Hit the Submit Button, Not the Panic Button
We Admit It! Right now it’s easier to sit in our seats. While we certainly have a lot of work in front of us come Sunday (as the Early Decision deadline is Saturday), we’re not the ones who have to finish our applications. We were certainly all in your seats at one point in time (some of us longer ago than others) so we empathize. And we hope this blog eases some of those deadline-approaching tensions.
We’re here to say DON’T PANIC. If you don’t click submit until November 2 (or even November 3 or 4), DON’T PANIC. If your transcript or recommendations or test scores (or maybe all three) aren’t submitted until sometime the week after the deadline, DON’T PANIC. If, despite your best proofreading efforts, there’s a small typo in your essay, DON’T PANIC. Mistakes happen. You’re human. We’re human. We get it. We’ve all been there. None of the above scenarios are cause for panic. If you submit your application an hour or a day (or even a couple of days) past the deadline, we’ll still gladly accept it. If some component of your application isn’t submitted until next week, no worries. We’ll still gladly accept it. So you typed their instead of there, hakuna matata. This blog has certainly had its fair share of typos over the years. We promise that the delayed submission or the late receipt of a transcript or a small typo will in no way impact the decision we make on your application.
On a more philosophical note, DON’T PANIC. Even if you clicked submit with 100% certainty that everything was in on time and done properly, you may now start to panic about the decision that awaits you in early December. Don’t. It’s all out of your hands now, and it rests in ours. We promise that we will conduct a very substantive and holistic review of your application. We as a committee will evaluate, debate and assess the applicants before us and do our best to render thoughtful decisions. And in the end, even if that decision isn’t the one you hoped for, DON’T PANIC. This process will work itself out in the end, and a year from now, when you’re living it up at W&M or whichever college you enroll at, you’ll reflect on how unnecessary all that panicking really was.
Second verse, same as the first. DON’T PANIC. We’ve got it from here.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate Dean of Admission
PS: If you swap out November for January, this blog also very much applies to those applying Regular Decision.
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.
This blog entry was much needed, so thank you sincerely. It’s really nice to see that the admissions committee truly understands what the college application process is like for the applicant. No matter the outcome in December, I truly appreciate your efforts in acknowledging our issues and communicating with us fully.
Go Tribe!
@L, glad the blog was helpful. Best of luck to you with your application.
Thank you! I await your “thoughtful decision”!
I submitted my common app and my arts suplement, but somehow I missed the supplemental essay submission. I thought it was seperate from the common app. I have prepared an essay, can you tell me where I submit it?
@MC, our optional essay is part of the member questions section. You couldn’t have submitted your app without completing that section. Did you respond to the prompt about show and tell by proxy and with an attitude? That’s our optional essay. If you didn’t, you can email your essay to admission@wm.edu and we’ll add it to your other materials.
Thank You! I somehow must have missed it… Thanks for allowing me to submit by email!
@MC, if you’ve already received confirmation from us regarding receipt of your application, please use the W&M ID included in that email when submitting your optional essay by email.
I read this post this morning, submitted my application, and decided to torture myself a little bit by rereading my essays for the billionth time. Of course, I noticed something that I somehow hadn’t all the other times–I’d left out the word “to” in the middle of a sentence. I just want to say thanks so much for this post, which prevented the lack of a two-letter word from sending me into a spiral of stress and despair! Good luck to all of the other early applicants!
@Robin, it happens “to” the best of us. We promise it will not be a big deal at all when reviewing your application. Good luck to you.
Thank you to all the admissions staff for all your hard work and down to earth attitudes! This process of applying ED has been very stressful for my daughter (probably me more than her) and you have taken every step and turned it into a “No Big Deal” situation. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! If they send us a survey, we will make sure to put you all up for a pay raise!
@May, thanks for the kudos. We know this is super stressful (while we all would gladly go back to college none of us want to go through the application process again) so Id this blog helps calm the nerves even a little we’ve done our job.
This is very soothing. I wish I had read this before I submitted my application on Saturday. I stressed about it SOOO much and looked it over more than a dozen times. Thank you so much and for understanding and knowing that we do make mistakes, but we also try our best. I am excited for December to come!
@ Janay, good luck to you!
Any word on how many early applications you received this year?
@Prnt23, we’re still processing ED applications so we’re not yet at the point where we can release stats on the ED pool. Historically our ED pool doesn’t change drastically from year to year because the number of applications in the ED pool is relatively small (compared to our overall pool).
Thank you for the words of advice. As a parent watching the process unfold, I found this to be very helpful.
@Kimberly B., we know it’s a very stressful process for all involved. We’re glad this blog can help ease some of the anxieties associated with applying to college.
I am a prospective transfer student hoping to attend William and Mary this upcoming fall. After proofing my essay multiple times before I submitted it, I now realize
I had a typo in the common app– “principals” instead of “principles” of business. Of course I know the difference, but will my mistake be overlooked? Should I resubmit the application with a corrected essay? Thanks– Transfer Dreams Dashed
@Transfer Dreams Dashed, as we said in the blog, a small typo in an essay does not make or break an admission decision. We all make mistakes and tiny little errors will not derail an application. No need to resubmit the essay. A small error like this is not a big deal.