<p>I think getting on board the waitlist for FA is a game worth playing – provided you’re not boxed into choices and possibly flushing away huge non-refundable deposits as one recent poster here described.</p>
<p>Also, it’s possible that the money will come up quickly. With admissions, they’re playing a yield game. They are counting on a certain percent coming back as rejections of the school’s offer of admission. So as applicants send in postcards declining those offers, they can’t open up additional seats. But as cards come in from students who were offered aid, they have a clearer picture of how much aid just opened up and can decide, on the fly, what to do with those funds. I’d stay in close contact with the financial aid office. If you can get by with less (for all four years) let them know that. But, for now, as Learnermom pointed out, you have your first reason to touch base with them. Find out what the story is, what you need to do, what they’re waiting for, is there a certain order that they’re working off of, etc.</p>
<p>I will say that I’ve heard from some parents and students on CC in the past week who said they’re trying to make up their minds quickly - or have already started notifying schools that they are declining in the hopes that it will free up spots and/or FA for students who are on the waitlist.</p>
<p>CC is generating some really nice contributors who care about those who are still pending. What a nice testament to the amazing people here.</p>
<p>I was hoping to bump this thread to see if anyone has any new 2014 perspective on being admitted but FA FA waitlisted. (How many people are typically on a hidden gem FA waitlist, success stories, why the significant mixed signals from the interview to M10, actual chances really less than 1%?) What if child’s hidden gem seems to be a “safety” for other kids tier 1 choices? More movement and perhaps more returned funds to hidden gem if Tier 1 chose the other student? Thank you!</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to her dream school without FA. I thought that there was an FA WL so I called the school to inquire. This particular school doesn’t have a FA WL…so there is no way she could attend. Many schools handle this differently because our current day school has a FA WL and if funds were offered with an acceptance and declined, those funds then go to an applicant accepted but needing FA. Unfortunately in our case this year, this school does not do it this way. The awards they offered where they only going to be offered. </p>
<p>The 2.5 hours between my child’s acceptance email and the email from the Financial Aid office were the longest of my life. Even though we spent an inordinate amount of time talking to him about what our ‘magic number’ was, and that without it, he couldn’t go, it would have KILLED me if he got accepted and we were unable to send him because of money. </p>
<p>^Sort of, but not exactly. Think of it as a merit scholarship for students with demonstrated need. But an easier way to understand it might be to see it in terms of slots: there’s a higher number of students competing for FA slots than for FP slots, so it will naturally be a more selective process.</p>