William and Mary... what are my chances?

TTG
Fri, 04 May 2018 20:26:33 +0000

Congratulations on your hard work and success! As noted above, OOS females are the toughest category in applying to William and Mary, considering gender and in-state/out-of-state status. Accepted, unhooked OOS females, it seems, typically have an ACT in the low to mid 30s, are solidly in the top 10% of their graduating classes, and have ECs similar to yours. I’m certainly not saying you won’t be accepted and shouldn’t apply. You haven’t even put together your application or written your essays, and I have no way of knowing how it will all strike the readers. If it’s your dream school, then certainly apply. It’s just helpful to understand that it is very competitive.

If you love William and Mary, first, you have great taste. Second, here are some schools that you might also want to explore. All have great campuses and are in some ways similar to William and Mary, if not always exactly comparable. Most of these are also competitive, but you might have a higher likelihood of success.

Rhodes College–stunning campus in Memphis, great LAC. I love the photo on the Rhodes homepage:

https://www.rhodes.edu

Dickinson College–really beautiful campus in a small town in PA, great LAC

Gettysburg College–also in a historic town

Denison University–also a beautiful campus, great LAC, small town not far from Columbus OH

Elon University–rising national university in NC, similar in size to William and Mary, similar weather, completely remade (had been a regional LAC a few decades ago), beautiful campus; like WM has a nice student area nearby. It’s ranking is on an upward trajectory. Students love it there.

https://www.elon.edu/u/about/elon-at-a-glance/

Sewanee–spectacular natural setting in TN mountains, beautiful campus, high quality academics. Check out their video:

http://admission.sewanee.edu

Mount Holyoke–if you would consider an all-female college; beautiful campus; member of Five College Consortium (with Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, and U Mass Amherst) and students can take some classes and take advantage of opportunities at other member schools, which are located nearby.

https://www.fivecolleges.edu

Good luck, I hope you can visit WM and some of these other schools!