Trying to understand W&M's acceptance rate

I just can't seem to make sense of W&M's acceptance rate. Does anyone have a simple explanation for what it is and what it means for an applicant?

Sure, happy to help clarify! The acceptance rate at a college like William & Mary (W&M) is the percentage of applicants who were offered admission. For example, if W&M received 10,000 applications and offered admission to 3,000 students, the acceptance rate would be 30% (3000 admitted students divided by 10000 applications).

Looking at a school's acceptance rate helps you understand how competitive admission is. A lower acceptance rate typically means the school is more selective and admitting fewer students relative to the number who applied.

Keep in mind that this doesn't necessarily reflect your individual chances of being accepted. Your chances largely depend on how your grades, test scores, extracurriculars, essays, and other application components compare to those of other applicants. A more direct way to gauge your chances would be to compare your profile against W&M's admitted student profile, which provides the middle 50% ranges for test scores and GPA. If you find you fall in or above these ranges, it indicates you'll likely be a competitive applicant.

Remember, though, that admissions is holistic. This means not only your test scores and GPA, but your essays, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, and any additional information provided are considered.

Continue to research and understand W&M's specific admissions requirements and what they're looking for in potential students. This will give a more comprehensive picture of your fit and your chances of admission.