^^ @logan1997: No. If you accept a place on the Z-List, you must agree to take a gap year.
Sorry for being ignorance, but what is āZ-Listā ?
Thanks
Harvard admissions person said my student would know sooner rather than later whatever that means. Fingers crossed!
Dang, it looks like I have 0 chance at either the waitlist or the Z-List lol. Oh well.
What time do they usually call with an admit offer?
After school
has anyone heard anything about timing yet?
@ReadyForTheWind In past years they havenāt waited until after school to call admits - they often call during the school day so they can get everyone.
@swarleys apparently some may come out this Thursday according to a previous poster
@m22boys : Just to let you know, Rice is oversubscribed, meaning that too many people accepted their offer of admission. I got that email around April 20. It is extremely unlikely that theyāll go to their waitlist. Also, there was a girl at my school who, despite not being a URM, claimed first generation status because her parents went to college in another country (shady if you ask me). Anyway, maybe the sal did something like that 
I just found out that another guy at my school was accepted to Harvard, he was never known for being good academically so I would assume that he was accepted because he is a recruited athlete. Maybe thatās why I was waitlisted. (Valedictorian at school)
@rach22 @m22boys, my son who was accepted but eventually declined his offer to Rice received a mail on the 22nd to warn him that he should commit soon as the class was nearly full.
Hey everyone! I am not really active on this website, but I do like to read up on it a lot considering I was also waitlisted at Harvard. I got an email from the admissions officer of my city today, and she asked me whether I had anything to add to my application āas our waitlist committee begins.ā I donāt know what that means in terms of a time line, but at least we know they havenāt actually started deciding yet. Hopefully we will know soon? Just thought it be nice for you all to know. Does anybody know how the students get told? It sounds like a call/email, but Iām not sure.
@fauve I donāt mean to say my son is a better applicant than the sal. I only know their grades and some general information about their activities. I also know sal is not a legacy and not a URM. I agree her essay could have been great and she is obviously doing something right to get such support from the high school. I just thought it was not right of the GC to tell me that the val and the sal are equally academically. Even if he believes that to be the case, the school record does not reflect that. He should not be arguing that point to anyone, especially not to me!
In retrospect, my son should have taken fewer APs this year and spent more time on his apps and applied to more schools. Not sure if it would have made a difference. It also got me thinking that once you reach 10 APs, do you need 3 or 5 more? I think you are better off taking that time and focusing on your essays or on other, more unique ECs. I know the college admissions officers say to just follow your passions, but it seems that they are looking for that hook. Good grades, good test scores, varied ECs like sports, clubs, volunteering, honor society, student government, leadership rolls in these things, working, summer activitiesā¦ those in and of themselves may not be enough to make one stand out from the rest.
I donāt think my son has written any school to say if accepted would definitely attend. The GC also cautioned us about that since he was on 4 waiting lists. It does seem a little unfair to me. We have no idea how many students are on each waiting list and whether or not a school will use the waiting list at all. And if he is a ācourtesy admitā and has zero chance of being admitted, he is waiting for something that will never happen. Since the chances of moving off any one list are low, I thought he could say that to all the schools and then if accepted by one, he could remove his name from the other waiting lists. But GC said that is not okay to say would definitely attend if accepted one day and then withdraw the following day. I guess they are worried about future applicants from our high school.
@Wreckdecembersat Thanks for your kind words. I know 15 APs is a lot. I have a younger son and if he does 4-5 APs in high school, I will be overjoyed! I agree that my older son will do great wherever he goes to college. I just know a lot of elitists who tell me that he wonāt meet the same quality of people at a large, less selective public school than he would at a highly ranked private school and that his college experience will be lacking. Even if he is in an honors college. They tell me that is worth that $280K+ pricetag of the private school education.
@rach22 @TheReds Thanks for the heads up on Rice. I have looked on this site and there has been zero activity about the waiting list and in past years, people have heard earlier, so I thought that was not good news.
@hola1997 I would not worry about being waitlisted as a courtesy. I definitely think it happens for legacy candidates because the school thinks they will still get financial contributions from the alumni if their children are not rejected. I can tell you that my family will never contribute another penny to our schools that waitlisted my valedictorian son. If Harvard waitlisted all the applicants from the high schools that were ranked higher than the applicants they actually accepted, that has to be an astonishing number of students. Last year, I know Harvard accepted a legacy who is also the daughter of a sitting US Senator. I hear she was not even top 25% in her class of almost 400 students. I know many who were ranked above her at that school who were rejected. You are the valedictorian of your school, which is a huge accomplishment. It represents your efforts over 4 years, not just cramming for a standardized test or two. You have a shot just as much as anyone else on the list does.
@Smythe: FWIW: Admissions officers know that calling during the school day is disruptive for teachers and the education that goes on at a high school. In addition, many high schools have banned cell phones during school hours. So, Admissions Officers mostly call after school and during dinner time.
A close friend of mine got into Harvard and they only accepted one student per school in all of Georgia that applied if at all apparently. Sometimes itās about statistics and not accepting many people from one high school. It sucks, and I think we all know that first hand, but for better or for worse thereās a lot more that goes into these decisions than just merit. Iām 17, been working on epilepsy research for 2 years, published in 2 different medical journals, attended conferences, only person in GA to get an official internship at Emory Hospital as a high schooler, president of clubs, high gpa/sat/act. etc, and I got waitlisted. Yeah, some people may not have those things but they got in. In the end itās just the way it works. Best of luck to everyone 
I hope they release some decisions by the end of this week at least. I donāt know if I can handle waiting another week.
@m22boys : Thank you for your compliment.
Very envious!!!