<p>“I can see that the system is hardly the pure meritocracy that it’s always been made out to be.”</p>
<p>Who made it out to be a meritocracy? Much less a “pure” one?</p>
<p>Never has been, never will be.</p>
<p>Can we get back to this being about waitlists? Or should the people who want to talk about that go over to the other waitlist thread?</p>
<p>…regarding waitlists…I found this a very interesting article:
[The</a> truth about waitlists - Washington DC College admissions | Examiner.com](<a href=“http://www.examiner.com/college-admissions-in-washington-dc/the-truth-about-wait-lists]The”>http://www.examiner.com/college-admissions-in-washington-dc/the-truth-about-wait-lists)</p>
<p>I think it will be tough for both colleges and students to process the waitlists. It seems that more students are waitlisted on multiple colleges this year.</p>
<p>^^ Accurate, IMHO.</p>
<p>Looks like D is completing her WL mini-app, so we’ll see where it goes. Does anyone know how long you have to decide, if you do happen to get lucky? Do you have a couple of weeks or do you have to accept pretty much immediately?</p>
<p>I’ll repeat: She is not desperately counting on this waitlist. It is worth a try (30% of WL accepted last year) and I think it shows strength that she is doing the work - this is not a school where you just send a postcard. And she does love her first choice in the meantime.</p>
<p>Also note that many independent day and boarding “feeder” schools for top universities have a signficant number of students who attend on FA. (Also, “feeder” schools do not have the muscle they used to have in the olden days.) Sometimes this would be apparent from home addresses, but not always. I think adcoms truly are committed to the need blind model, and have also learned over the years that it’s easy to jump to the wrong conclusion.</p>
<p>EmmyBet – congrats on your D actually making time for her mini-app! </p>
<p>D has 2 to do. I called one school and the admissions lady gave me an email address of a specific admissions officer and said, “here’s where you send the info about how your grades are still great and all the new awards you’ve won and why our school is your first choice and how you’ll come here if you get off the waitlist”. They must see the same thing so many times…</p>
<p>Good question about how long you have to respond once you get the nod. I believe they notify the child by phone. Do they make it clear to the kid how long they have to respond? It’s like being offered sports tickets – if you don’t take them up on it, they’ll move on to the next person.</p>
<p>Emmybet: My oldest loved Brandeis but turned it down due to finances. Another boy from our HS then got in off of the wait list and has loved it there. Good luck to your d! I think she has a good shot. </p>
<p>From the info in this thread, I found out via the common data set that the WL my son is on took about 22% off of the waitlist in the most recent year. Much better odds than I expected. He would be happy at his other schools, but the WL school could be a good option. One problem with his application is that it was a school that seemed to be way out of reach, but he decided it was worth a shot. Thus. late visit and application in close to the end of the application period (but on time). It is certainly worth writing a letter with more information and indicating he would attend (assuming he makes that decision). Also seems like the school has more girls than boys, so he may have a shot on that basis as well.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I’m willing to assume that we’d have to turn around an answer very quickly - kind of hoping for a happy surprise that we might have a week or two. </p>
<p>Are your D’s mini-apps or just postcard responses? I’m impressed, too, that D is doing the work. And it’s helping her settle her mind about both the WL school and current #1, honestly. Anything is good that helps them understand what they want.</p>
<p>She’s kept her grades up (well, she has 2 Bs 3rd quarter, down from 1 1st semester, but I can’t imagine that is so horrible). She’s had some exciting arts opportunities and accomplishments. When she sends the update to the adm rep, I’ll have her ask if another recommendation would help - she hadn’t used her AP Lit teacher originally since her junior English teacher knew her better, but of course now the senior teacher knows her very well, in ECs as well as in English class. We’ll see what they say.</p>
<p>I’ve encouraged my D to write these things VERY personally, try to give them a very clear picture of what SHE is like, and what she’d be like as a student there. This isn’t time for “X is a wonderful school and I know I’ll get a great education there.” It’s time to be vivid and distinct - not that she’s the coolest most exciting candidate they’ve ever seen, but that she could fill a niche if that’s what opens up. She’s an artsy, intellectual in an off-beat, creative way, and if that’s what they have space for, she needs to look like a good fit.</p>
<p>We’ll see what happens … this brings us back to the original apps, in many ways, just trying to be positive, but not counting on anything. In our case, we all continue to feel the value of the WL outweighs the risks. She knows absolutely that she has “made it,” whether she gets this offer or not, and won’t take it personally.</p>
<p>Adding to mom2and: Good luck to your S! I guess this little group of ours can be very supportive through the next few weeks. It sounds like you all know what you’re doing and why.</p>
<p>We keep hearing of kids who get accepted to Brandeis off the WL - sadly, we know many kids turn it down because of lack of FA (very clear from the Brandeis threads). My D is fortunate that this isn’t an issue for her, particularly because my H and I feel Brandeis is a world-class education and will mean so much for her in the future. She can make her current #1 work for her in wonderful ways, but a chance at Brandeis is worth trying. She’s turning down her other WL because the fit isn’t anywhere near as good, and to her it isn’t worth the financial outlay as well.</p>
<p>Thanks to you, too!</p>
<p>For D, her GC told her to write an email telling each school why she really wants to go there, so it’s very open ended, but you make some good points – vivid, specific, authentic – that’s what I think they’d respond to.</p>
<p>The big question now is where to deposit (she’s going to decide between 2 schools).</p>
<p>Thinking positive for EmmyBet’s D and Mom2and’s S! </p>
<p>May the WaitList Fairy smile on us all!</p>
<p>EmmyBet- sounds like you gave her good advice. I think I read on another thread that they give the student at least a week, but cannot confirm. I am lucky that my D’s waitlist only wanted a postcard. I think we are hanging on because of this
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1116135-ccs-top-10-most-interesting-college-decisions-2011-vol-2-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1116135-ccs-top-10-most-interesting-college-decisions-2011-vol-2-a.html</a>
We want that #1 spot ;)</p>
<p>“… her GC told her to write an email telling each school why she really wants to go there …”</p>
<p>FWIW, I consider this a wait-list requirement for any selective school with holistic admissions.</p>
<p>kinderny - thanks for joining in! I do hope you “win”!</p>
<p>I told my D about how these kinds of schools will choose whom they offer a spot to - if a techie kid declines, they’ll go for the “technie pile,” if an artsy kid declines, they’ll go for the pile she’s in. She needs to play to her strengths, as well as show she’s an all-around hard worker. But off the WL they’re definitely filling specific niches.</p>
<p>Other schools might have a 1-2-3 approach to the WL, but I can’t imagine Brandeis does. And I think she understands it’s BOTH how much she “wants” to go there, but how she’ll fit in the mix they’re creating for their entering class.</p>
<p>I’ll say one thing as a parent - the fact that D has to write this letter of interest (basically a “waitlist essay”) was very educational to her, and to me.</p>
<p>She really had to think not only about why she still wants very much to attend this school, but also naturally has been comparing it very carefully to the schools she has in hand. I can see by her essay exactly why she wants to stay on the WL, what the special factors are that set this school apart for her and make it worth still trying for.</p>
<p>The essay is just about done, and she’ll send in her update e-mail on ECs, etc. ASAP. I’ll suggest that she ask her teacher if he might be able to do a quick rec letter, in case the adm rep says it would help.</p>
<p>Next week D is being profiled in the school newspaper (Artist of the Month). We’re thinking they might want to take a look at that; she could send along an electronic file if they do.</p>
<p>One good side for our family is that the two move-in days are about the same date, in the same general part of the country. So our summer isn’t completely on hold, phew.</p>
<p>I am extremely proud of my D who was wait listed to Emory, Georgetown, The College of the Holy Cross, and Wellesley. All excellent schools.
My questions are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Anyone know the number of students offered wait list at these schools? Chances of getting off the waitlist at these schools.</li>
<li>Is there any chance of having FA if accepted off the waitlist.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks in advance for any enlightenment anyone may offer.</p>
<p>waitlist - google “Common Data Set” for each school. In the second section, you will see stats on how many students were accepted (probably '09-'10, maybe other years), how many offered the WL, how many went on the WL, and how many were taken from the WL. It won’t tell you HOW they pick kids from the WL - some schools do a numbered system (and will actually tell you what number you are) and others choose completely holistically (“we need more science majors; let’s look for some in the WL pile” or “let’s see who seems to want this the most”).</p>
<p>FA from the WL varies at every school. We hear stories of things going every which way. It is perfectly acceptable to contact the admissions office, find out how to speak to your admissions rep directly, and get specific information and suggestions, and also to contact the FA office with direct questions.</p>
<p>Congrats and good luck to your D! We’re proud of her, too!</p>
<p>I can also add that for some schools (not sure if yours fall in this category) that the WL admits varies from year to year so make sure to look at past years’ data if at all possible.
As of yesterday, D has definitely decided NOT to accept a WL from RPI if offered but we still hope it comes through…</p>
<p>waitlistblur: Here’s what happened last year. GL
</a></p>
<p>As a parent went through the WL hell 4 years ago, I would like to give you heads up. When the WL door is open, have your GC call as soon as possible to try to bump your kid to the top. Have a talk with your kid about what to say/do if a spot is offered. What some adcom would do is to call your GC or your kid (D1 was called out of her class for one) to see if he/she would take the spot. They will not send out the acceptance until they have a commitment. </p>
<p>D1 was offered 2 spots within days of each other. Someone else we knew was offered 3 spots. It took some work on the GC’s part to hold those spots for a few days to allow family to decide. This young woman had offers from Duke, NU and Cornell. She visited Duke and NU over one weekend, and decided on NU. When D1 got her call, she couldn’t decide and they couldn’t find me. Her GC told the school to give her the weekend (it was a Fri afternoon), but the school didn’t send her the official acceptance until D1 committed. </p>
<p>Good luck to you all. I wish you all happy endings.</p>