Keep Calm and Apply On
We Admit It! August 1 is a pretty exciting date around here. It’s the date when the Common Application for the upcoming year goes live. It’s the official start to the new application cycle (even though, of course, we’ve been working with the high school class of 2014/the W&M Class of 2018 for some time as prospective students).
The newly redesigned 2013-2014 Common App for freshmen and transfer applicants went live last Thursday. Given the changes from previous years to this year there are still a few bugs to be worked out in the system. That’s, of course, to be expected. The good news is that Common App has a great staff working on a great product. No doubt everything will be running smoothly very soon. In the meantime, you are still welcome to go online, create an account, add William & Mary to your “My Colleges” list, and begin the application.
Remember, William & Mary requires only one essay, the one that is already part of the Common App. We do have an optional additional submission (often submitted as a second essay) that is part of the W&M member questions (formerly referred to as the Supplement). The member questions screen should be available later this month. We also require only one recommendation (the one from your guidance counselor which is built into the Common Application’s Secondary School Report). You are welcome to submit 1-2 additional optional letters if you so choose (again this is built into the Common App).
Also, the most important thing to remember, you have time. Our Early Decision deadline is November 1. Our Regular Decision deadline is January 1. So take a breath, keep calm and apply on. We are here to help you, to support you and to read whatever you choose to submit.
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.
For the supplement, are we still allowed to create a video and post it on YouTube? If so, should we paste the YouTube link into the essay box?
@Rachel, you are allowed to do that but we tend to discourage it. Posting a video on YouTube is not confidential, and we consider every component of your application confidential. Additionally, there’s no guarantee that the link will work (there’s always room for error there). So it’s up to you but we put those disclaimers out there.
What happens if we send more than 2 recommendation letters? Sorry, overachiever here haha
@William & Mary Transfer, we ask students to not submit too many recommendations because if everyone submitted 4, 5 and so on, we’d never be able to review everyone’s application in a timely manner. Therefore, we ask freshmen and transfers to limit the number of recommendations submitted to no more than three (for freshman applicants that’s one from the counselor plus two additional and for transfers that’s two in addition to the College Official’s Report). And remember, additional letters (beyond the one from the counselor/College Official) are optional.
Ok! and as a college student with 50-60 credits completed, how much of a factor will my highschool grades be?
@William and Mary Transfer, high school grades will be a factor for any applicant. The more college courses we have to review, the less emphasis we have to put on your high school record. The fewer college courses we have to review, the more the high school transcript comes into play because it’s the most comprehensive record we have to go on.
Hi W&M,
Is my gpa too low to apply? This is my dream school, but I only have a 4.4/5 W gpa (3.6uw), and a downward grade trend (I’m a jr now). Other than that I have a predicted 34 act, a 5 on my Ap Euro test from sophomore year, am in 2 ap classes now and am taking 4 next year, with everything else accelerated (except for things like gym, health, etc). I want to apply for either bio or history, and get a secondary major in education. I think my ECs are my strongest point because I’ve taught Sunday school, served on the curriculum committee, taught piano lessons, had a summer job as an assistant teacher, been a math peer-tutor, (and done other non-teaching related clubs/ sports since frosh year). I’m applying ED, but I’m still worried because I know the lowest acceptance rate is for out of state girls. Do you think I still stand a realistic chance?
@E, if you’re interested in attending W&M it’s always worth applying. You’ll never know if you could have gotten in unless you apply. The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t get in. As long as you go in to the process understanding that we are selective and unfortunately send fewer offers of admission than we send deny positions you’ll go in with realistic expectations. But it never hurts to be hopeful and to try. Our process is holistic and considers such a variety of factors that every student stands a chance.
Ok thanks!