<p>Can any of u can give me some productive advice on how to get off from waitlist?
I have been reading the posts and the followings are some of the suggestions.</p>
<ul>
<li>Write letter to the school and mention that the school is still No. 1 choice</li>
<li>provide any updates on student' academics/EC</li>
<li>negotiate the amount of FA that student is needed.. maybe there could be unexpected contribution from the grandparents since they could not bear to watch their grandchild's suffering??? I don't know...</li>
</ul>
<p>Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!</p>
<p>Oh, and just wondering:
Is it possible/normal to say yes to a school by April 10th but also stay on the waitlist of another? Just for the chance of maybe being taken off the waitlist? I honestly have no idea if everyone does this, or no one. Help, please :/</p>
<p>Some people say “yes” to keep their spot with one school while staying on the waitlist at another, just in case. That’s really bad form. Most people honor their commitments, which is as it should be.</p>
<p>The hard part about the waitlist is the wait. Lots of spots will open following revisit days and financial aid discussions. The points mentioned above (sending a note to the school letting that school know that you will attend if admitted, updating with any real news you may have, having someone super influential drop a note etc) are really the only available means of standing out a bit from the crowd. Still, it’s just a waiting game.</p>
<p>Don’t torture yourself. Let some time pass. Spots WILL open.</p>
<p>Of course people do this! Unless you are receiving full financial aid, you’d be expected to pay a deposit at the school you say “yes” to. If you back out later, you forfeit the deposit.</p>
<p>It’s up to your family whether or not you can afford to lose the deposit, and up to you whether or not it’s worth it. If you were accepted to your “safety” school, but don’t really want to go there, and you’re waitlisted at one of your favorites, it might be worth it to pay the deposit at school A while you stay on the waitlist at school B . . . just in case a spot opens up.</p>
<p>Don’t give up your spot at school A unless you’re really willing to just stay home next year if a spot doesn’t open up at school B, 'cause the waitlist is definitely a risky proposition. You might luck out . . . but you also might not.</p>
<p>If you are full FA at the school you got into, then I’m not sure how you would proceed. You wouldn’t be paying a deposit, so there’d be no financial risk to you if you say “yes” to school A and later back out. Seems like it would be a pretty uncool thing to do, though.</p>
<p>So, yeah any advice for wait-listed students? How should we approach the schools. I just called one of the schools to ask how many students were accepted and had my self lying when the admission officer suddenly asked whether if the school was my first choice. I told them that it was one of my top two choices when it actually wasn’t and also that I don’t have an exact first choice. It was kind of obvious that I was making things up. But it is true that I don’t have any top choice. So, any advice please???</p>
<p>Be cautious about hoping for waitlist spots to open up. Virtually no spots opened last year at the top schools. Certainly don’t trade in an acceptance.</p>
<p>In NYC, a student cannot (with limited exceptions) do what you are suggesting. ISAAGNY (Independent School Admissions Association of Greater New York) has the following “Principle of Good Practice” which member schools are asked to follow (and I believe all do):</p>
<p>*A school should not knowingly offer a contract to a student from the waiting list without determining that the family has no contractual obligation to another school for the year in question to protect a school from financial loss. *</p>
<p>The few exceptions are that a very few of the independent schools are not members of ISAAGNY and so they might make an offer to a student who has already accepted an ISAAGNY school offer. Also, if a student is planning on attending a public school, he/she could be offered a place in an ISAAGNY school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if any of the various boarding school groupings have similar rules amongst themselves.</p>
<p>For those who are interested in numbers: I’ve been asking around and here’s the data for the waitlist of 11th grade ONLY.
Groton: accepted: 1-2; waitlisted: not sure how many
Middlesex: applied: 70; accepted: 2; waitlisted: a bunch
(they accepted so few because they really have 1-2 openings only, for 11th grade)
Cate: not sure how many accepted, over 20 waitlisted</p>
<p>I think it’s a lot easier if u apply for 9th or 10th grade, compared with 11th grade.</p>
<p>Ok, first, yes you can pay a deposit and stay on the waitlist but I would say two things - #1 - wait until the VERY LAST MINUTE on April 10 to pay and #2 - tell the school upfront. And (ok, 3 things…) be prepared to lose the deposit. </p>
<p>Two years ago a friend of ours was waitlisted at first choice, accepted to second choice. On the parents way out the door (literally) to drive deposit to school #2 on April 10 they received a phone call from first choice. They didn’t have all the FA details yet, so parent called school #2 and asked for and was granted, a couple of day extension. Obviously, unless there is an offer in hand from first choice, school #2 won’t wait. </p>
<p>Send a note (not email) from the student to the person who interviewed them telling them how you remain excited about the school, etc. Yes, add any additional info. And, follow up with a phone call and ask if there is anything else you need to do. </p>
<p>A word of caution on the FA - be sure you can sustain that level for ALL YEARS you will be there. You will most likely get a similar amount every year so don’t go in thinking one year of extra Family contribution and then I can get more FA. Probably won’t happen. </p>
<p>Remember also, any school that you know you will not be accepting an offer of admission, or staying on their waitlist, would love to know ASAP. A decline does not automatically go to the wait list, but it moves closer and gives admins a better idea sooner. And if enough decline, then it would lead to a wait list acceptance sooner. Most openings will occur between the last re-visit day at the school and a week or so after April 10 I believe.</p>
<p>Does anybody have the data for Andover either?</p>
<p>So would it be a good idea to stay home April 15 and wait for potential phone calls? Do they usually do a lot of phone calling on April 15? It’s either Andover or continuing at my nationally ranked high school for me, so… would I just stay on all summer? At what other times do people usually decline? When do they notify you/decide to take in waitlist people?</p>
<p>This was the question I was going to ask becuz I’ve been waitlisted for andover, deerfield, and Peddie. I seriously need advice about getting off their waitlist. I’ve been accepted to milton academy and georgetown prep though. ugghhh :(</p>
<p>The above is good advice. Remember also that some of the wait list is luck. If they have room for more boarding boys, but you are a girl, there is nothing you can do to change that.</p>
<p>A word of caution: some people do get off the wait lists, but not many. If you have an acceptance in hand, I would recommend becoming excited about that!</p>