<p>Hey, all. I will surely call the Admissions Office to find out more information, but I wanted some other input on the implications of being wait listed. If I reply "yes" to staying on the wait list, must I not commit to another institution by the May 1 deposit deadline? Is there still a chance that I can receive merit aid if I was wait listed and eventually accepted? I love Smith, but I'm not sure that this is a risk worth taking. Opinions, comments, etc. would be great! Thank you!!</p>
<p>Reid13, yes, you must commit to another institution by May 1 with a deposit and you can still choose to be on the waitlist for Smith. I seriously doubt Smith would give out merit aid to anyone who was taken off the waitlist and who accepted, but it never hurts to ask! Merit aid generally goes to students who often don’t need fin aid, but whom Smith wants to woo. If you love Smith enough to forgo the deposit you put down at the other school, then go for it, put yourself on the waitlist and do the things to let Smith know you love them. Write a strong letter, saying you’ll definitely go to Smith if they call you, and if possible, highlight some new piece of information (an award, a scholarship, some new recognition) that has happened since you submitted your application. Get another letter of recommendation from another teacher, employer or significant person. Good luck!</p>
<p>It depends. You’re welcome to put in a deposit for another school while remaining on Smith’s waitlist, however, keep in mind that if you are accepted to Smith off the waiting list, you’ll lose your deposit at your “back up” school and have to put down a new deposit at Smith. Some find this financially not tenable. </p>
<p>Re: merit aid, the chance technically exists, but I agree with CarolynB that it’s probably unlikely. Smith doesn’t give out a lot of merit aid (becuase it spends so much of its budget on need-based aid), and what it does give out seems to go to students who they think are likely to recieve multiple offers from big name schools, so it’s an added incentive to give Smith another look. You would of course be eligible for the same amount of need-based financial aid if you’re accepted off the waitlist as you would have been if you were accepted in regular decision. Smith usually says its offers are within a couple thousand dollars of peer institutions, so if you’ve been accepted to similar schools, look at what they offered you to get a ball park idea of what you might get from need-based aid.</p>
<p>Yes, I’d accept another school just before May 1 to make sure you have something locked down. But there’s always “summer melt” to enrollment so you may very well get off the wait list. The <em>best</em> thing you can do if you’re interested in Smith is to let them know, “If I’m offered a spot, I will come.”</p>
<p>Losing a deposit at another school would sting, no doubt. But in the context of the cost of four years of education it’s trivial. (And maybe with a wheedle and pretty please about getting in off a waitlist, the other school might take pity and refund it. Seems to me that getting in off a wait list is a better reason than most, it’s not just a “change of mind.”) </p>
<p>As others have said, odds of getting merit aid off the wait list are vanishingly remote. However, I know someone who got in off the waitlist and got outstanding need-based aid.</p>
<p>So what are the chances of getting off the wait list this year? :(</p>
<p>Impossible to say. Depends how many were accepted and take up the offer. You can look up the Smith Common Data set to see how the wait list worked in past years.</p>
<p>Would Smith give a person that comes off the waiting list less aid than the regular admit? I hear that a lot of schools will pick and choose people that they think can pay more off the waiting list. Would Smith have the same tendency?</p>
<p>That is quite possible, depending on the amount of money “left over” at that point. However, please note than no one was taken off the waiting list last year. Not sure how this year will go…it’s a “crap shoot.” Supposedly they are shooting for a smaller class this year, about 640 students. Last year’s class after all was said and done was about 695. Good luck to all but know that this is a long shot.</p>
<p>RE: merit aid. Since Smith basically doesn’t give merit aid except for the few Strides and Zollmans given to and used to attract super high stat students, the chances of any of those being “left over” for wait-listed students seems quite out of the question. Why would a student meriting a Stride or Zollman be waitlisted? The bulk of Smith’s aid is distributed per financial need.</p>
<p>The wait list, if they use it, may be more “need sensitive” than “need blind” but I know someone who got off the wait list and got excellent need-based (non-merit) aid. Obviously it’s going to vary from year to year.</p>
<p>My daughter got off the wait list for the class of 2014, and we have a very nice FA package.</p>
<p>Tell Smith how much you love them. Get any additional letters of recommendation that might help, and keep your fingers crossed!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Has anyone heard if Smith will be going to the Waitlist this year?</p>
<p>Well we just passed the May 1 deadline for committing to the Class of 2016. So it will probably be another few weeks before we get an idea if they will go to the wait list. As you know, they did not use it at all last year. But this kind of thing varies from year to year, as you will note they did use it in the Class of 2014. The short answer is nobody knows, but it will be a while yet. Good luck.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what size class they were shooting for this year? I know they usually shoot for around 600, but is it a little higher? </p>
<p>@Boss51, I’m not too sure that’s true, the Princeton Review gave waitlist statistics for Smith for last year- at least in the book I have. Could you please cite your source? Or are you just surmising that based on the unusually large class admitted last year?</p>
<p>It’s cited in Smith’s Common Data Set for 2011-2012:
Number of students qualified for waitlist: 475
Number accepting place on waitlist:240
Number admitted from the waitlist: 0
<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/SmithCollegeCDS_2011-2012_002.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/SmithCollegeCDS_2011-2012_002.pdf</a></p>
<p>Now, as Boss said, these things vary year to year. If you check the 2010 CDS, it says they offered 439 waitlist places, 204 people accepted places on the waitlist, and they admitted 86 off the waitlist that year. </p>
<p>[Smith</a> College: Institutional Research](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/ir/cds.php]Smith”>http://www.smith.edu/ir/cds.php)</p>
<p>The projected class size is 640, down from nearly 700 last year.</p>
<p>A question - my daughter is on the waitlist - the day after she received notice, she sent a packet expressing her interest which included a note from her counselor stating that she is on course to be valedictorian, her second semester grades and some notes about additional accomplishments. She also, via fax last week, sent an additional letter of recommendation from a community theater friend who has known by daughter through her work in the community theater for 8 years. Someone told us that now that we officially know they’ve gone to the waitlist that we should contact them AGAIN to bring her application to the top of the pile, but I’m afraid that would be overkill. But she really wants to go there - more than any other school. To the point that she will take a gap year if she doesn’t get in and try again for next year (early decision next time!).</p>
<p>I’m really worried about all I’ve read about financial aid and the waitlist - we are in need of some pretty extensive aid, unfortunately. We are doing everything we can to avoid this (she has applied for EVERY scholarship that she can, but has only received one so far that will only go toward a school in our home state).</p>
<p>Anyways - any suggestions would be appreciated!</p>
<p>wascross, I think you all have done a great job making sure Smith knows how much your daughter wants to go there. I think it would be fine to contact them again now that Smith has gone to the waitlist: you can state your worries about overkill in your letter. I can’t comment from experience about financial aid and the waitlist, although posters on this forum have said they’ve known of waitlisted students who have received satisfactory aid. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>Where/when has it been announced they are going to the wait list? I haven’t seen that anywhere. Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t think they’ve officially announced it or anything, but I was just accepted off the waitlist a few days ago, so, yes, they’ve been going to the waitlist.</p>