you had hoped to receive a final decision, you are asked to continue to wait. This can be both confusing and frustrating. While we hope this decision leaves the door open for you to continue considering W&M, we of course encourage you to fully explore the universities that have offered you admission and to submit an enrollment deposit by the May 1 deadline. But, if you remain sincerely interested in W&M, you can accept your spot on our waitlist by completing the online form linked in your decision email.
What then? As stated above, we encourage you to focus your immediate attention on exploring those schools that have offered you admission. Knowing how impressive your application was, we have no doubt that you have many great options. If, after doing that, you still remain interested in W&M, you are welcome to email your regional dean with any updates and a note of continued interest in mid-to-late April. This note of continued interest does not have to be an extensive essay (you’ve already written enough of those with your actual applications), but should convey why you are interested in W&M and why you see yourself thriving as a member of our community.
Should we determine that we are able to admit additional students from the waitlist, we will consider any new information that you have sent us since your waitlist decision along with your original application materials. If you are no longer interested in W&M, you can simply complete the online form linked to your decision email in order to withdraw your name from our waitlist.
There’s no way for us to predict whether or not we will go to the waitlist, and, if so, for whom and to what degree. Generally, we are able to determine whether or not we will be admitting students from the waitlist by early-to-mid May. If we are able to admit additional students, we will automatically consider those students who elected to remain on the waitlist. Should we get to that point, we will provide updates via this blog. All students remaining on the waitlist will get an update from us via email by mid-June. Our Waitlist FAQ page is also a great source of information.
While we do wish that we could have sent you more positive news, please know that we think incredibly highly of you. We know that your many accomplishments will provide you with great options for next year. Should you remain interested in W&M, we encourage you to accept your spot on the waitlist, keep in touch and stay tuned. Whether the conclusion of your college search lands you in Williamsburg or elsewhere, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Brad Harlan
Assistant 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.
Is there a section that includes past statistics about the waitlist. I understand this is not going to be nesscessarily indicative of the current situation. But my inner stat fanatic is interested. Thanks.
@Matthew West, there are waitlist statistics located on our Waitlist FAQ page (http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/how-to-apply/waitlistfaqs/), including how many students typically elect to remain on the waitlist and how many students we’ve offered admission from the waitlist over the past few years.
I know the wait-list isn’t ranked but is it possible to find out how competitive you are in it, ie. if you have a chance? And if there is specifically anything you could add to your application that is lacking?
@K, everyone who has been offered a place on our waitlist has a chance of being offered admission. As stated on our Waitlist FAQ page (linked in our above comment), last year we had roughly 1,300 applicants elect to remain on the waitlist, and of those applicants we were able to make 187 offers of admission. We welcome waitlisted applicants to submit a statement of continued interest to our office by early May if they still remain interested in attending W&M. In addition to a statement of continued interest, you are welcome to submit any most up-to-date awards, accomplishments and/or grades to our office. We will file any updates that are sent to our office with your application.
Hello!
Are students supposed to receive a confirmation e-mail notifying them that William and Mary has received their letters of interest? If so, how long does it typically take for them to send confirmation emails?
Thanks!
@Student, in order to make sure that your letter of interest was successfully received by our office, you are welcome to check-in directly with your regional dean (http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/contactus/meetthecommittee/). Simply send them an email and they will let you know whether or not we have received your letter.
Hello! I know you all have said numerous times that you reevaluate all those on the waitlist if you decide to use it. What I’d like to know, though, is do the deans go through the same process of the entire “holistic review,” reading all of the essays, recommendations, statements of interest, interview write-ups, etcetera, all over again? Or is it mainly the academic record that would be the major criterion for admission at this point? As someone whose GPA is not the strongest point of her application, I’m just trying to figure out if I should avoid getting my hopes up. Thanks.
@An Otherwise Awesome Applicant, you ask a terrific question. Our office embraces the holistic review process throughout the entire admission cycle, from the very first early decision file we read to the very last waitlisted applicant we consider for admission. Should we end up going to our waitlist this year, we will take all parts of waitlisted applications into consideration, from the essays, recommendations, and academic information that were included with the original application to all of the information that has been shared with our office since initial admission decisions were sent out. All this being said, we absolutely encourage you to research and get excited about another university that has already offered you admission. In doing so, you may ultimately decide that another school is the best fit for you. Our loss would absolutely be their gain. Wherever you ultimately land, we have no doubt that you are going to have a tremendous college career.
Since May 1st is decision day, typically, when will you know the wait list will be active? Thank you!
@Niki, we will have a better idea as to whether or not we will be using the waitlist this year by the end of this week. An update on our waitlist review process will be posted to this blog no later than the end of next week (5/13).
Do you anticipate going off the waitlist this week? Have you begun rereading applications or making offers?
@S, thank you for checking in! Yes, we will be using our waitlist this year. We anticipate this year’s waitlist review process looking similar to recent years – statistics for waitlist admission offers from recent years are available on our waitlist FAQ page (http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/how-to-apply/waitlistfaqs/). A more definitive update will be posted to this blog by Friday afternoon.
Hi! Is there any way that we can double check if we submitted our W&M Waitlist Response Form? I’m fairly certain I submitted one the day I received the form, but I want to make sure I did since W&M is my top choice.
@Student, absolutely. Simply send an email to your regional dean (http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/contactus/meetthecommittee/) and they will be able to check for you.
Hi! So happy to hear you’re using the waitlist this year. Any idea when the initial calls will begin?
@Yay!, initial calls to waitlisted applicants began at the end of last week.
What is an “initial call?” A decision that an applicant has been accepted from the wait list? Or, an email asking whether the applicant is still interested in staying on the wait list? Thanks.
@Marta, an “initial call” is made from a regional dean to an applicant in one of their regions when our office is interested in extending an admission offer to that applicant. We gauge whether or not students are interested in remaining on our waitlist by assessing who has submitted their waitlist response forms. All waitlisted applicants should have received an email this past Friday (5/6) which included a most recent waitlist response form.
Thanks. Also, someone I spoke to in the admissions office last week said that offers to those on the wait will be extended through August 1 (versus mid-June).
@Marta, it is possible that waitlist offers will continue being made until later in the summer. A definitive update on how our waitlist review process is progressing will be sent via email to all students on our waitlist by mid-June.