Hi everyone!
I just got waitlisted at Williams College and I’m not sure how waitlists work. Can you only remain on the waitlist of one college? Do you enroll at another college and then back out if you get off the waitlist? Thanks for the help!
From my understanding of waitlists you can be on as many of them as you want and most schools will let you know if you get off the wait list sometime after May 1 once they know how many spots they still need to fill. You should enroll at another college even if you’re on a waitlist because you might not get off. If you do get off of the waitlist and want to accept your spot then you will lose whatever deposits you have put down on the school you had originally committed to. You will definitely want to check Williams College waitlist policy in particular though as it may be different than what I have told you.
Waitlist basically means you weren’t accepted at the moment and depending on how many spots open up (not all accepted students r gonna choose to go to Williams if they get into other schools), you have a shot of being admitted from the waitlist pool. Waitlists don’t relate to other schools, meaning you can be waitlisted at many schools. Each school has 3 outcomes: accept reject and waitlist. You can be waitlisted at multiple schools, to answer ur question. If you get off the waitlist, you don’t HAVE to accept, but if you do (meaning you are choosing Williams or whatever waitlist school you accept as your final school), you must withdraw apps from other schools you are waitlisted from
Thanks @getaclucy and @hungrihippo !
Being put on a waitlist means you may be offered an admissions spot if the college’s yield is less than expected. “Yield” is the percentage of admitted students who actually choose to attend. In some cases colleges admit a lot of students off the waitlist, in some cases zero. Last year 2343 students were waitlisted at Williams out of 5755 who were not admitted. Of the 2343 offered a spot on the waitlist only 864 actually accepted a spot on the waitlist (important step) and 23 were offered admission. The numbers will vary from year to year. Accept your waitlist spot, demonstrate continued interest and hope for the best
@Wje9164be This is what it says in my waitlist letter: “The total number of students on the waiting list each year has ranged between 350 and 600. In the past five years, 30 students have been admitted from the waiting list, on average.”
Where did you get your information?
From Williams Common Data Set which is available online. You could look up prior years as well
I feel you, I was waitlisted to Williams… and Swarthmore and Scripps and Wellesley :(. The waiting game is going to be hard, but best of luck! I hope you get in somewhere you really like!
Excessive “summer melt” can also cause admission from wait lists, if too many who paid deposits change their minds or are accepted from other schools’ wait lists, creating ripple effects.
@Irides Thanks so much, that’s so nice of you to reassure me 
I’m sorry to hear you weren’t accepted into any of those schools, but I feel like a waitlist is better than a rejection - at least they think we’re qualified! The waiting game sucks, though. Good luck to you too!!
Hi @Wje9164be , do you think that there is anything to do to enhance our chances of being admitted from the waitlist?