The Process of Processing Applications

We Admit It!  Applications are rolling in and we couldn’t be more thrilled.  We know that the anxiety doesn’t disappear the second you click submit, so we want to provide a detailed account of how applicants can keep up to date on the status of their W&M application.

Our first step is to download your application from the Common Application.  Once we do, we will send an initial email to you and your parents letting you know we’ve received your Common App and that your application is being processed (we will email you and your parents at the email addresses provided in your application).  Usually we are able to do this within a few business days of you clicking submit.  That is not always the case however especially given some of the technical difficulties both students and colleges are experiencing at this time.  Additionally, as we get closer to application deadlines, more and more students submit which causes a little bit of a back-log in our system.  So please, BE PATIENT.  Note: any materials we receive prior to the submission of your Common App (recommendation letters, transcripts, test scores, etc.) we simply hold on to until we receive your actual application.  So it’s perfectly okay for application components to come in one at a time or altogether.  Either way, we will begin a file for you once we receive your Common Application and work on matching that with other materials received prior to or after submission at that point.

Next we begin to match your application with the other required materials (application fee, transcript, standardized test scores).  This can take several weeks and even up to a month for those who apply Regular Decision and who submit close to the January 1 deadline.  Once we do match your application with its other components and we complete your application, you and your parents will get a second email to notify you that your application is complete.  Again, please BE PATIENT.  We simply need time to receive, open, alphabetize, match and compile tens of thousands of separate documents into 14,000 complete applications.  Please note that we are not able to confirm receipt of optional materials (art submissions, recommendation letters, etc.).  We receive thousands of such documents each year and in order to complete and review applications in a timely fashion, we cannot account for every individual optional component an applicant submits.

If for any reason we are missing any required component, we will email you, the applicant, letting you know what’s missing and how to submit those missing documents.  There is no penalty assessed.  We just ask that you respond to that email in a timely fashion.

Finally, decisions are released by email to the applicant only.  Please don’t ask us to forecast a decision release date.  There are hundreds of moving parts to reviewing applications and compiling our incoming class.  As soon as decisions are released, we will make that announcement via our website, this blog and our social media channels.

So, the morals of this story: 1) we have applications – YIPPEE, 2) keep an eye on your inbox for application status updates and a decision when the time comes and 3) BE PATIENT with us as we make our way through this process with you.

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