Wait Lists

For high school seniors, the question that is asked over and over is "Where are you going to college?" It can be a 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 extreme anxiety and uncertainty because the top school on their list didn't fully accept or reject them - they put them on their Waiting List. 

Over the years I have had many 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.  College wait lists are basically an insurance policy for the college.  It is their way of being able to make sure that they will have a full class of incredible students.  Each college is different in how they manage their wait lists.  Some rank students in order and then simply go in order to fill up any extra spots that are available in the pre-determined order.  Other colleges will use that pool of wait list candidates to look at all of the students they have accepted and see what areas of need they still have for the class and then compare that to their students on the wait list to see who would be the best fit.  

I need to be brutally honest (even though I know you don't really want to hear this...) and say that there is not a lot that you can do to improve the chance of coming off the wait list and being accepted to the college. 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.  Please be aware that wait list movement typically happens after the May 1st decision deadline so you will need to select one of your other preferred colleges who accepted you as your intended college and submit your deposit to that school.  Then, if you are selected from the wait list you can contact your schools and adjust from there.

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