Hi!
Sadly, I’m apart of the many who have been waitlisted for the class of 2020. However, I’m not going to just sit around and wait hoping for a miracle. College Confidential members, do you have any tips for getting off of the waitlist? Were you waitlisted and later accepted, and if so, did you take any action?
Currently I’ve sent in two e-mails to my admissions counsellor, one exclaiming my interest and noting JMU as my #1 school (which is the honest truth), and another regarding general questions. What else should I do to further boost my chances to get accepted off of the waitlist? I also accepted my waitlist position ten minutes after they announced the global decisions, if that means anything in how they sort applications.
My statistics aren’t amazing, in fact overlooking them I’m disappointed in myself, however I hope I’ll be accepted and able to perform better at JMU then I did in high school.
GPA (I believe my school only does weighted GPA): 3.33
SAT: 1230/1600, 1830/2400. Math 610, Reading 610, Writing 610
Course rigor: Many honors and AP courses. At the end of this year, my senior year, I will have completed 11 AP courses (9 classes, 11 tests).
Those classes are: AP World History, AP English Lang, AP Psychology, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP US History, AP English Lit, AP Comparative Gov and Politics, AP Human Geography, AP Biology
Language: Took up to Spanish 3, did not take Spanish 4. Instead I took Arabic 1, which I’m a native speaker of.
First generation American (though I doubt this means anything at all and I did not mention this in my application)
Extracurriculars: Key Club (10,11,12th grade, each with 40 community service hours annually). Interact Club (12, 40 hours annually). Students Against Global Abuse (recycling after school), Future Business Leaders of America, tutoring elementary and middle school children through a volunteering program set up by my high school.
Also was a member of JV wrestling for junior year.
Do I have any chance of getting off of this waitlist? I’ve spent so many nights staying awake until 2AM (such as this one, 2:22 AM right now) trying to see what I should do but I haven’t found anything other than e-mailing and calling. I haven’t called yet but I plan to do so soon. I also plan on visiting again and possibly requesting to speak with an admissions counsellor, however a 2.5 hour drive isn’t really ideal considering I don’t know wether it would be beneficial or not.
How often should I e-mail or call?
Should I ask if they would be willing to accept me under academic probation?
Have any students been taken off of the waitlist yet? I’ve seen previous year posts with people being taken off of the waitlist before May 1st. Is that an actual possibility? How does the waitlist work–do I receive an e-mail/phone call telling me I’m off? Or can I keep checking on MyMadison for that. What if I don’t pick up the phone call because I’m in class at the time? So nerve wracking.
Any advice would be highly appreciated! I would even be willing to be the person who dresses in the Duke mascot costume if it meant becoming a student there.