Help Us Help You
We Admit It! We always feel like this blog covers a lot but know that you all, our readers, have more and more questions you’d like us to address. So each summer we poll you all to see what topics you’d like us to address. For those of you who are rising high school seniors and prospective transfer applicants for the 2014-2015 admission cycle, this is your time. What are you curious about? What’s keeping you awake at night about applying to college? What is the biggest challenge about applying to college? What can we share with you about W&M and our application process? Don’t be shy. Step right up. From SATs to essays, we’re here to answer your questions and we always appreciate suggested blog topics. So if you have an idea, just post a comment and we’ll be sure to add it our upcoming blog topic list.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate 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.
What are some of the most memorable essays you’ve encountered?
@Charlotte, we will definitely blog about essays! It’s usually foremost on students’ minds as they begin crafting their applications. In the meantime, we’ve gathered a bunch of our previous blogs on essays in one area (http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/how-to-apply/freshmanapplicants/index.php). On that page you’ll see a widget in the upper right corner called Essays Made Easy. As you click through that widget you’ll see links to various blog posts on essays.
Do you evaluate at all four subjects of the ACT equally or are their certain subjects that you tend to focus on?
@Sarah, we can certainly do a blog on standardized testing but the quick answer to your question is we really only evaluate the ACT composite score and not the individual sub-sections.
What is your definition of a rising high school senior?
@Aileen, a rising high school senior is someone who has completed their junior year but not yet started their senior year.
Do you have a preference for the SAT over the ACT? I plan on taking just the ACT this fall because I tend to score lower on practice SAT tests.
@Tiffany, we have no preference. We will actually be blogging about standardized testing hopefully later this week so stay tuned for more on this subject.
I have oh so many questions since I have my heart set on this school (like everyone else here). I did an interview and it went wonderfully. I was wondering how much that could make up for? Will it help me significantly? I’m also struggling to show my personality in my essays so will the interview help to show a more accurate picture of me? I’m also in the top 13 percent of my school but I’m not too pleased about that. My school has a GPA system that weights regular classes the same as honors/pre-AP classes. I was only allowed to take Honors classes 9th and 10th grade so I have a 3.9 GPA for those years (inherently unweighted) and then when I took 4 AP classes with a +1 GPA point on those classes I had a 4.4 GPA. Also I was in the middle of founding a club but then budget cuts didn’t allow me to follow through with it. What should I do about that?
Sorry this was all over the place I’m just a very stressed prospective student. Thanks for your time!
@Nicky, glad to hear you’re so interested in W&M and that you enjoyed your interview. The interview is designed to add a more personal dimension to your application. It does not “make up” for any other part of your application, it’s just simply more information we have on which to make a more thorough decision. It is designed to enhance your application but again is one part of many we’re reviewing. As for your GPA, we certainly review whether it’s weighted or not and the GPA system attached to your individual school so that we can put that number and your grades in context. You’re certainly welcome to explain any complexities regarding your GPA (or extracurricular activities) that you feel need explaining through the additional information section of the Common Application.
Does W&M take into account demonstrated interest during the admissions process? And about what percent of college freshmen get involved in research their first year?
@ Claire Storment, we do not use demonstrated interest in our process. We know that 70% of all students participate in research as undergrads. We don’t know if there are stats on freshmen who participate. You may want to reach out to the Charles Center. They oversee undergraduate research and may have specific stats for you.
Hi there, I am planning on applying ED as W&M is my first choice and I have a few questions. I was wondering if my idea for an essay would be considered cliche. I am considering writing a humorous piece about how I chose to play the instrument that I play and I was wondering if you all see too many essays with a similar topic before I finish it. Additionally, is there truly any word limit for the optional submission? Mine is lingering at approximately 499 words and I might want to add to it. Thanks in advance!
@S, so glad you’re considering Early Decision! It’s not the overall topic that’s critical but what you share about yourself and the quality of the writing. If this is an essay topic that allows you to convey your voice and personality and shares info we can’t find elsewhere in your application, go for it.
And yes there is a word limit. It’s not 500 words exactly but it will cut you off just like the Common App essay does should you exceed 500 words by a significant margin. If you use the preview function you’ll see exactly what we will so that way you can ensure you didn’t exceed the limit.
I am the parent of an out of state HS senior who would like to apply ED. She fell in love with College of William and Mary when she was a sophomore. Since then the tuition and fees have gone up I think 22%. More importantly, when we first looked you covered 80% of need and had special interest scholarships, which would be helpful as we have two other college aged children. You have said elsewhere that you want tuition to be competitive with comparable private schools, but this doesn’t appear to be the case in practice. Do you anticipate making any changes to this policy this admissions year?
@Millie, we’re glad your daughter is interested in W&M. We’re not sure what policy you’re asking about but we will try to clarify a few things. While our tuition is increasing, as it is for most colleges, our increase last year was the lowest percentage increase for out-of-state students in years (total cost of attendance went up about $2,000. And we are still $10,000-$15,00 cheaper than many of our peer institutions. We still offer a limited number of merit scholarships which all students are considered for by virtue of applying. Nothing has changed there. We did change the packaging of need-based aid for out-of-state students to make it more predictable for students and families. If there’s a specific policy you’d like us to elaborate on please let us know.
The policy I am inquiring about is the cap of 25% help for out of state, as this would be significantly less for our family (self employed savers with 3 kids in college) than the 80% of EFC you previously covered , plus the elimination of special talent scholarships. We were told that even the Monroe scholarship would cap off at 25%. I got 22 % by looking at total cost of attendance, including fees, over the last 3 years and adding 4% for 2015-16. One of the many reasons why my daughter was attracted to William and Mary is that it is a public school, I only wish our state had a school half as wonderful…
@Millie, we have not eliminated any scholarships. What special talent scholarships are you inquiring about? As we mentioned in our last response, nothing has changed regarding the scholarships we award or how we award them. In fact, in recent years we’ve been able to offer a few additional Monroe and 1693 awards. As for Monroe specifically that award is for research not tuition.
As for need-based aid, the new packaging for out-of-state is not likely to change in the near future. However we never met 80% of EFC. We used to possibly meet up to 80% of need but a lot of that was self help (loans). With the new model, we will meet up to 25% of the cost of attendance in grant aid for out-of-state students who qualify. Self help is available in addition to that. And remember the FAFSA takes number of kids in college into account when calculating EFC/need.
As for cost of attendance, yes we’ve increased out-of-state costs about 4-6% per year. Three years ago our total cost for out-of-state was about $44,000. Now it’s $50,000. That’s about 13% overall. We know that rising costs place additional financial burdens on families. We are doing all we can to keep annual increases reasonable.
Hope this helps to further clarify everything.
Thanks for this.
Hi, do you consider if a sibling goes to W&M? I have a good GPA and an OK SAT score and I would like to know if it would help my chances because I am in love with W&M!! Thank you!
@Anon, we certainly make note if an applicant’s sibling attends/attended W&M. It’s not considered a legacy but like all information shared in an application, we take note and consider it.
Hi! Thank you so much for replying to my previous question!
I have another one:
If my GPA is 4.18 and my SAT score is around 2000 and I don’t have many extracurricular activities, would William and Mary be considered my reach school? Or are there many applicants with these statistics that go to William and Mary?
@Anon, there’s no real way to answer your question. Our review process is so extensive and so contextual. We can’t just look at a GPA (without the rest of the transcript and school profile) or an SAT score and resume (without more background information) and give an assessment of a student’s chances of admission. We are very lucky to have a lot of really qualified students who apply for admission which is why we get to be selective in our review. But if you’re interested in W&M, the only way to know whether or not you’ll get in is to apply.