How You Know William & Mary Has Received Your Application
We Admit It! The applications are rolling in and we are in full-on processing mode (soon to be accompanied by full-on reading mode). So you’ve done your part, you’ve clicked submit. As your application makes its way through cyberspace, here’s what you need to know about how it’s handled once it gets to us. Note that we are just beginning to process freshman applications and will soon begin to process transfer applications. The communication processes outlined below will be fully operational in the days to come.
Correspondence Sent to Applicant – applicants will receive two emails from us prior to receiving a decision email
- You will receive an initial email from us when we’ve downloaded your application from the Common Application. Generally this email will be sent 24-48 hours after you submit your Common Application (during the busiest time for submissions there may be an additional delay). We do not begin a file for an applicant until we receive the Common Application materials. If any materials (such as a transcript or test scores) are received prior to the submission of the Common Application, those materials will be held until the application is received. As long as we receive your application, we will work with you to ensure it gets completed and reviewed.
- You will receive a second email from us when we’ve matched your application to all required components (transcript, test scores, application fee) letting you know your application is complete. It can take up to one month after receiving the initial email to receive this second email. We appreciate your patience as we process literally tens of thousands of individual application components.
- If we do not receive any required component, we will follow up with a second email letting you know what we are missing and how to submit it. No penalty is assessed at this point as we understand that these things just happen through no fault of any particular individual. We just ask that you submit the missing item(s) as soon as you receive our communication.
Correspondence Sent to Parent – parents of freshman applicants will receive two emails from us provided their email addresses were included in the Common Application
- Parents will receive an initial email from us when we’ve downloaded your student’s application from the Common Application. This is the most critical step. As long as we receive an application from your student, we will work with him/her to ensure it gets completed and reviewed.
- Parents will receive a second email from us when we’ve matched your student’s application with all of the required components (transcript, test scores, application fee) letting you know your student’s application is complete. It can take up to a month between the receipt of the initial email and the receipt of this second email. We appreciate your patience as we process all application submissions.
- Parents will not receive any other emails from us (including the decision email which is sent only to the applicant).
Note that we do not confirm receipt of optional materials such as the writing supplement, a fine art submission or teacher recommendations. You can rest assured however that any materials submitted to our office will be matched with your application.
So as the applications come in faster and more furiously, the mail crates get heavier, the scanner hums louder—it’s all music to our ears. It’s the sound of the Class of 2019 (and the additions to the classes of 2017 and 2018) being built.
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.
Can submitting an art supplement hurt me? I’m somewhat artistically inclined but I don’t think I could get into an art program. Would I be penalized in any kind of way if my art is not what you’re looking for? Thank you!
@Lina, the art supplement is designed to enhance your application. Just as we rely on our coaches to tell us who the most talented athletes are, we rely on our fine arts faculty to tell us who the most talented artists are. If the faculty don’t think highly of your supplement it won’t be a plus factor for you (see our previous blog on this subject: http://wmblogs.wm.edu/admiss/overheard-in-early-decision-committee-the-saga-continues/) but it won’t by itself make or break an admission decision.
Dear Admission Committee,
I submitted my ED application last Sunday, and I recieved an email from Common App the same day informing me that I had successfully submitted the application. However, I have yet to receive an email from the College, and I was wondering if this was because the process is backed up as of now or if you believe that there might been a problem with my application submission?
Thank you for your help!
@L, we looked in our system and we sent you an email confirming receipt of your application on 10/22 (to the same email address you used to submit your comment to this blog). Can you search your in-box? Your spam/junk mail? It’s possible it landed there. But we did email you confirming that we did receive your application from Common App.
I submitted my Common App on October 16 and I have yet to receive a confirmation that W&M has received it. I’ve scoured my email, including my spam, and I still haven’t found the confirmation; same goes for my parents. Is it possible that this email got lost somewhere in the system?
Thank you for all of your hard work!
@S, we also show that the confirmation email was sent to you on 10/22 just like the previous poster. As we said, we are just activating this system so emails to parents aren’t being sent yet, just those to students. The good news is we do have your application which is really what matters most!
Would you be willing to check whether W&M sent an e-mail confirming my submission? I also applied on 10/2 but I didn’t receive an e-mail & I’ve triple checked my inbox/spam/junk folders. Thanks and I’m so sorry for the inconvenience!
Sorry I meant 10/22 not 10/2
@E, the email you used to submit this comment doesn’t appear in our records so there’s no way to look you up. Is that the same email you used in the Common Application?
Since it is the same address, should I e-mail the common application to see if there was a problem? They sent me a confirmation e-mail but I’m scared my app is lost in cyberspace.
@E, if you got an email from Common App then not to worry. Why don’t you wait a few days to see if you hear from us and then if you haven’t, give us a call.
Thanks! This blog is so helpful
Dear Admission officers,
I submitted my ED application on October 6th, and I didn’t reveive the initial email from the College. Could you help me to check? Also, does it matter if I changed the email I put in these comments? Because when I post these comments before, I didn’t use my email corresponded to the Common Application, but now finally I switched to the Common Application corresponded one. Thank you for your help.
@DeterminedED, we did receive your application and sent an email to that extent on 10/22. Can you check all spam/junk/trash folders?
Dear Admission Officers,
Thank you for your instant reply, I checked my spam/junk/trash folders and yet still couldn’t see it. I am really nervous about my email. Thank you again.
@DeterminedED, no need to panic. Why don’t you keep an eye out of the second email about your application complete Obviously that email may take some time but if you don’t see that email say within a few weeks, let us know.
I’m concerned. I submitted my application on the 23rd and am yet to recieve confirmation. Is the system backlogged?
@PR, is the email address you used to submit this comment the same one you used on your application?
Yes, I have checked both my inbox and spam filter.
@PR, we have no record of that email address in our system at all. Are you applying as a freshman or transfer? Did you receive an email from Common App saying your application had been submitted?
The Common App itself says that my application was submitted. I’ve checked the PDF of the application and it has the my addresss. I never recieved the email. Is there any other way to confirm it?
I also have not received a confirmation email from the college saying it has received my application. I submitted it on October 12. Can you confirm that you received my application please? Thank you.
@Kathleen Webber, we did receive your application and emailed you on 10/22. Can you please check your spam/junk/trash folders.
Ok thank you so much for confirming because I never received the email!!
@Kathleen Webber, keep an eye out for the second email when your application is completed. It could be a while before we complete your application but if you see that one we’ll know you’re receiving our communication.
Hello – just wondering if parents of freshman ED applicants will receive any emails regarding any missing information / documentation for the application. My daughter has received an email confirming receipt of the application but I did not – and I don’t want to stress her out too much by asking if her application material (such as recommendations, SAT reports) is complete. Thanks!
@Parent, if there’s any missing information we only contact the student; not the parents. But as we mentioned, we will email parents to let them know their student’s application is complete (as we mentioned in a response to a previous comments the parent emails are not being sent just yet but will be soon).
Thanks!
Dear Admission Committee: I am concerned that I have not yet received a confirmation email. I submitted my application on October 13th and my school sent my transcript on October 22nd. Are you able to double check this for me? Thank you.
@O, we did receive your application and emailed you on 10/22. Just keep an eye out for that second email letting you know your application is complete (that email may not come for a few weeks yet).
Thank you!
@PR, are you a transfer or freshman applicant? We have not yet begun to process transfer applications so that could explain everything. If you applied as a freshman, you can call us and ask us to look you up with your name. All we can do via the blog is look you up via the email address you used to submit this comment and that email address doesn’t come up in our system.
I got the email. My concern was premature.
@PR, that’s great news! Good luck with your application.
Hi,
I submitted my ED application on Oct. 11, and I received a confirmation email from the common app shortly after. However, I have yet to receive any email from the College, even though I added wm.edu to my contacts and re-checked my all mail and junk folders. Would you be able to check for me that you do have my application? Thank you!
@V, we did receive your application and sent an email to you on 10/22. Not sure why you didn’t receive it. Just keep an eye out for the second email letting you know your application is complete (that email may not be sent for a few weeks).
Hey Admissions Staff,
I sent in my Common App a short while ago (the 27th) and have yet to receive confirmation from the college. I have the confirmation email from the Common App, but I’m mostly wondering if this will affect my Early Decision applicant status . I appreciate all your help!
@Aaron S, we have not yet received your application which is why you haven’t gotten an email. As we get closer to Nov. 1 the system may get a but bogged down. If you haven’t heard from us by early next week give us a call. Even if some glitch occurred we’d still gladly accept your ED application.
Dear Admission Officers,
I am here to say thank you! Although for no reason I never received the first email, I’ve already received my Second email saying my application is complete! Thank you for all your hard work! I can’t wait till early December!
ED Applicant
@DeterminedED!, that’s great. Likely there was just some cyber glitch with the initial email but the good news is your application is complete, can be reviewed and you’re receiving our communication so you should be able to receive your decision when emailed in early December. Good luck!
Would it be possible to check and see if my application has come in? I have searched through my junk folder and main inbox and haven’t received the initial email. I sent in my application on the 30th of October and received confirmation from CommonApp.
@Awaiting, did you apply for transfer admission? If so those confirmation emails have not yet been sent.
I am a transfer applicant. Are you able to project when that might come out for transfers? Thank you!
@Awaiting, we’re hoping some time this week. We appreciate everyone’s patience.
Hello Admission Officers,
I submitted my application on Oct. 31st and received an email confirmation from CommonApp the following day. However, I have yet to receive an email confirmation from the college. Could you confirm that you have received my application? Thank you! 🙂
@Christina K, we haven’t yet downloaded your application from Common App. If you got the confirmation from Common App you need not worry. Just keep an eye on your in-box. We are of course getting a lot of applications at this point given the deadline just passed.