cameliasinensis

Thanks for mentioning that; I checked my spam folder and there it was. I'm waitlisted.

eventer31590

I wonder how many are on the waitlist?

TheOneCurlyFry

Mine was in spam, too.

I got it 21 minutes ago, according to gmail.

with_one_voice

Waitlisted.


I don't care, I'm going to my #1, PENN!

meadweb

I got freaking waitlisted. oh well.

fusiondogg

Decision: REJECTED
Stats:
SAT:780 CR 750 Math 730 Writing
SAT IIs:690 US History 730 Math I
GPA: School doesn't do weighting, so idk
Rank: Top 15% of class

Other stats:
Essays:Good
Teacher Recs:Good
Counselor Rec:Good
Hook (if any): 1st generation Asian-American, but being from a wealthy town in NJ probably killed me.

Location/Person:
State or Country:New Jersey
School Type: Public
Ethnicity:Asian
Gender:Male

Other Factors: weak ECs I guess

General Comments: Surprised that I got rejected, but then considering that guy before me w/ 800s on his SAT IIs and 5 5's got waitlisted, the Williams admissions board must be on drugs.

fusiondogg

How the heck did you get waitlisted? [referring to previous waitlisted girl]

Abhi08544

Around 1000 people have been waitlisted.

mikenthemaddog66

Decision: WAITLISTED, gotta love yeild protection

Stats:

• SAT: CR: 770 M: 800 W: 690
• SAT IIs: 800 mathII, 760 USH, 740 Physics
• GPA: 103.6
• Rank: 3/727
• AP/IB scores: 4 5s, 1 four
• Courseload: AP Calc BC, Chem, Bio, English, and US Government
• Other stats: 4 years of CTY
  

Subjective:

• Essays: Great
• Recommendations: Great (One of the best in my Career)
• Hook (if any): Student Council President/Improvisational Actor
  

Location/Person:

• State or Country: NJ
• School Type: public
• Ethnicity: WASP
• Gender: male
• Major strength/weakness: Strength - my application, Weakness - my interest, I didn't fit into the Williams mold, preppy athelte
  

Other Factors:

• Why I think I was waitlisted: I showed no interest. I never visited and never will. I honestly just applied because it was easy.
• Other thoughts:

I never saw a Purple Cow
I never hope to see one
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.

I got into Columbia, Cornell and Chicago, all of which I would choose over Williams.

Ksarfeks

Hey, guys can someone tell me the email address you got the letter from? I have gotten nothing yet - and there is nothing at my spam folder definetely. Oh, crap...

eventer31590

fusiondogg: me? I personally think they must throw the applications down a stairway and pick up the ones that go the farthest, lol. I must be good but not great or so appealing since Harvard, Williams and Yale waitlisted me. That's fine and I can live with it, as it’s an honor in my book to even be waitlisted at Harvard since they rejected so many. I thought I would get into Williams though (not to mention Princeton who outright rejected me). Williams contacted me about a diversity visitation weekend back in October and I didn't go because I was taking my SAT 2 Math that weekend. I don't know if that made a difference because they thought I wasn't that into Williams, but I will definitely write them a letter reaffirming my interest and desire to matriculate.
I hate waitlists, don't you, this whole thing was supposed to end today and now they go and drag it out longer.

cameliasinensis

Ksarfeks: Mine was from pscsprd@williams.edu.

Dionysus

Accepted

Grace

To those of you who are on the wait list, I'm sad that you did not get in. You probably are not in the mood to be consoled, but I will try anyway. With these small schools, the admissions people are trying to create the best possible finely-balanced community. That means that they need to find the proverbial oboist, the classics fanatic, the person who is likely to lead the Outing Club, representation from all parts of the country and many parts of the world, and so forth. The people who are put on the wait list are people the admissions committee members believe meet the college's requirements and qualifications. There isn't anything at all wrong with you. In fact, you must be really amazing to be qualified for Williams.

What has happened to most of you is that they only need so many oboists (to make up an example) or whatever else and someone else had a characteristic the college needed for this particular year. In another year, the result might well have been different. All of which is to say that it isn't about you personally (except maybe if you were a person who really wasn't very interested in Williams or didn't manage to sell yourself as someone who was looking for and would take advantage of what Williams offers -- and in that case, you could have been rejected outright unless they gave you the benefit of the doubt).

As you try to decide whether to pursue the wait list, it may help to know something about how Williams does its list. I will tell you my understanding of it and I hope that, if I have anything wrong, someone will jump in and correct me.

My understanding is that Williams does not rank people on the waiting list. Instead, it creates a large pool of qualified applicants with a wide variety of characteristics from which to draw if it needs to top off the class after the May 1st deadline. Some years there are spaces and some years there aren't. Assuming there are spaces, who gets in off the list is going to depend largely upon which of the accepted students decide to come to Williams and which decide to go elsewhere (or to take a gap year). Suppose you were from Region X of the country. If a very low percentage of the admitted Region X applicants decided to come to Williams, that would improve your chances of getting off the list. Geographical representation is one of the easiest examples, but there are a lot of other characteristics Williams will be looking for and the wait list admits are probably picked for having a blend of needed characteristics. From the outside, it is almost impossible to guess who might be picked other than to note that historically gender balancing was one important characteristic in the use of the list -- the school aspires to a 50/50 male/female ratio in each class.

What you do now about Williams is a really personal choice. It has to do with your emotional make up and your tolerance for ambiguity, your family's financial situation (although, if you do get in, Williams tends to be generous), how you feel about your other choices, and a whole host of factors that are personal to you.

I don't want to spread false hope but, on occasion, students who felt passionately about Williams rode the wait list to the end, took a gap year (and used it well), and were accepted when they reapplied. That's rare. Over the years I have talked with a few people who did it and each one said that he or she had applied to a very different set of schools the second time around and had developed a real warmth towards other places so that he or she was prepared to move on and take other other opportunities if Williams didn't come through. That attitude was hard-won in the light of spending another nine months hoping for Williams.

If you decide to go with the wait list, explore on CC to see what steps people recommend that you take (such as demonstrating interest and updating your application). There's a lot of good advice out there. There's also some very good emotional advice about things you might take into account as you decide whether to pursue the wait list and as you wait. Also, your parents, your guidance counselors, your teachers, and other adults in your life may be a source of important advice and support if you give them the chance.

Good luck to each of you.

fae_07

Grace, extremely well said. I was just accepted at Williams, which I didn't think would happen at all. It seems like such luck of the draw - yesterday I was rejected from Yale, Dartmouth, and Columbia and waitlisted at Harvard...I didn't expect to get into any of them, but was thinking hopefully. And the day was a bummer. Then, today, my dreams came true. I really believe that everything happens for a reason and that we prospective students will end up at places that are, for whatever reason, right for us. So. Congratulations to everyone that was accepted, my condolences to those who weren't - looking down this list I feel like each new person that posts is more deserving of the placement than I am lol. And...I hope everyone comes out of this stressful, awful process SO happy. thanks for all the support, everyone!