How to strengthen your William & Mary application

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What William & Mary weights most

William & Mary weights demonstrated interest and intellectual curiosity about their specific identity heavily—they're selective for applicants who understand they're a public liberal arts college, not a large research university, and who genuinely want that model. The school favors students with clear intellectual engagement (strong in humanities/social sciences particularly, given their government and IR strength) and those who show meaningful community connection or leadership in their actual communities rather than resume-padding; admissions here tends to reward depth over breadth. They're notably stricter on essays and demonstrated interest than peer public schools, and looser on test scores relative to other T30 publics—a 1370 is very competitive even with less stellar grades.

Supplemental essay strategy

Use the "Why William & Mary" prompt to show you understand the specific architecture of their education—mention the small upper-level seminars, the residential college system, or their alumni network in government/diplomacy if that aligns with your goals. Avoid generic "great professors" language; instead, reference a specific program (like their Robert Robb seminar, their location-enabled government internship pipeline, or their interdisciplinary major structure) and connect it concretely to what you want to do, not just why you want to do it somewhere prestigious.

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Where to focus next

If you only have time for one thing this month, do this:

1. Read 2 admitted-student essays from William & Mary (search official admissions site or Reddit r/wm). Notice the level of specificity — that's the bar.
2. Write the ‘why this school’ supplement first, before anything else. If you can't fill 250 words with school-specific reasons, pick a different school.
3. Find one current student to ask about their experience — admissions offices often connect prospective applicants with current students. The follow-up email becomes specific essay material.