Decisions, Decisions — Early Decision 2011 Edition

Admit It!  At this point you simply want to know.  Were you admitted?  Were you not admitted?  You’re screaming at us “Just tell me already.”  Well we are preparing to do just that.  Decisions are being released today (Wednesday, November 30).  There is no specific time we can provide.  Our software does not allow us to simply push a button and poof, have everything land in everyone’s in-box.  It takes time for us to load individual decision emails, send them and have them received by your email server.  However, we will deploy all decision emails today (Wednesday, November 30).  Depending on your email client the sender/sending email address will appear differently but “College of William & Mary” should appear somewhere in the sender information.  Emails will be sent to the email address provided in your Common Application and will be sent to the applicant’s email address only; parents will not receive a copy of the decision email.  Please check all spam/junk folders just in case.   If for any reason you do not receive an email you can call our office (757-221-4223) and will resend your email using a different email tool after 5:00 pm the following business day.  We will also mail a hard copy to you at that point.

Those who applied Early Decision can receive one of three decisions: Admit (breathe a sigh of relief, do a little dance, whoop and holler and wear all green and gold to school tomorrow), defer (meaning your application will be automatically reviewed again, in full, during our Regular Decision process), or deny (a final decision for your admission to W&M for the fall of 2012).

Good Things for the Admits: To the first members of the Class of 2016 (W&M’s 319th graduating class), first of all, don’t overanalyze the email you receive.  The subject line is “Good Things.”  What else could that possibly mean right?  If you need it spelled out for you it means “YOU’RE IN!”  The Tribe is now yours – see directions above (breathe, dance, yell, deck-out appropriately).  In the coming days you will receive your official admission letter (suitable for framing) as well as an invitation to a special admitted student website that we encourage you to explore in the coming months.  We will continue to be in touch throughout the next few months as we build the rest of your class and prepare to welcome all of you to W&M in August.

*Note: your offer of admission is contingent upon continuing to meet high standards of academic performance, personal conduct and completion of all work in progress.

Deferred Applicants: We know that you had hoped for more but please understand that this decision recognizes the competitive features of your application and the tremendous success you’ve experienced heretofore.  This year we saw an increase of approximately 100 applicants in our Early Decision pool but no increase in the number of admits, so the process was more competitive than it’s been in the past several years.  Rest assured that your application will be reviewed again, in full, during the spring in the context of our entire applicant pool.  We will send you another decision notification in April.  Any new academic information (first-semester grades, new standardized testing) should be forwarded to our office to be reviewed along with your original application materials.  However, as the pool will only become more competitive as more and more students apply, we encourage you to submit applications to and invest your energies in other great institutions.

Denied Applicants: We absolutely appreciate your strong desire to attend W&M.  What drew you to W&M also draws thousands of other highly-accomplished students and we simply have more qualified students in our pool than we have room for in our entering class.  This year we saw an increase of approximately 100 applicants in our Early Decision pool but no increase in the number of admits so the process was more competitive than it’s been in the past several years.  That leaves us in the unfortunate position of having to turn away some stellar students.  While this is a final decision for your freshman admission to W&M it is in no way a final statement on your college aspirations or your personal accomplishments.  It is a reflection of a very competitive pool; nothing more.  There are literally thousands of wonderful colleges and universities to which you can apply and your experience there will simply be different than it would have been at W&M; not worse, just different.  We wish you all the best with your continuing college search.

So there you have it.  Early Decision is done.  Regular Decision will soon be underway.  Releasing decisions is the culmination of much hard work on your end and on ours.  We look forward to our continued work together in the months to come.

Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ’09
Senior Assistant Dean of Admission

Categories: Admission, Faculty & Staff Blogs
63 Comments
  1. Jeff
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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.