Freshman Waitlist Update

We Admit It! May 2 has come and gone, meaning the next (and final) phase of the college admission cycle has begun: the waitlist review process. We realize that students on our waitlist are anxious to know whether or not they have a chance of being admitted to W&M. To help reduce your anxiety, today we are able to provide you with a few updates about this year’s process. Please note that while we do have some answers today, we don’t yet have all of the answers. Throughout the summer, as students’ plans change, and as other universities activate their waitlists, the composition of our incoming class will likely vary from day to day and week to week. This is something that we plan for and are prepared for, but this also means that, like you, we have to be flexible throughout this process. We will be sure to provide you with any pertinent updates on this blog as we embark on this next phase together.

Without further ado, here is what we know. We will indeed have the opportunity to admit a select group of students from the waitlist to our Class of 2020. What can you do to be considered for this select group?

  • All students who are interested in remaining on our waitlist should have responded to the waitlist response form linked in their original waitlist decision email.
    • To all students who submitted this initial waitlist response form, another email will be sent to you later today with another short online form simply indicating whether or not you remain interested in staying on our waitlist and still wish to be considered for admission. This is an interim request so that we can work through the waitlist process as efficiently and thoughtfully as possible.
    • To students who did not submit this initial response form, we take this as a sign that you have decided to attend another college or university. We wish you all the best, and have no doubt that you are going to have a tremendous college career.
  • If you remain very interested in W&M and haven’t done so already, you are welcome to send a statement of continued interest to your regional dean.
  • Interested students are also able to submit any recent awards and/or academic information to our office, and we will make sure that they are filed appropriately with your application.

The Admission Committee will reconvene and determine which of our students who elected to remain on the waitlist are the most competitive for admission. During our deliberations, all of the above information (statements of continued interest, recent updates, etc.) will be taken into consideration.

Once these select students are identified, they will be contacted by their regional dean. We will try to reach you by phone and/or email, so be sure to check both your voicemail and inbox!

Those students admitted from the waitlist will receive the Good Things email (sent to all admitted students), admission materials in the mail, and will be given approximately two weeks to let us know whether or not they would like to definitively accept this admission offer. Students who accept their admission offers will have the exact same access to residence halls, roommates and Orientation as those students admitted in March. All students on our waitlist will get an update from us via email by mid-June.

As mentioned above, our Class of 2020 will fluctuate in size over the next few weeks. There’s a chance that we’ll make admission offers to an initial wave of students, receive “YES” responses and be all set for next fall. There’s also a chance that in a month we’ll see a wave of withdrawals from students in our freshman class, leading us to make additional admission offers from our waitlist. Time will tell what actually happens – we sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding.

We will be sure to keep you informed throughout the waitlist process (this goes for transfers, too). Have a wonderful weekend.

Brad Harlan
Assistant Dean of Admission

Categories: Admission, Faculty & Staff Blogs Tags: ,
39 Comments
  1. Excellent!
    • Admit It!
  2. Waitlist
    • Admit It!
      • Waitlisted Student
        • Admit It!
  3. Jillian Reinhardt
    • Admit It!
  4. W&M Hopeful
    • Admit It!
    • W&M Hopeful
      • Admit It!
  5. Still hopeful...
    • Admit It!
  6. Curious
    • Admit It!
  7. Worried
    • WmStudent
    • Admit It!
      • Worried
        • Admit It!
  8. Anxious
    • Admit It!
  9. Emily
    • Admit It!
  10. Joanna Benjamin
    • Admit It!
  11. Go Tribe
    • Admit It!
  12. Anxious Member of the Waitlist
  13. Stressed
    • Admit It!
  14. Ugh
    • Admit It!
  15. Julia
  16. Go Tribe
    • Admit It!

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.