D is on 2 wait lists, but got accepted into her 3rd choice school with good merit aid. One of the wait list schools, IMO, is equivalent academically to the school she got into, but it is closer to home and more urban, making it much more attractive to D. I’m just not sure fighting to get off a wait list is worth it in that case. Opinions?
If you aren’t sure “fighting” is worth it, but are still interested, why not just put your D on the waiting list and see what happens? No harm done and no effort potentially wasted. If your D really prefers it, I think it’s worth at least that much.
- Google the Common Data Set for each college and see how many people are usually accepted from the waitlist
- Start encouraging her to read more about her accepted school…maybe find a little article and pass it on…ask if she has found the FB page of the freshman class.
- If she wants to put her name on a WL, go ahead. You don’t really have to “fight”…you just say that you are interested…I think I would choose one of those WL colleges to be on the wait list for…and then she can tell them if she was admitted she would attend (if that is the case).
4)Continue encourageing about that other college!
You can’t “fight” to get off the wait list. And I’m sure you are thrilled that she had a great and affordable choice.
I would 1) Deposit at her top choice she has been accepted to 2) Take a spot on the waitlist at any preferred school and see what the outcome is. Be sure she knows in advance (if true) that she would need to get a comparable merit aid package to attend. 3) She can write a short email of continued interest to the waitlist schools 4) She needs to understand that getting an admit off of a waitlist is a long-shot 5) Once those steps are taken she should assume she will be going to the school you deposited at.
Sounds like you have an excellent and affordable outcome. Congratulations to all.
By fighting, I mean sending a thoughtful letter of interest, her last available grades (perfect BTW), her new award that she got last week, having her guidance counselor work the phones, promising to attend if accepted. I’m wondering it is worth it. That is all.
If you look at the Common Data Set for the school(s) in question, you will see:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list.
Number accepting a place on waiting list.
Number of wait-listed students admitted.
Some very selective schools might offer +1000 students a spot on the WL, +500 accept a spot on the WL, and ZERO are admitted off the WL.
This is the info you seek.
@happy1 if you would be so kind, when should the LOCI be sent? Immediately, or after a couple of weeks when things have calmed down a bit? And is an actual letter better than an email?
Not an expert on this (maybe others on CC have different ideas) but I would probably send it sooner rather than later. I think an email to your admissions rep would be fine. I would keep it short and sweet (that you are interested, if true you can say “if accepted I will attend”, any accomplishments after application was filed, and a sentence or two about what you think you can bring to the college).
Ditto to what Happy suggested.
some CGs may not be effective in making a call, but an extra LOR could be helpful.
Just because a school took none off the waitlist last year does not mean it will be that way this year – or if they took some last year, that they will take any this year. It all depends on their yield when they hear back on May 1. The usual cycle is sort of a trickle down. The colleges wait a few days to see how many notifications they get (some decisions may come by snail mail, mailed May 1). Then they start giving WL offers a couple weeks into May. Then… lower ranked schools start to lose some students who took WL offers at the higher ranked schools, so the lower ranked schools may dip into their WL again. Of course, if the school overenrolled (got too many yeses on May 1), then they just let those students melt away and don’t make new offers. Just thought it might be helpful for you to know how it works.
I think happy1 has it right. One thing i would caution is that admission reps aren’t always the best place to send it – they leave, switch regions, etc. – and schools aren’t the greatest at keeping their websites up. So an email to an individual rep can go off into cyber space. It shouldn’t be that way, but it does happen. I’d send it to the main admissions email, and they will get it to whoever is working on the waitlist decisions.
I agree send it to the main admissions. Send it sooner rather than later. If GC is willing have them call too. Provide any extra info and if you will attend if accepted say so. There’s no real way to know if it’s “worth it” or not. Most schools will take some people off the wait list for reasons we don’t know. (Need another cello player, need more high scorers equally possible.)
The other question is what is best for your child emotionally. Is she someone who likes to have things settled? My daughter declined a waitlist position because by that point in the process she wanted to just wholeheartedly embrace the school she would attend. It was absolutely the right call for her.