DD just heard she has been waitlisted at her 2nd choice school — a close 2nd, hasn’t heard from her top choice yet. Anything she can do now to up her chances of moving from waitlist to admitted? It’s Northeastern. Thanks!!
Waitlisted should be considered “I am not getting in there”. Last year Northeastern accepted zero students off the waitlist. If her first choice school was harder to get into than NE, then hopefully there is a third, fourth choice etc. good luck.
Where did you find NEUs waitlist numbers Happy? Do they still offer NEUin/spring admit as a way of playing the numbers?
Yes, they offer NEU in spring and this year they seem to have other creative new things - NU bound for a year in China and offering admission to their new “branch” in London (for the full college career). With all these things going on, I don’t see them pulling off the waitlist this year either.
Here I see the data I was reading where I believe they took zero people off the waitlist…
https://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/FA18-RD-Waitlist-FAQ-Final.pdf
My older daughter was WL at two top 20 schools back in 2007, so it has been a while (time flies). I was very active on what to do after WL for few years. She ultimately got off the WL for both of those schools. Both of those schools did not admit many students off their WLs the year before, but (I think) because they over admitted the year before they under admitted a year later (D1’s year). So she lucked out, and maybe due to what her GC did and what we did.
Just because Northeastern didn’t take anyone off their WL last year, does not mean they won’t this year. Some schools are very need aware during the WL cycle. If you are full pay then you would have a better chance, especially if you could tell the school that your kid would absolutely attend as a fully pay if admitted.
She can write a letter of continuing interest to say that she is still very interested in attending Northeastern. If she has had any notable accomplishments since the application was filed she can mention them in the letter. However, once she sends the letter in she should assume that Northeastern won’t work out and once all the decisions are in she should choose from the colleges she has been admitted to and that are affordable. It appears that no students were taken from the waitlist at Northeastern in 2018. https://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/FA18-RD-Waitlist-FAQ-Final.pdf
Agree that it time to move on with DD. Being on a waitlist is emotionally draining.
Then put her name on the waitlist but don’t tell her. If … and it’s a big if … she is offered a spot, let her make the decision.
I can tell you that that memo from Northeastern is not accurate. My kid got off waitlist from Northeastern last May. He applied RD. He even got an $18K in merit. He didn’t take it, he stayed at Berkeley. If you look at the Northeastern 2022 thread, you will see many people got off of waitlist.
@ProfessorPlum168 Thanks for the correction. I apologize – it looks like the letter I referenced in the post above was written in 2018 but referred to the prior year – so I guess it was 2017 when no waitlist students were taken.
However, I stand by my recommendation for the OP’s D to write a letter of continued interest and then move on from Northeastern.
I personally don't believe that zero com off wait list at NEU because so many apply hoping for merit and now FA., AFAIKS OP is a nice stats kid but not a real merit candidate and full pay. I suspect a perfect candidate for wait list torture that wouldn't be wooed by NEUIN. Just do whatever is asked if it is a real contender.
Thanks, folks. She’s in at four safeties that she would be okay (not thrilled but okay) with so she knows she’s going somewhere for college next year. This is the first of the schools she actually loves that she’s hearing back from.
I also know someone who got in off the waitlist last year. But I agree you should move on. Consider it a gift if you get happy news in the spring.
Waitlist
- Assume you will attend one of the colleges you HAVE gotten into. Accept their offer of admission before May 1. Start reading all the info.
- For the WL school, tell them that you would like to remain on the waitlist. If you have won any awards or improved grades, send a Letter of Continuing Interest .
- If one of those WL schools is your top choice, let them know. Tell them that you would enroll if admitted. Colleges want to protect their “yield”, so they want to admit WL students who will 100% attend.
- Sometimes you don’t get as much financial aid if admitted off the waitlist. Sometimes you do. Make sure you understand your family’s budget.
- Look on the Common Data Set in Section C2 to see if many students are admitted off the waitlist. If it is usually less than 10, don’t get your hopes up. If it is 400, then that is something else.
- If you are admitted, then they may ask you if you would enroll if admitted. If you said yes, then you would be admitted.
- After you put a deposit down on the WL school, Let the other school know you will not be attending. You may not get your deposit back.
- Sometimes schools start taking kids off the WL in late April…but often it is after May 1.
Folks, thank you for the information, especially your great guidance, Bopper! Okay so I looked at the common data set info on Northeastern’s website and they have the waitlist numbers blank:-(
PS I found the threads by individual school “RD 2023” and will go there. Thank you!
FWIW, my kid received his waitlist clearance on May 10 of last year, and had 4 days to accept. (I have access to his non-university email account). I didn’t submit one thing that they were asking me for and is needed for financial aid/information, which you may want to do: “Federal Loan Entrance Counseling Direct Sub/Unsub Loan Master Prom. Note Title IV Credit Authorization - Student”
Apparently he was also sent an email a couple of weeks before, on April 30, asking to see if he was still interested in remaining on the waitlist. I actually never saw this email until today, but I’ll assume my kid responded in the affirmative, or else they probably wouldn’t have given him an offer. So that’s a key email you’ll want to keep an eye on.
I would definitely have her move on, emotionally. Even if she moves off the list, you may hear way too late for it to make a difference. Friend’s daughter was waitlisted at her first choice and kept waiting to get the nod. She finally had to commit somewhere and was literally in the process of moving in to that other school (that she never toured beforehand, btw) when she got a call 2 days before the semester started that she got into her first choice. Because she had given up emotionally on that option, it made it easier to justify not turning the car around. She is fine where she stayed, but I do wonder at some of these schools and their timing. I mean, 2 days before instruction starts - really?
Under- an empty bed is an empty bed, an empty seat in a lecture hall, an unpaid tuition and meal plan. People complain that desirable colleges should just “let in more kids” and then complain if their kid is in a triple; people complain that colleges should do a better job of forecasting enrollment to keep tuition down and then complain if they go to the waitlist at the last minute because another kid decided not to show up.
How does a college win this at all?
I know someone who moved in, went through the orientation process at a school, and was in the first day of classes at that school when he got off the waitlist at his first choice (which started about 2 weeks later than the school he was at). He withdrew from the school he was attending, packed up his stuff, matriculated to the first choice school where he came off the waitlist, moved in went through the orientation process, etc…
You do have to move on emotionally from a waitlist and (unless you plan to take a gap year) matriculate to a school, but you may come off a waitlist pretty late, and at that time have to decide if you want to accept the offer.