My DS was one of the few last year that was accepted from the waitlist as an in-state engineering major. He was accepted on 5/8.
When he asked us what his chances from the waitlist were, we told him that historically it was 0% (which is what I had heard for engineering). He still put in his best effort on his waitlist response. He listed his senior year courses and grades (fall and in progress), listed recent honors, and wrote a letter in which he expressed his interest in UCLA and told what he had been involved in since the time of applying. Here are tips that I gave him:
- Let them know clearly that UCLA is your top choice, but do not beg or whine. Add some personal thoughts or experiences so it's not just a generic statement.
- Think about the parts of your application that were weaker, and bring out strengths in those areas even if those experiences did not seem significant.
- As with all application essays, connect your experiences to how they show your character (not just your accomplishments) or how they changed you/will affect you in college/beyond.
- Be positive and cheerful throughout; you want them to read your response and say, "This is the type of student we want at UCLA!"
We thought he wrote a good letter, but I don’t know if it had any bearing or not since I heard that others who did not submit anything were also admitted. Best of luck to all of you, and as many have said, know that you can have a great experience wherever you go. It was actually a little hard for my son to withdraw his SIR to his initial school since he started appreciating its positives and growing attached to it, but he absolutely loves it at UCLA, and being in its energetic community has brought out so much more in him. Being waitlisted made us appreciate it all the more.