Decisions, Decisions — Early Decision 2014 Edition

We Admit It!  We are just as ready to post this blog as you are to see it.  Yes, Early Decision notifications have been launched and are on their way to your inboxes (Transfers: note that spring transfer notifications have also been launched — see that Decisions, Decisions blog for more information).  We appreciate everyone’s patience as we worked our way through the review process.  Whatever the outcome of your individual application, please know that we were honored that you applied, and we were humbled to review each and every application we received.  What follows are the logistics of the decision release and what each of the decisions means.

Decision Release

  • Decision emails were sent this evening (December 5) to the email address provided in your Common Application (note: only students receive a decision notification; parents do not). It will take a bit of time for the emails to leave our server and reach your inbox but as of the posting of this blog, all emails have been launched.
  • Decision emails are sent to all applicants (assuming your application is complete), regardless of decision.
  • All students are encouraged to check their spam/junk folders in case the email landed there rather than your inbox.
  • The sender of the email will be College of William & Mary and the subject will be either “Good Things!” or “William & Mary Application”
  • Those who are admitted will also receive a formal decision letter in the mail in the coming days. Those who are not admitted will only receive the decision email.
  • If your application was complete and you did not receive a decision email from us, please don’t panic. There are a number of reasons this could have happened. Please follow up with us on Monday. We will investigate what happened and report back to you. Assuming your application was complete and a decision email was launched, we will send the decision email again by that evening, and we will mail a hard copy to you.
  • Note: as decisions make their way to your inboxes, we will sign off until later this evening. Please review this blog in its entirety for answers to any immediate questions. We will respond to any other questions or comments later this evening.

Decisions

Admit: Admit It!  You’re over the moon, you’re jumping for joy, you’re ordering your Tribe gear as you read this blog.  Congratulations!  “Good Things!” means exactly what you think it means: you’re in!  You are the first members of the William & Mary Class of 2019, and we are thrilled to welcome you to the Tribe.  Your official admission letter (signed personally by Dean Tim Wolfe) is on its way to you, and a more robust admission packet will be sent to you in the spring when we admit the rest of your class.  But celebrate now.  Update your Facebook status (and profile pic and cover photo – we’ve provided some options on the Welcome website linked in your decision email), tweet using the #wm2019 hashtag, join the Class of 2019 Facebook Group, wear as much green and gold as you can to school on Monday and be proud of yourself.  You’ve earned it.  The welcome website will provide more information on submitting your enrollment deposit (due in two weeks) and some other helpful info.  So start a count-down clock ‘til Move-In Day next August.  One Tribe.  And now it’s yours.

Note if you also applied to the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme those decisions are not made until the spring.  We will send you another decision email for that programme specifically when we send notifications to Regular Decision applicants.

Defer: Let us start by saying that we are truly sorry that we were not able to admit you to W&M at this time.  We know you were hoping against hope for a Good Things email and that you are disappointed with this decision.  And you have every right to be.  The small size that attracts so many great students to W&M unfortunately compels us to make some difficult decisions among very qualified students.  Those who we do not admit are very bright, accomplished, talented young men and women.  We wish we were able to provide more good news to more students (especially those who designate W&M as their first choice), but that is not the reality of our process.

As a deferred student, your application will automatically be reviewed again, in its entirety, in the spring when we review Regular Decision applications.  We will send you another decision notification in the spring (if you also applied to the Joint Degree Programme you will receive a decision on that part of your application in the spring also).  We encourage you to send us any new academic information (first-semester grades, any new standardized testing results) and any significant updates not included in your original application.  You can also send us a statement of continued interest if you wish.  We however also encourage you to look closely at other schools to which you will apply.  Explore what they have to offer, and get excited about opportunities on their campuses.  As the applicant pool grows during Regular Decision, so too does the competition for admission offers.  Exploring all of your options will allow for the best possible outcome, regardless of your final decision from W&M, come this spring.

Deny: We know that no matter what we say to those of you receiving this decision, there will be disappointment, and hurt, and likely some confusion and anger.  All of those emotions and many more are absolutely justified.  W&M was your first choice and the outcome was anything but.  We are truly sorry.  While this is a final decision for your freshman application, it is not a judgment on your record of accomplishment or potential as a future college student.  It is instead a reflection of the overwhelming strength of our applicant pool.  It’s not that you did anything wrong; it’s that so many of our applicants, like you, do so much right.  Most of our applicants take good classes, get great grades, do well on standardized tests and have an extracurricular resume that impress to the hilt.  We are tasked with making very nuanced decisions among so many great students.  We know however that another college or university (and likely several of them) will offer you admission and you will have a wonderful experience at whichever school is lucky enough to have you next year.  We wish you all the best as you continue on your college search.

Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate Dean of Admission

Categories: Admission, Faculty & Staff Blogs Tags: , , ,
129 Comments
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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.