Anyone else still hoping to get off a wait list?

Parents Forum
1

<p>My son has accepted and is very happy with his 2nd choice school. He's beginning to get excited about it, but not as much as I'd expect. He would have been happy at the other schools that admitted him, too. However, he's still on the wait list for his #1 dream school. If an offer of admission comes through, I'm pretty sure he'll take it. </p>

<p>I'm just wondering if others are going through the same thing. I also wonder if this could mean he won't have a high enough level of enthusiasm to succeed.</p>

2

<p>We had a really hard time getting my DS to make a choice among Duke, CMU and Penn, down to the night before the answer needed to be in the mail. I think it was because he's hoping that he will get off the wait list at Cornell (maybe) and Harvard (don't hold your breath). As an engineering prospect who really liked the Cornell eng. school, he had a hard time getting enthused about the schools he got into. He chose Penn less for its engineering program than for the less tangible things - college atmosphere, housing facilities, etc.</p>

3

<p>oldtimeyfan and momoftwins, my S is in the same boat. He is happy that he has made a choice but if he gets a phone call from either of his two top choices, I'm pretty sure (at least as of now) that he would opt to lose his deposit. However, if it drags into June, the answer might be "no thanks."</p>

4

<p>Many schools will be notifying waitlisted students next week or two. Northwestern has already opened its waitlist. Watch CC next week or two and you will read many kids off waitlists (go to the College Admissions forum). Our daughter got off Duke and Cornell the first week of May last year. I think there will be many more kids accepted off the waitlist than last year because of Harvard and Princeton, but from what I have heard Cornell has accepted more kids this year to acct for HP's change of EA/ED policy.</p>

<p>Good luck to you all.</p>

5

<p>My son was accepted off the waitlist at the University of Delaware yesterday (via e-mail, package to follow). He has already committed to UMass - Amherst. Oh well, looks like one last college visit is in the cards! :)</p>

<p>Dan D</p>

6

<p>My D is waitlisted at Colby, but she is unlikely to attend if she gets accepted. I think she is feeling the love from the other schools that admitted her. Even though Colby is more academically selective than the school she chose to attend, I think she really considered fit when making her decision (she turned down other more highly ranked schools.) Also, those long, cold Maine winters are looking less appealing now.</p>

7

<p>We are in the same boat here as well. My son is pretty happy with his second choice college but he still hasn't contacted the football coach to tell him he is coming nor has he ordered the obligatory sweatshirt. He quietly tells me he is still waiting. I love his second choice school and his first choice. The waiting is so hard. I liken the whole thing to a bad break up. It is hard to give your heart to a new prospect when the breakup isn't yet complete...or maybe they will get back together? ;)</p>

8

<p>momoftwims - I feel your pain and your concern....</p>

<p>My D is on the waitlist at her #1 school. She got into 5 other schools but wants nothing to do with any of them. The day I mailed her deposit to her "pick" - which I thought she loved - she told me she didn't want to go there.
She sent her waitlist school the saddest email - about sending a deposit to a school she doesn't want to attend.
Her waitlist school sent an email and said they will be selecting students off the waitlist and to confirm you want to remain on it - I think she replied 10 seconds after the email was sent.
We are in limbo until something happens - I hate being in limbo at graduation!</p>

9

<p>Pain is right! He told me he just loves his school that has our deposit. He knows he'd be very happy there. I know he's serious, too. However, he admitted that he just isn't emotionally committing to it until he knows that his #1 choice is not a possibility anymore. #1 knows that he's waiting and will be there if he gets the nod.</p>

<p>Yup, breakups and/or limbo seem just about right.</p>

<p>DanD, enjoy that last visit of this season.</p>

10

<p>Housing and advising information came from DS's second choice school today. I said we could fill out the stuff after dinner. Seeing the big envelope just made him sad :(</p>

11

<p>my son hasn't heard yet but sure wants to get off his waitlist.</p>

12

<p>Financial aid package came in the mail yesterday with forms to sign. He just left it on the kitchen table. (sigh)</p>

<p>I'm actually thankful that AP exams are taking his mind off college right now. (How weird is that?) :confused:</p>

13

<p>


</p>

<p>My D1 declined Northwestern's admission for a school with less overall prestige that she felt offered more academically in her particular case, and was a better fit in other ways. She'll be glad to hear that some of the students who may have been disappointed with a placement on NU's waitlist will get a shot at their dream school - it'll be a win-win! :)</p>

<p>Interesting anecdotal note: We were at 'Preview NU' or 'Wildcat Days' (or whatever they're calling it now) and nearly every admitted student-parent(s) grouping we met had, by the end of the program, decided to attend a school other than Northwestern.</p>

14

<p>(JiffsMom: Care to elaborate re Northwestern? That's an intriguing comment. I would think that, for most colleges, getting a kid to attend the admitted-students program is almost tantamount to ensuring an enrollment. Why were so many of you turned off, even if only a little?)</p>

<p>I encouraged my son NOT to stay on his waitlists last year for just this reason. Objectively, it didn't really matter which college he went to, and I wanted him to enjoy the end of his senior year feeling good about the place he was 99.9% likely to attend even if he had stayed on one or more waitlists, rather than getting caught up in mental reservations and unrealistic fantasies. I don't think the no-waitlist approach would be right for everyone, by the way.</p>

<p>In any event, the whole issue is very short-term. In another 5-6 weeks, this will all largely play itself out, and the kids who right now aren't attaching to the colleges they are really going to attend will have plenty of time to do that before classes start in the fall. (Assuming they are psychologically healthy, of course.)</p>

15

<p>I am very suspicious of the wait list situation. A kid I know who was ever so qualified to get into a given school and did not--got into ivies, but preferred that LAC, cleared that waitlist as soon as she let the school know it was her first choice and would come if offered a spot. And this was well before May 1. I am wondering if the waitlist isn't becoming a way to manage yield in a way that it has not been used before. Too many schools are jumping the gun on the waitlist. I KNOW that many, many kids wait until May 1 to send out that acceptance. How the heck do they know they have the space unless they have several lists, one that is an accept if they accept waitlist, one a go to if we run short on acceptees, and one a courtesy waitlist.</p>

16

<p>Not sure where to say this, but I just heard a report on NPR (a program called On Point), in which the Rice admissions director said Rice is accepting no one off the waitlist, and that they actually received more enrollees (20-40) than they had budgeted for.</p>

17

<p><a href="JiffsMom:%20Care%20to%20elaborate%20re%20Northwestern?%20That's%20an%20intriguing%20comment.%20I%20would%20think%20that,%20for%20most%20colleges,%20getting%20a%20kid%20to%20attend%20the%20admitted-students%20program%20is%20almost%20tantamount%20to%20ensuring%20an%20enrollment.%20Why%20were%20so%20many%20of%20you%20turned%20off,%20even%20if%20only%20a%20little?">quote=JHS</a>

[/quote]
</p>

<p>In nearly all of the cases, it was because the students were genuinely torn between two very good schools - NU and insert school here - and were attending the admitted students program to tweak their final decision.</p>

<p>The schools that beat out NU were certainly noteworthy - Columbia, NYU, Duke, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, WUSTL, UC Berkeley, U Florida, Wellesley, etc...</p>

<p>I can understand how getting a final impression of the campus and hearing the final 'pitch' would factor heavily into a decision that could go either way.</p>

<p>The general feeling expressed by many was that whoever was coordinating the event at NU was lax on matching overnight students to hosts (to the point that there still weren't matchups as of the morning of event day registration - causing confusion and necessitating missing some scheduled events to go back to Norris to get assigned a host that was too busy to spend time with the visitor, anyway) and students felt like cattle being shuttled around to generic presentations instead of getting the feeling that NU was trying to put their best foot forward, so to speak. Several people were also less than impressed with the classes they sat in on. Many, many people were put off by the fact that they had to pay a fee to attend NU's event, and finally - though this is a very trivial complaint - the bookstore ran out of the gratis NU Planners the admitted students were supposed to get so all they got was a Bic-quality disposable plastic NU ballpoint pen.</p>

<p>More than a few parents were grumbling about NU's cheapness towards their visiting admitted students considering how much tuition NU would be billing them. They felt that they would be making a serious mistake sending their kids to a school that had no problem emptying their bank accounts, but couldn't be bothered to make a good impression that would make the admitted students feel like they would be valued members of NU's community.</p>

<p>I don't know about the other schools, but the school my D1 decided to decline NU for had a much more organized, personalized, and impressive admitted students program, which ultimately inspired much more confidence in how that school handles their academics/business/affairs, etc. - and no fee was required.</p>

<p>Please note that this is not a general condemnation of NU, which is an exceptionally good school. They may have just been having a few bad days - it happens!</p>

18

<p>Re CPT's post--I think you're on to something about the three kinds of waitlist. It would be nice to know which bracket you're really in so that you could make your decision about whether to go on the waitlist. My daughter declined the Northwestern waitlist (although my husband and I would have been happy if she had stayed on it), but stayed on Cornell. We don't think she'll get off that because it's for Hotel, and almost no one declines Hotel. But she's already gotten a roommate off Facebook for her accepted school and is mentally already there (so much for AP exams).</p>

19

<p>The accepted students weekend can make a big impression on a kid who truly is undecided. It's unfortunate when it doesn't work out since it is not necessarily a reflection on the experience at the school. It's too often a tribute or liability of those directly interacting with the student guest. You get the wrong host with the wrong crowd, and it can be a turn off. Even if the school is right for the kid.</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
How the heck do they know they have the space unless they have several lists, one that is an accept if they accept waitlist, one a go to if we run short on acceptees, and one a courtesy waitlist.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>why would a school bother with a courtesy waitlist?</p>