<p>My son was waitlisted at Choate. We asked for financial aid but the letter doesn't mention anything about not enough financial aid just waitlisted. Is there a difference? I saw on another choate thread and they seemed to be quoting the letter. "Wait listed ....highly qualified...unable to offer acceptance due to financial aid ;( "</p>
<p>I only ask because my waitlists letter doesn’t say anything about no f/aid</p>
<p>We got the same letter as you. Our child did need over 50% FA, but was waitlisted with no mention of that. It is hard to say what the difference is, although there is obvious some distinction. Our take is that it is really irrelevant, as waitlist is waitlist regardless of reason, and the chance of coming off is low no matter what.</p>
<p>I suppose you could hypothesize that our children were waitlisted prior to their FA need being considered, and are thus on a lower tier, while others made the admission cut but then they had no funds. In other words, we would have been waitlisted no matter what, while those who got a lack of funds mention would have been admitted had they not needed FA.</p>
<p>Or it could be interpreted another way. Again, for us we are treating it as a denial no matter what as it is hard to pin hopes on something that is very unlikely in any case, and in the end the exact reason does not matter (for us).</p>
<p>If Choate makes an offer of admission, either first round or from the waitlist, and FA is required, the school will meet 100% of demonstrated need as the school states that “We are fortunate enough to offer funding at 100% of a family’s demonstrated need” for students admitted with FA. nadk01 is correct that the reason for the waitlist is basically irrelevant; if you come off, you will be offered the FA you need. OTOH, no one who needs FA will come off the WL if the funds available cannot meet the demonstrated need. Your child is on the WL rather than rejected-due-to-FA because the school sees something in your child that would add to the community and would fill a hole if a similar profile declines admission.</p>
<p>I will add that there have been several stories here (us included) where Choate contacted the family ahead of time indicating that they believed the family could be FP and the student would be admitted if the family would commit to FP. If you are on the FA cusp and you feel there is any way possible you could be FP, it would be to your advantage to notify the school that you wish to remain on the WL but that you could accept an offer without FA.</p>
<p>We are definitely not on the cusp of not needing f/aid. I also realize choate will offer 100% of demonstrated need. I am just curious about the difference between two waitlists letters. </p>
<p>I was waitlisted and it said they didn’t have the fund to admit me</p>
<p>so it is not true that they will meet your needs?</p>
<p>keep in mind they do have a budget. they don’t have unlimited resources</p>