Overheard in Committee: A Good Read
We Admit It! Despite a few interruptions from Mother Nature, Committee is progressing well. We’ve admitted some really outstanding students, we’ve started to see the Class of 2019 take shape and we’ve eaten our collective weight in M&Ms, Hershey’s Kisses, Goldfish, Combos, cupcakes, donuts, Animal Crackers, fruit snacks and potato chips. But we know your primary interest is in what was said, not what was eaten. So dear readers, here’s this week’s installment of Overheard in Committee.
Overheard in Committee: This was just a really enjoyable read.
We were sitting around the conference room table, discussing an applicant who was fine on paper – strong even – but just not terribly distinctive from the other fine – strong even – applicants we had already reviewed today. As the regional dean was presenting this student’s case, she acknowledged that both she and the other reader (remember, every application is read by two different members of our staff, one of whom is always the student’s regional dean) found the application to be a genuinely enjoyable read. What exactly does that mean? It just means that as each component of the application was read (the transcript, extracurricular resume, letters of recommendation, essays and in this case an interview) the readers got good vibes. Each piece of the application built on the previous one and altogether painted a genuinely good picture of the student applying.
Good reads stand out to us because we truly get a full picture of the applicant. Good reads feel different, elevated somehow from the other files we read. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more competitive or better applicants, they just come across in a very personable way. With a “good read” we often feel like we genuinely got to know the student applying. Not all good reads are admitted; and that’s because a good read alone cannot compensate for lackluster areas of an application. But, when the application was strong overall just not distinctive in any one area, a “good read” can be a salient factor in determining the outcome.
We hope this shows a bit more of the human side of what we do. Yes, part of our job is to look at numbers (GPAs, SATs, number of AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes taken), but admission is often more of an art than a science. We, the Committee, are real people, with real emotions and real reactions to the stories we read in application files. There are times when we can’t help but be moved by the compelling tales we read or the feel we get from an application file. The class we are creating is made up of individuals; not numbers or credentials (although those of course play a role). Sometimes a good read is just that. We appreciated the application but it may not amount to enough to be admitted. Other times a good read is just the tip factor we need to move us to vote to admit.
As we return to Committee after our late start (thank you Mother Nature for our third snowfall in as many weeks) we will continue to look for good students, good stories and yes, good reads.
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.
It’s interesting that the committee finds this applicant to stand out because of the holistic read of the application (and reasonably strong/solid) – but why was the applicant not found strong enough to be admitted? Is it top scores and GPA that remain the bottom line even in this holistic and thorough process that WM follow?
@Parent, sorry if we weren’t clear. We didn’t actually reveal the decision we made on this particular applicant discussed in this blog. As we said, sometimes good reads aren’t admitted but of course that means sometimes, even many times that are. When the student is strong and a good read they are often admitted (as was the case for the applicant referenced in this blog). What we said in this blog is that a good read cannot compensate for lackluster credentials (there can be good reads who lack the strength we look for in an an application). In those cases good reads may not be admitted. But there are times when a strong good read, as we said, lacks the distinction in any area that other applications do have, whether that be distinction in academic qualities, extracurricular involvement, essays, background, life experience, etc. In Committee, every application is strong (and strong for a variety of reasons) that there are good reasons to admit all of them. Unfortunately, we know we can only admit some. We do our best, holistically, to determine which students (all of whom are strong in their own way) are the most compelling. We hope this helps to clarify things.
Glad to hear more about the process! I’m still a bit anxious, but I love how you guys help the students/parents gain a better understanding of the admissions process. It’s very personal and nice to know what’s happening along every step of the way.
Are you guys going to send out decisions around March 26th like you have the last couple of years?
@KD2015, we’re glad you find the blogs helpful. We will release decisions by April 1. We don’t predict a release date/time in advance because it’s really impossible to do so. All we can say is they will be out by April 1.
Thanks for the clarification – which again shows how thorough your selection process is. Good luck for the remaining reads! 🙂
Hi,
When will you send out or start sending out notifications to Monroe Scholars? Thank you.
DGP, those notifications will be mailed early this week.
Will you be writing an “Overheard in Committee: Spring Transfer Edition” anytime soon?
Fall Transfer*
@Transfer, yes, absolutely. We will do so in April when we meet for transfer committee.
1. Does this mean that if we haven’t received the cypher “likely” postcard, you are done with those and we will be going through committee?
2. Does this mean that if we haven’t received the postcard, we are not in the running for a Monroe scholarship?
@NOVA Dad, we mailed our last postcards the last week of February. We are done sending those now that we are in Committee. It is absolutely possible that a student can be a Monroe Scholar even if they did not receive a postcard (the review on any one student’s file simply may not have been complete while we were sending postcards). Monroe decisions were mailed this week. Of course if any of the very last applications we review are Monroe Scholars those will simply be mailed a bit later.
Were Monroe scholars also notified by email or just by mail?
@Parent, Monroe Scholars are notified only by mail unless they live abroad in which case they are notified via email.
Have you began the process of revisiting deferred student’s applications yet? Also, are all of deferred students’ applications revisited in committee or all they read individually? Thanks.
@Deferred, all deferred students are re-reviewed individually by the regional dean. And yes, at this point we have revisited deferred students. As we mentioned previously, if a deferred student merits a look in Committee, they will be brought to Committee. If they do not warrant a look then we might not bring them to Committee. Deferred students were reviewed by Committee during ED.
Do many deferred students’ applications not make it to committee?
Are wait listed students voted on in committee or is that separate?
How far along are you in the reviewing process?
Thank you so much for your patience and responsiveness!
@JB, we don’t really take count of how many deferred students are reviewed in Committee. If a deferred student’s application warrants a look in Committee we will review it in Committee. Some waitlist students come from our Committee deliberations. We are moving along in the process but certainly still have plenty of work to do.
I read in an earlier blog that deferred students don’t get looked at until the end of the regular applications. Was this just the re-read or do you wait to look at them until the end of Committee as well? Just curious, because the impression that would give is that you’ve statistically given all the spots away before you looked at a deferred applicant again.
@Just Curious, we review (re-read) deferred applicants just before we begin Committee so no worries, there are absolutely spots remaining.
My winter term grades were released today, is it possible to share them with the admissions staff?
@Prospective Tribe, you are welcome to send them in. We can’t promise we will be able to review them given the point we’re at in our cycle but we’ll do our best.
Hi,
I was admitted to the college ED, and in December, I got an email, saying that I will most likely be a Monroe Scholar. I heard that you sent out Monroe Scholar notification, but I did not get anything in the mail yet. When exactly did you send out the mailings? Also, were any ED students who were sent the email not become Monroe Scholars?
Thank you!
@Admit, the Monroe decision letters were mailed a few days ago (March 9 to be exact). We generally advise students to give it a week for the packet to arrive. Everyone who received an email from Dean Wolfe in December saying they were likely to be named a Monroe Scholar did receive the award so hopefully you’ll receive the official notice in the next few days.
OK, thank you so much! I was so worried.
Sorry to bother you, but it seems odd that no one here or on cc seems to have received a Monroe notification. Any chance they didn’t make it out on the 9th as you expected?
@Inquiring Minds, those letters were mailed on the 9th. We wouldn’t read too much into nothing being mentioned on CC. There is a post on CC from a W&M Scholar and those letters were mailed on the same day.
@Inquiring Minds, just to follow up on your inquiry from yesterday, we discovered that the decision letters we mailed on March 9 experienced an unexpected delay in arriving in mailboxes. As a result, we did send an email to all Monroe and W&M Scholar award recipients this evening to let them know the good news.
Thanks so much, admissions folks. When no students or parents had posted about the Monroe Scholars on College Confidential more than a week after the packets were supposed to have been mailed, I assumed something had gone astray.
My daughter was thrilled to receive the “Good News” email this evening. Thanks for taking the extra time to make sure the students heard quickly! We’ll all look forward to receiving the official packet whenever it wends its way northward.
It was also thoughtful of you to update the blog replies at a time when you’re obviously trying to finish reading thousands of applications. This blog is the most timely and informative one I’ve seen; I especially appreciate your speedy response to student and parent questions.
Here’s to the defeat of the snack cart and the completion of the process for the class of 2019!
@Inquiring Minds Want to Know, thanks so much for the shout out. So thrilled to hear that your daughter received the good news last night. And we’re happy to update the blog and keep our applicants and their families in the loop. It’s the least we can do as we all go through this process together.
I was wondering if a 3.85 (weighted) GPA is too low to get in? W&M is my dream school, and I know that you all review applications holistically, however would such a GPA be detrimental to my chances for admission? In addition, would activities such as being an Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts as well as Model United Nations be helpful in raising whatever chances are lowered by my less than stellar GPA?
@Eric, it looks like you posted a similar question yesterday on a different blog post. We responded to that comment. We’re you able to see that response?
Hello, I am currently a junior at a public school in Maryland. I am planning on applying ED for the class of 2016. What is William & Mary’s acceptance rate for girls specifically out of state?
@Nika, so glad you’re interested in W&M. Our out-of-state admission rate overall is around 25-28% (varies a bit from year to year). The admit rate does increase during ED. The pool is much smaller so it’s easier for any student to stand out.