A public research university located in suburban Williamsburg, William and Mary is old—like Colonial Williamsburg old. In fact, founded in the 1600s, W&M is the second-oldest university in the country. In spite of being a public school, William & Mary is small, with just over 6,000 undergrads, but the beautiful campus extends to more than 1,000 acres. The school is academically competitive with over 40 undergraduate programs and a 2019 acceptance rate of 36.9%
The Prompt
William and Mary: Beyond your impressive academic credentials and extracurricular accomplishments, what else makes you unique and colorful? We know nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of the type of person you are. Anything goes! Inspire us, impress us, or just make us laugh. Think of this optional opportunity as show and tell by proxy and with an attitude.
The W&M Essay: A Foreword
You might notice that, while William & Mary gives you 500 words to write your essay, the box on the Common App actually gives you a limit of 650. We recommend sticking with what the university tells you. It would be a shame to waste 150 words if the admissions committee won’t read them. Besides, while we want you to flesh out your essays (more on that in a moment), concise writing is always best. Also, W&M says their essay is “optional.” In case you didn’t know this by now, nothing is optional. Write the essay.
Thinking about the Essay
We love this essay prompt and while some universities ostensibly encourage you to get creative, we think William & Mary actually means it. While W&M is a public school, it has a bit of an old-school liberal arts college vibe. Think outside the box here. The point of these essays is to allow your choice schools to get to know a bit about your personality that’s not present elsewhere in your application. They are your sole opportunity to morph from a name on a page to a real-live, eating and breathing human. Think about the rest of your application for a moment. What is the story your resume tells? How about the classes you’ve taken and in which you excelled? What do you think your teacher recommendations will say about you? While we hope those components of your application tell a story about your trajectory towards a niche academic area (it’s important to present yourself as an expert in a specific field), we also hope they might tell something about who are you. Are you a leader? A great speaker? Whatever you think the story is, pick another 2-3 adjectives that describe you. If you’re unsure, text a friend and ask.
Writing the Essay
Before you start writing, read the prompt again. Pay attention to the part that says “Inspire us, impress us, or just make us laugh…” We would approach this essay in one of two ways with our clients: We would have them either try to move the admissions committee emotionally or make them laugh. If the primary goal of the essay is to try to let them get to know a part of your personality not present elsewhere in your application, the secondary goal is to try and connect with the reader. Imagine, a group of adults who doesn’t know you and is probably underpaid sitting in a room reading thousands of essays of well-qualified applicants. How are you going to set yourself apart? In addition to all of the impressive accolades you’ve earned throughout high school, it’s prudent to try and connect with that read, as well. Humor (if you can pull it off) is always a great way to humanize yourself.
With all that in mind, think about two adjectives that describe you. Now, come up with two stories that demonstrate each one of those personality traits. The stories shouldn’t be big and existential. They should be simple and rich in detail. You can talk about your drive to school or an outing with a friend. (Just don’t talk about something they’ll already learn from your resume). The story should be humorous or evoke emotion. Each story should have a beginning, middle, and end. This prompt is also inviting you to get creative. Like really. So feel free to break form here. We work with kids who write poetry as a response.
Need help with your essay? Reach out to us. We’re great at helping students come up with creative responses.