This is the official discussion thread for College of William and Mary Class of 2029 RD applicants. Ask your questions and connect with fellow applicants.
FYI - Just to let people know it looks like cypher cards are starting to come out. My informed delivery shows one today.
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I can confirm - we appear to be getting one as well.
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I am new to these cypher cards. I see that my daughter is getting one in the mail today. What do they mean? It seems crazy if they send that card to an applicant but end up rejecting him/her.
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I can’t imagine that they would reject someone getting a cypher card? It seems like the standard is “you don’t hear anything until March”, so it would seem unnecessary to send out a card to someone who wasn’t actually getting in. I feel like I’ve heard urban legends about something like that happening, but I would be very skeptical about that. So: congrats!
Separately, I wonder if they time the sending of these cards to coincide with UVA announcing EA. I would expect that’s the case … print them up, have them ready to go, and then when UVA declares their EA announcement date, send them out?
Separately separately, I would love to see W&M move to an EA model, or, even better, a rolling admissions model. Even just for all of those SCEA students who can only apply to public schools during the SCEA window and who would love to have something in hand by mid-autumn. I’m sure it would wreak havoc on their prediction models, but imagine they’d get things sorted after a year or two.
I agree. It would seem particularly cruel to send a cypher card to a kid that they end up rejecting.
Cypher cards mean you are accepted. They are just letting certain students know that earlier.
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Woohoo! D25 just received the cypher card. I am so glad the admissions dept does that. It takes so much pressure off the long wait for spring decisions to come out.
OOS student. 4.0 unweighted, I.B. Student, good essays and ECs, and leadership.
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My daughter received one as well. OOS (Texas), high grades with many APs and strong SAT., very good ECs and strong essays (i think). I don’t know if how many receive this. May need to check 2028 thread. But congrats to all (hoping for good news following this in March)
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My daughter got one too! I read somewhere else (maybe a Reddit? I can’t remember) that they send to the top 7% who apply RD.
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Actually, they send them to 25%, not necessarily the top.
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My daughter received a cypher card yesterday or the day before. I’m so glad I’m on this website because otherwise I wouldn’t have any idea what it means! OOS (NJ), 103.3 weighted GPA from a mid-sized mid-resourced medium size public school, top 3% in a class of 325. 1540 SAT, solid but not extra special ECs and essays (trying to be objective; I believe she’s extraordinary but in the scheme of college applicants, no spikes or hooks). Her EA applications have brought some nice acceptances but most recently a deferral from one of her top choices, so this postcard was a nice boost while we wait for RD notifications. Good luck to all!
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Any thoughts on having submitted a 33 ACT? Second guessing the decision to submit. I know it’s at the Middle 50%, but he’s OOS so the bar is probably higher. Top 5% of class, 4.0 unweighted, 13 AP classes, submitted four AP 5s, and National/International level unique EC (sport).
Conventional wisdom I’ve heard is that any score over the 25th percentile is a good candidate for getting submitted, as not submitting a score could suggest to the admissions officers that the score was somewhere below the 25th percentile. Your son has a strong profile, and being male will help. I wouldn’t second-guess it. Good luck!
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My daughter got in OOS with a 33. It’s a solid score. My son got in OOS test optional. Good luck!
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Have they sent out all 1693 semifinalist emails? I saw someone on another forum received one recently.
There may be a sporadic one here and there as they review the final batch of applications. The finalist interviews are mid March so there won’t be many more.
Excited for you-all! My D is an OOS W&M senior about to graduate, has been a tour guide for the school for almost three years, still has close friends from her freshman year dorm, great supportive profs,
zero regrets! She has been feeling a little sad this year to say goodbye to her undergraduate experience!
ETA, meant for everyone here.
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My D had an equivalent SAT score (much higher verbal than math) and was admitted OOS in 2021.