Waiting Lists

For high school seniors, the question that is asked over and over is "Where are you going to college?" It can be exciting to share the answer when it is the school you had your heart set on for your future. It can be overwhelming when you still haven't decided and are still trying to figure out which school is the best fit for you. For some students though, this question still brings anxiety and uncertainty because the top school on their list didn't fully accept or reject them - the college put them on their Waiting List. I have had several students stop in to talk about their feelings about life in limbo and I understand how difficult it can be as I'm not always the most patient person either.

I need to be brutally honest (even though I know you don't really want to hear this...) and say that you don't have much control about if you'll get off the wait list. You need to make plans and start getting your mind set on attending one of the other schools who accepted you. If, in time, you find out that you have the opportunity to attend the school that had previously put you on their wait list, then you can re-evaluate and decide if you still want to attend. The reality is that very few students actually end up being selected off the wait list for acceptance. (Once again, this is why it is so important to tell colleges as soon as possible when you know that you will not be attending in the future so that they can make plans to potentially accept other students off their wait list.)

In the mean time, if you decide that you want to remain on a college's waiting list, be sure to follow their directions (usually mailing back a post-card indicating your desire) and then you can also consider sending them a letter updating them about any new achievements, awards, or other information that you have accomplished since your application to their college so that might be able to take that into consideration when making their waiting list decisions.

There have been a lot of articles written recently about the college waiting lists. If this is a situation you are currently facing, perhaps these articles will help you:

Waitlisted or learning to live with uncertainty

3 College wait list mistakes to avoid

Skip the college wait list

As always, if you have questions about the waiting list process, please feel free to stop in and see me!