Decisions, Decisions – Early Decision 2020 Edition

We Admit It! The day is finally here. After several weeks of reading applications and committee meetings here in Williamsburg, it is time to officially release our first round of admission decisions. Early Decision notifications have been finalized and launched, and are currently on their way to your inboxes (Transfers: Check out our separate blog post about transfer admissions).

Below you will find all pertinent information about how decisions are released and what each decision means.

Decision Release

• Decision emails were sent this evening (December 6th) to the email address provided in your application (Note: only students receive a decision notification; parents do not).
• Though all emails have officially been launched, it will take some time for all emails to leave our server and reach your inbox.
• Decision emails are sent to all applicants regardless of decision (assuming you submitted a completed Early Decision application).
• If you have not received an email yet, DO NOT PANIC. We repeat, DO NOT PANIC. Not receiving an email does not imply anything about your decision.
• Students, please check your spam/junk folders in case the email landed there instead of your inbox (this does sometimes happen).
• The sender of the email will be “William & Mary.” The subject will either be “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 (either defer or deny) will only be receiving a decision email.
• Note: If you submitted a completed Early Decision application and did not receive a decision email from us this evening, there are a number of reasons why this could have happened. Please contact us on Monday. We will investigate what happened and report back to you. If need be, we can re-launch your decision email, as well as mail a hard copy to you.
• Second Note: As decisions are arriving to inboxes, we will be signing off until Monday, where we will be more than happy to assist you. Please review this blog in its entirety for answers to any immediate questions. We will respond to any other questions or comments on Monday.

And now here are the decisions themselves…

Decisions

Admit: Admit It! You are jumping up and down, screaming at the top of your lungs and busting out a celebratory dance. Congratulations! “Good Things” means exactly what you think it means: you are officially a member of William & Mary’s Class of 2024! We are thrilled to welcome you to the Tribe. Your admission letter (signed personally by Dean Tim Wolfe) is on its way and will be arriving in the coming days. In the meantime, keep doing that jig. Update your Facebook cover photo, make that celebratory Instagram post, and check out some of our specialized William & Mary stickers and GIFs (we’ve provided some options on the Welcome website linked in your decision email). Post on social media using the #wm2024 hashtag. Join the Class of 2024 Facebook Group. Wear your favorite Tribe Gear to school on Monday. And most importantly, be proud of yourself. You have earned this, and it is an honor to now call you one of our own. The Welcome website will provide you with further details about submitting your enrollment deposit (due in two weeks) and other useful information.

Start counting down the days until Move-In Day next August. We can’t wait to welcome you to campus. Best wishes for a terrific rest of your senior year. One Tribe. And now it’s yours.

*Note: If you also applied to the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme, those decisions will not be made until the spring. We will send you another decision email specific for that program when we send out Regular Decision notifications by early April.

Defer: We are sorry that we are not able to admit you to W&M at this time. We know how badly you wanted a “Good Things” email this evening, and that you are understandably disappointed and upset with our decision. This decision is in no way a reflection of any wrongdoing or misstep on your part. You are a bright and accomplished individual, and we wish that we could admit every great student who applies to W&M (especially those who have identified W&M as their top choice). Unfortunately, given the small size of our entering freshman class, this is not the reality of our process. This small size, coupled with the strength of this year’s Early Decision applicant pool, forced us to make several difficult decisions.

As a deferred student, your application will automatically be reviewed again, in its entirety, during our Regular Decision review process in the spring. We will send you another decision notification in the spring (if you applied to our Joint Degree Programme you will also receive a decision email specific for that program at that time). Over the coming weeks, you are welcome to send us any new academic information (first-semester grades, updated standardized test scores) as well as any high-level awards or significant accomplishments not included in your original application. You can also send us a letter/email/statement of continued interest. If you elect to send us such a statement, this does not have to be anything overly elaborate. This should simply be a few paragraph explanation of why you feel like William & Mary is the best fit for you. Whenever we receive such materials (academic information, awards accomplishments, statements of continued interest, etc.) we make sure to file everything appropriately with your application.

As part of this process, however, we also encourage you to look closely at other schools to which you decide to apply. As our applicant pool grows during Regular Decision, so too does the competition for spots in the freshman class. Explore what other schools have to offer and get excited about their fantastic opportunities. Doing so will set you up for the best possible college outcome, regardless of what your final W&M admission decision may be. We wish you the best of luck as you continue to navigate this process, and are of course always happy to provide any assistance that we can.

Deny: Nothing that we write here will make this decision any easier to swallow. You are likely feeling upset, sad, frustrated, confused, and perhaps a bit angry. All of these emotions are natural. You applied to William & Mary as your first choice college destination, and this decision is less than ideal. Please know that while this is a final decision for your freshman application to W&M, this is NOT a judgment on either your record of accomplishment or college potential. Many of our applicants, like you, do so many things right, and as a result we have the difficult task of making many nuanced decisions among so many terrific students. We have full confidence that another school (and likely several) will offer you admission, and that you will do great things at whichever school is lucky enough to have you as a member of their freshman class. We thoroughly enjoyed learning more about you, and wish you all the best going forward.

Thank you to all of our applicants for your patience as we have been carefully navigating our application review process. We do not take your interest in William & Mary lightly, and it has been humbling to review your many talents and accomplishments. One of the best parts of our job is getting to learn so much about so many promising young adults. Whatever the outcome of your individual application, please know how much we appreciate you applying to William & Mary, and how confident we are that each and every one of you is destined for great things.

Take care, Happy Holidays, and Go Tribe.

Jack Zhang
Assistant Dean of Admission