I am just speculating based on what I think they think. You can take offense at anything. I can’t help that. For example, we are told that the small LACs are not safeties for anyone, whatever their rank be. They need to be shown a lot of love. I am just giving an example.
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Yes, there are a lot of students getting multiple WL decisions this year. Just like last year…and the year before that.
Honestly, demonstrated interest for LACs and for some universities does make a difference. We will never know for sure, but D21 (who went TO from a pretty well known competitive suburban high school) spent a LOT of time on showing interest.
Went to multiple (half a dozen or more) online admissions meetings for each of the 13 schools she applied to. Add that up. Probably 75-80 events.
She met with the AO of each college if that person visited her school virtually. Our high school has AOs who visit to talk to the students and many times she was one of only a handful of kids who were able to talk directly to the person reading her app.
She dove deep into their websites to determine exactly how she could contribute to campus and brought that info to her essays. She interviewed if offered.
Very early on, in June before apps were due, she emailed every one of the AOs and asked them if their supplemental questions will remain the same since she wanted to get a jump on them during the summer. Every single one responded.
She had a very successful run.
Yes, we are full pay. She was accepted, though, to all but one of the need blind schools on her list. Yes, we are in the midwest so our geography probably helped for some of the NE schools. She also did not apply to a ton of reaches - really the only big one being Vanderbilt where she was denied - but she did get into places with very low acceptance rates like Davidson, BC, and Colgate.
There are things that can be done to increase ones odds even in these crazy times. She also had back ups where she was accepted EA with big merit so that took down the anxiety a bit - Denver, Santa Clara, Furman, Loyola Marymount.
Hindsight is 20/20 but, for anyone reading this who has kids applying in the future, maybe this info will help. Holistic means they can choose who they want. That’s just the deal. No reason to be upset about that. One has to accept that as fact and then be realistic about how the chips will fall.
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Right…which is why you would never apply for only one job; or never not apply for a job you really wanted and objectively qualified for. You don’t put your eggs all in one basket because you never know exactly what they are looking for. Of course students should. apply to safeties. They absolutely must have a diversified list. But if their dream is to attend a top LAC, I’m not going to begrudge them sending out lots of applications, because that is clearly the way to maximize chances of getting selected by at least one top school, assuming you qualify in the first place.
If this process has left the OP’s child doubting herself and her abilities, than it is a damaging process for kids - in my opinion.
And again…I’m coming to this discussion with a kid who had much better luck this round than OPs child thus far and has gotten into some top schools. But it’s luck that determined the difference for him compared to the thousands on the waitlist. He could just as easily been turned down at the schools he got into as the schools he was WL from.
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Hang in there! It’s not over until it’s over….and it’s not!
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Agree with this 100%!
I think the thing to keep in mind, too, is the definition “holistic” is that they look at unique circumstances alongside traditional academic achievement. If they need a tuba player for marching band and the best one who applied is below the 25th%ile, they probably get in, even over a 4.0/1600 Val who started a nonprofit.
I like to remind folks that a college campus replaces 25% of their population EVERY SINGLE YEAR! They need all kinds of community members to ensure the vibrancy. Not enough musicians (or the right combination of instruments)? No orchestra/band/chorus. No one who likes MUN? Or Student Government? Or not enough minority students? Or not enough full-pay ones? What about too many of any of those?
We all think our kids are spectacular and we immediately assume everyone else does, too. The problem is AOs are making decisions for thousands of equally spectacular students. Someone is bound to be left out.
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I know it’s easy for me to say since neither of our kids got many WL offers, but best case scenario is that students know ahead of time how holistic admissions works and that thousands of kids who could do the work get rejected or waitlisted. It’s NOT personal. I told both of our kids that these schools do not know you. All they know is your app. They are rejecting your app and not you and they also rejected it knowing you could have been a contributing member of their class. They can’t accept everyone. Run the numbers with your kids. Classes filled 50% or more in ED. Acceptance rates in RD in single digits. Flip it around so that they understand. That means that maybe 9 out of 100 kids are getting in. That’s intense. Getting a denial or WL seems more understandable then. This process does not have to kill a kid’s psyche if approached correctly.
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For ECs such as politics (student government), music, or sports, a big school probably has enough with “walk on” potential even if they do not enroll as many admitted with that in mind. Small schools may have to focus on such things more in admission (e.g. making athletic ECs “privileged” over other ECs even for those not recruited as athletes, in order to ensure enough potential walk on athletes to fill the teams).
Full-pay students are more of a consideration of tuition yield and ensuring that the financial aid need of the entire class is within budget (and schools which are need-blind for individual applicants can adjust preferences of correlates of need to hit the target for the entire class).
Regarding minority students, the college presumably wants a demographic mix that is reasonably attractive and marketable to the largest number of potential applicants and donors. Because of the sensitivity of this subject, the college is unlikely to want to say publicly what its “ideal” number or percentage of each racial or ethnic group is in this marketing context.
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I’m enjoying the discussion and various perspectives. Meanwhile, DD got another waitlist decision today. Still no rejections so far. She may be headed for some sort of record! 
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If your GC is amenable, all these WLs can be pushed hard to see if one or two of them will convert. The GC has to call the school and tell them you are v.v.serious about them. This is how it works.
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Is it best to call or submit another LOCI? (or both)
You should ask your GC. It may vary from college to college. The GC will likely make you write another LOCI anyway. But the GC will (should) also call him/herself. i don’t believe the kid calls at our school. Of course if the GC doesn’t want to call, you have nothing to lose by reaching out yourself, or even visiting perhaps – although best to pre-arrange the visit rather than just showing up. There is more credibility if the GC calls and tells them they are your first choice because the school (GC) has a reputation to protect with the college.
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LACs are really dicey to predict because hooked applicants have an oversized influence on the final outcome. Whatever their published acceptance rate is, cut it in half to determine the rate in the applicant pool in which you’re competing. And it’s probably less than that.
As an example, look at Williams. In a freshman class of about 500, about 200 are athletes and another 35 are legacies. The average applicant is competing against those candidates; they’re in a pool of their own. So too are URMs. The bigger the school, the less is the effect of the athletes in particular, making the published acceptance rate closer to reality.
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It’s a tough situation. I don’t envy this year’s applicants.
Play out the string and stay on the WL. You’ve come this far. See it through. There’s an important life lesson here.
In the job example, I’ve interviewed for positions where companies have asked for 4,5 or 6 interviews. Dragging out for months. Sometimes with the same people. It’s just part of the “game” but you still have to play. It only takes one “Yes”.
Good luck.
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My D22 was the one who talked on the phone to the colleges she applied to. They were not Top20s, though. Might be different there.
Usually the AOs called her directly. I don’t think the Guidance Counselor had anything to do with anything beyond just the usual filling out of the forms.
I know D22 spoke in person and on the phone to Admissions Officers at 3 of her colleges. They are all small LACs. D22 may have called one of them — not sure who initiated all the calls. I know she did email with them directly. We parents talked to one of them (her top choice) about some financial concerns, but that was it.
Nothing from the high school GC that I am aware of, although one of the AOs did come to visit the school, but that was after D22 had already made contact with her and chatted briefly with her in person on a tour.
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Let the GC know what your child’s preferences are for the various schools if she were to get off a wait list. The school may call the GC directly to gauge your child’s interest. For example my daughter was on the wait list of U Chicago. U Chicago called her counselor and intimated that if she would immediately accept they would pull her off the waitlist. My daughter did not accept because she had already decided to attend another school that was her top choice.
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This is how it works if you are at a high-performing school with GCs who play this role, but not all schools are like this. I want to jump in here so that families who are not at schools like this know that it is perfectly appropriate and acceptable for students to call themselves. The AO will likely know from your application why you are making the call and not the GC.
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It is true that many HSs don’t have highly functioning GCs, it’s one of the inequities in the system, but the student should still ask their GC to call the AO on the student’s behalf.
I am not sure I would recommend every waitlisted student call the AO, especially one that hasn’t built a relationship with the AO. Definitely send a LOCI via the portal and/or in an email directly to the AO, and whatever else the college allows.
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You may be right. I don’t know.
The rankings are fluid so I don’t know exactly which schools you refer to, but in today’s environment T40 is still very competitive. The admit rates are generally lower than they were for ivies a couple of decades ago. I’m glad she has a safety at least in hand.
I think that really depends on the college. It would have seemed weird to me for the GC to call the schools my D22 was interested in. And the colleges were calling her and texting her directly, too. Might be different with some of the schools BirdInHand’s D is waitlisted at, though.
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