Overheard in Committee: 2015 Early Decision Edition
We Admit It! Early Decision Committee has officially begun. During Committee, our entire dean staff gathers to discuss our many talented Early Decision applicants, and to build the Class of 2020 one student at a time. As part of these meetings, we have meaningful, thought-provoking and engaging discussions covering all parts of the application review process.
Throughout these discussions, we do our best to give our readers an inside look into what actually goes on behind closed doors. What questions are raised? What topics are posed? What stands out to committee members? To help answer such questions, we want to pull back the curtain, and let you in on what we discuss and why we discuss it. So, with that, we present our first “Overheard in Committee” blog of the 2015-2016 admission cycle.
Overheard in Committee: “What happened junior and senior year?”
The student whose application we were discussing had a downturn in grades in their last 2 years of high school. This student had taken a demanding schedule all throughout high school, receiving mostly As in both 9th and 10th grade. These As had turned into As, Bs and a C in 11th grade, however, once the student had elected to take additional AP courses. Looking at the student’s schedule, they were taking even more AP classes in 12th grade. As a Committee, we decided to contact the school to see this student’s most up-to-date academic performance. After speaking with the school, we learned that the student now had all Bs and Cs this current semester, and nowhere in the application did the applicant provide us with an explanation as to why this downturn in grades had taken place.
This situation raises some important points. The first is that while it is indeed important to challenge yourself academically, we are also looking to see that you’ve found a good balance between academics, extracurricular involvements and other commitments so that you are able to thrive in all of these areas. Given this student’s transcript, it looks to us like this student is struggling to excel in their chosen courses. The second is that as a Committee, whether you’re an Early Decision applicant or a Regular Decision applicant, we will be taking all of your available academic information into account before making a final decision. For some applicants this will take the form of submitted mid-year reports, for others, as was the case with this student, we may contact the school directly to gain further information. You want to always be sure that you are performing to the best of your ability in the classroom, so that when colleges review this information, you are portraying yourself in the best possible light. If situations ever arise that impact your academic performance, you are absolutely welcome to explain these situations in your application, or contact us directly.
We look at all parts of your application before making a final admission decision: classes you’ve taken, grades you’ve received, standardized testing, letters of recommendation, extracurricular involvements, essays, optional submissions, etc. All of these components are important, and shed light on the well-rounded individual that you are. This being said, you can likely imagine that in any college admission review process, your academic transcript is going to play a major role. College is tough. We need to be confident in your ability to succeed academically at William & Mary. Your transcript (or 4 year academic history) can go a long way to instilling that confidence in the Admission Committee.
Stay tuned for additional peeks into our Committee deliberation process. Committee will continue after Thanksgiving break, as we are still on schedule to send decisions out in early December.
Brad Harlan
Assistant 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.
When looking at transcripts, do you pay any attention to the “+” or “-” if any or would a B, B+, and B- all be considered equal?
@Greenbeans, we study all parts of an application as thoroughly and as honestly as we can. This means that we indeed take note of any different grade tiers on your transcript, “+’s” and “-‘s” included. We also take note of any contextual information that you provide us within your application, as well as any additional information that the individuals who write your letters of recommendation may provide us pertaining to your academic performance.
Thank you so much for blogging during the waiting process of college admissions! Admit It! has helped calm my nerves, and I really appreciate how thoroughly you all look at each application. I was wondering if you know a day admission decisions will be released? My family is getting annoyed with me checking my email every half hour, especially because it’s not even December yet. Thanks!
Thank you for your kind words @Nervous! We are on schedule now for an early December release date but we do not have a set or specific time we will release decisions. There are a lot of moving pieces in our office as Committee wraps up and our incredible Operations Department makes magic happen to prep decision emails. We definitely appreciate all of your patience as we keep work as efficiently and effectively as we can here in the office!
I really appreciate the blog posts! They provide some peace of mind during the nerve-racking waiting period. I just have a question regarding decision release. I totally understand that the decision release process can vary based on numerous factors. But is the schedule (so far) similar as last year’s? I know that last year, the decisions were released on the first Friday in December, which corresponds with this Friday the 4th; is it somewhat likely for the schedule this year to be similar as last year’s? Thank you in advance for your response!
@J, Similar to our response to @Nervous above: we unfortunately do not have an official date for when we will release decisions due to a multitude of factors here in our office. Like past years, we are on schedule for early December,. Keep an eye out for a “Decisions, Decisions” blog post here, and that means that a email will be coming to your inbox soon! Our social media accounts on facebook and twitter (@wm_admission) can be other great resources.
If things happened senior year that would cause a drop in grades should we call the admissions office to add an explanation.
@Matt, you are welcome to send your regional dean an email with an explanation if you would like. We can then add that email (or a PDF attachment) to your overarching application file. Contact emails for your region dean can be found on our “Meet the Committee” page of the website.
How many days does the W&M Committee discuss ED?
Thank you @Grace for your question! The number of committee days does change each year dependent on the number of applications we receive and the length of discussion on each applicant file. We are also simultaneously working to make decisions on Spring Transfer students. With Thanksgiving during this process, right now we are on Day #6.
My son shadowed a student before the college tour and within thirty minutes, I received a text from him that said, “I want to go here. There is no other college for me but W&M. I want to be part of the Tribe!” That being said, it’s been the most excruciating month waiting for a response from ED, at least for me. He has read this blog and said that it actually made him less nervous because he knew that the Admissions team was really taking a long look at each application. We had been on several tours at other colleges and I just knew that William & Mary was where he was going to grow and shine. I just hope that Admissions feels the same way too! 🙂 Fingers crossed!
@Michelle, this is such a wonderful story, thank you for sharing! We are so pleased that your son enjoyed his time on campus. We know the W&M students that participate in the shadowing program love meeting prospective students.
Would you be able to release the number of applications this year for ED in the fall?
@Wondering, we are not able to provide you with a definitive number at this point in time. This being said, we have received a terrific applicant pool this fall, which has lead to engaging and thoughtful committee discussions. We are still on pace to release decisions by the end of this week!
So, Admit it! (without any specifics) what was the funniest essay all about from the 2020 ED pool? If you cannot answer that, do regional deans have any sort of reserve number (of students) for their region?
@2020, we read several fantastic essays this Early Decision cycle, some funny, some heartfelt, some quirky, some all of the above. To answer your second question, we do not, in any way, shape, or form, operate with a reserve number or “quota” of students that we admit from a particular region. We do a terrific job of building a diverse freshman class with students from all different parts of Virginia, as well as from all different parts of the country and globe. This diverse and vibrant community is part of what makes W&M so great!
I think that w&m admissions definitely need a snapchat
@Naomi, you raise an intriguing point. We are currently in the process of exploring potential new marketing and communication strategies. Stay tuned…
I’m just wondering, would you say you received a generally larger or smaller amount of ED applications than usual this year? I’ve heard that applying Early Decision to schools is becoming increasingly popular with students everywhere. Also, I know you’ve said before that early applicants to W&M tend to be disproportionately in-state, has that been the case this year? Thanks!
@Curious, our number of ED applicants this year is consistent with the number of applications we have received over the past few years. Specifically, we received a healthy amount of both in-state and out-of-state applications. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance!
so does by the end of the week mean friday or sunday?
I relate to this question on a spiritual level
“Retweet if this is you.”
*retweets*
@Freaking Out, @Frantic and @ Most Important Question, please don’t freak out! You will be hearing from us by Sunday evening. Hang in there!
First of all, I’d like to thank you guys for doing this blog, it’s been an amazing stress reliever and I don’t think I would have survived the past few weeks without it! Second, I was wondering if you guys give more weight to a particular year, or if they’re all weighed equally. For example, if my grades in freshman and sophomore year were mostly B’s, but my I got straight A’s my junior year (with harder classes), would you give more consideration to my junior year grades? Thanks!
@Stu, thanks for your note! We’re happy to hear that you’ve found our blog useful. You ask a great question. We look at your entire academic history throughout high school, taking note of how you performed in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade. As part of this, we take any noticeable grade trends into consideration, such as upward grade trends like you outline above.
Thank you for your continuous updating and reply! I appreciate your pastience and full attention to every applicant. I am just wondering if you release the decisions at one time or you cut this process into several days? Well I just cannot help checking my inbox cause I feel a strong inpulse to sing( as my name implies) Actually I am just a little bit anxious right now. Wish everyone in the office have a nice day. Thank you again!
It was mentioned somewhere on the blog from previous years that they process their email list (accept/reject) all at the same time, and that the subject of the email is different for applicants that are accepted (“Good things…”). Even if they fire all emails at the same time it may take a while to finish sending all emails to the full the list depending on technical or connectivity issues between your email server and W&M, or where you are in the sort order of the email list so on.
Good luck to all!
Thanks! Good luck to you!!!
@Lalalalalalalala, @2020’s response is correct. All Early Decision applicants, regardless of their admission decision, will be receiving an email from our office by Sunday evening. All decision emails will be launched at the same time. We hope that you’re having a nice day, as well! Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
If you are wondering about last year, here is the email header with actual date/time stamp and what was written on the subject to ED acceptance:
From: William & Mary
Date: Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 6:01 PM
Subject: Good Things
Remember, there is some perfect college for every willing and able student! If you are a good fit WM will grab you, if not, don’t be sad, you just have not found the school that will let your talents shine, that’s all. Best of luck!
@ED, your last paragraph raises an important point. All of the current senior students who read this blog, and all of the other college applicants out there, will be at a terrific college or university next fall. Whether that’s William & Mary or some other fantastic place, we have no doubt that great things are in store for each of you.
Good Morning,
Will the Spring Transfer notifications also be sent out by Sunday?
Thank you!
@Stephanie, Spring Transfer notifications will be sent out next week. Hang in there! You will be hearing from us soon.
Will we be receiving decision emails before the weekend? I hope we do, as I go on vacation Friday night, and unfortunately I won’t be able to check until I get back! Just wondering so I can prepare for the inevitable wait if we find out over the weekend. Thanks so much.
@J, you will be hearing from us by Sunday evening. We unfortunately are not able to provide a more specific timetable than this. Hang in there! We hope that you have a nice vacation this weekend. You will be hearing from us soon.
I have loved reading these blog posts!!! I’m so excited for Sunday, and thank you for all the hard work!
@Texas Girl, thank you for your note! We enjoy working with all of our fantastic prospective students, and are happy to hear that you enjoy our blog posts.
First of all, thank you SO MUCH for these blogs! Although the process is still stressful, being in the loop definitely helps to relieve some of the anxiety! I know you are bombarded with questions about release dates for the Early Decision notifications, and I know you said that we would know by Sunday, but I was just wondering if there is any preference in terms of day of the week on which you post decisions? I saw that in past years it has been on a Friday, and I was just wondering if that is more likely to occur this year rather than having them released on a Saturday or Sunday? Thank you again so much for all of your hard work and for keeping us updated!
@Anxious, we’re glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed our posts! You are correct that in past years decisions have been sent out on Friday, however all we are able to guarantee at this point in time is that you will be hearing from us by Sunday evening. Either way, you will be receiving an email from us soon!
Has transfer committee adjourned? If not, can we expect to see a transfer committee blog soon?
@TribeTransfer, transfer committee is still going through its final phases. There will not be a transfer committee blog posted this fall, however spring transfer decisions will be sent out next week. When decisions are sent, a transfer “Decisions, Decisions” blog will immediately be posted. Hang in there, you will be hearing from us soon!
Thanks for the update! Is there any reason decisions for transfers are a bit delayed this year? I know last year they were released with the ED decisions. Regardless, I can’t wait to hear from you! I hope it’s before Thursday/Friday, I’ve got some people I’d like to celebrate (or cry) with next weekend. 🙂
@TribeTransfer, we’re simply trying to get all of the moving parts in place. We appreciate your patience as we finalize things on our end. Take some deep breaths and go do some fun things to relax! We’ll be in touch as soon as we can.
I will, thanks!
Do you anticipate transfer decisions to be early next week or later in the week? Thank you!
@Justin we are not able to provide specifics at this point. We will send decisions out as soon as we are able. We appreciate your patience!