Overheard in Committee: Testing Isn’t Everything

Admit It!  Now that you’ve gotten a taste of what goes on inside of Committee, you want more.  We know that those going through the admission process often feel like the whole thing is a toss-up, that the selection process is one shrouded in secrecy.  Our goal with the “Overheard in Committee” blog series is to provide some insight, to unshroud the process, to reveal some of its secrets.  So for those of you eager for more, here you go.

Overheard in Committee today: “The best thing about this application is the testing.”

We were reviewing an applicant whose SAT and ACT scores (they had taken both exams) were outstanding.  The student had a 1520 SAT (Critical Reading + Math) and a 33 ACT composite.  However, every other aspect of the application fell a bit flat.  The rigor of their coursework felt light, especially given the potential exhibited in their test scores.  The student took AP classes but fewer than we’d expect given the school’s offerings, and they had avoided some of the really challenging classes: they had opted to stop Spanish after the third level, they had never taken calculus despite taking pre-calculus in the 10th grade and scoring a 720 on the math portion of the SAT and they weren’t taking any science in their senior year.  With a mix of As and Bs they were barely in the top 10% of their class.  Their extracurricular activities were okay but lacked distinction.  Their recommendations and essays were satisfactory, but nothing above and beyond what we see in most applications we review.  In the end, the most and truly only compelling part of their application was their standardized test scores.

Clearly this student has some innate intelligence and academic aptitude as shown in their SAT and ACT results.  But that potential wasn’t replicated in other aspects of their application.  If it had been, they’d likely have been admitted, easily.  As it was, the Committee felt the student should be waitlisted.

We are in the process of building a class.  We want students who will contribute to all aspects of life at W&M (both in and out of class).  We want students who will challenge their peers, who will impact their classmates and hall mates, who will add perspective and energy to our campus.  With so many great students vying for a limited number of spaces, we just didn’t feel this applicant measured up.

There are some students who we admit because their academic merits are truly outstanding.  There are other students whose personal qualities compel us to admit them even though their academic merits aren’t quite as strong as others.  Then there are those students who are strong in both arenas and we admit some of them too.  It’s about bringing together the best of all aspects of our applicants.  Yes, great testing is a start.  But great testing doesn’t put you on the fast track to admit (likewise subpar testing doesn’t put you on the fast track to deny).  Testing, like every other application component, is one part of many.  It alone does not make or break an application.  We read every application twice and convene Committee so we can craft a class that reflects the best of the best across all academic and personal qualities.  In this applicant’s case strong testing but few other compelling qualities got them only so far.

More to come as we continue our deliberations.

Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate Dean of Admission

Categories: Admission, Faculty & Staff Blogs Tags: , ,
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