Who's in, Early Decision?

jwwrox
Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:23:50 +0000

I just got accepted from VA, and I’m personally very surprised about this. I think my essays and recommendations are what got me in, personally, because my GPA and rank are horrible and my school isn’t even competitive. I have taken my small school’s hardest curriculum, but I never took an AP class (none were offered). I will have 5 years of two foreign languages (3 of Spanish and 2 of French, no 4th year) and no physics. Based on last years class, my stats put me in the bottom 4% as far as class rank is concerned (however, my grades had a big upward trend junior year). My advice would be to put everything you have behind getting into W&M if it is your top choice (interview, etc.) and write really heartfelt essays (don’t brag). I didn’t even put in why my grades changed so suddenly for the better in the extra explanation thing… so I don’t know if I’d recommend explaining your grades unless you have a real reason for getting a bad grade (death in the family, got cancer, that sort of thing). Also, focus on the future in your essays; they want to know how you will better the W&M community rather than why you got a C in Spanish II.

My unweighted GPA is 3.36.
Class Rank: 25/98
SAT 1: 2130 (760CR, 680M, 690W)
Subject Tests: 720USH, 710Lit
Good Recommendations (my math teacher said that I am the “best math student” she has right now, for example).
Good essays
President/Founder of Interact Club
Academic Team Captain
Democratic Party Volunteer
Active in Church Youth