Ivy Waitlist Limboland

Parents Forum
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<p>Well, the news today could have been worse (or better). S was waitlisted at both Harvard and Yale. He was accepted at Berkeley. His list is thus:</p>

<p>UChicago (EA) - accepted (waiting for possible merit aid?)
UDavis - accepted w/ Regents ($7,500 x 4 years)
UBerkeley - accepted
George Washington - (anticipating official acceptance by snail mail; snuck a peek at online financial aid link and saw he's been offered merit aid of $18,000 x 4)
Harvard -waitlisted
Yale - waitisted</p>

<p>Our list of six heavily researched and visited schools worked as predicted (two safeties rec'd merit aid; two matches received acceptances; two super-reaches, no acceptances).</p>

<p>I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the waitlisting is a polite rejection and that the chances of being accepted off the lists are small to none. Anyone know or had experience with these two schools' waitlists? Harvard's email made it seem like only a very small percentage of kids are put on the waitlist, but when you read the CC boards, it seems like a ton of kids have been waitlisted. I wonder if they w/led more kids this year due to some of the Summers controversy?</p>

<p>We'll leave it up to S to decide if he wants to stay on the waitlists or not. It just seems like more uncertainty and low-grade agony, if you ask me. But if any of you have experience with this kind of thing, I'd like to pass the info. on to him so he can make informed decisions. </p>

<p>Thanks! (and congrats and condolences to all the parents on CC this week; we all deserve a week off in Cabo:) ).</p>

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<p>I think they may waitlist more kids due to the ever-increasing # of multiple apps--- look how many kids are in at 5 or 6 great schools.</p>

<p>Also this is better for "yield."</p>

<p>I would not bank on the WLs but if he's really fond of one he might play it out. Meanwhile, those acceptances look mighty mighty good!!</p>

<p>Congratulations!</p>

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<p>momof2inca,</p>

<p>CONGRATULATIONS to your son on his acceptances and great merit aid!!!!!!!!!! I think y'all did a fabulous job with your list. It seems it worked pretty much like it was supposed to! I wish we had done something more similar to what you did. </p>

<p>I don't know much about the waitlisting, but my own son was waitlisted at Brown, and in the letter, they said that about 500 had been waitlisted (better than at WashU at least) and that maybe 50 might get in based on past numbers. I honestly think that the waitlisting is a compliment at schools such as Harvard and Yale because believe me, Yale was not too shy about outright rejecting my son <em>lol</em>. </p>

<p>Your son has some very fine choices, and I wish him all the very best for a happy and successful college career. I thank you, too, for all of the wonderful support that you have shown both my son and me!</p>

<p>~berurah</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Also this is better for "yield."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Harvard and Yale don't have to worry about yield. That's actually why so few people get accepted.</p>

<p>Take Harvard with an 80% yield and an identically sized elite university with a more typical yield of 40% (without looking up the numbers, let's say Duke might be an example).</p>

<p>To fill the same size freshman class, Duke has to mail TWICE as many acceptance letters. Pretty easy to see why there are so many more long faces on the Harvard forum and more recipients of good news on Duke forum. Because of their lower yields, most schools have to dip down out of the uber-kid reaches of the applicant pool. Harvard and Yale need to accept so few to fill the same number of slots that they don't need to dip down in the meat of the applicant pool -- just skim the cream off the top.</p>

<p>That's why I always say that HYPSM's admissions simply don't operate in a "normal" way, but virtually every other school (even the most elite schools) have admissions numbers that are fairly normal and at least somewhat predictable. That's why plenty of "normal" kids get into every other school outside of HYPSM.</p>

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<p>I almost missed your post! Congrats to your son on his acceptances and merit awards!</p>

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<p>Your son has great options, congrats! To get off an ivy waiti list is a feat. If his counselor has realtionships at the schools they should pull out all the stops. If you know any well connected alums, profs, and so on, this is when they can really help.</p>

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<p>Congrats on all the great acceptances. The schools where your S has been accepted are all great, I would not bother with the waitlist at Yale and Harvard but focus on choosing among these wonderful schools. He can only attend one!</p>

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<p>I know nothing about waitlists from personal experience, but someone else on this board has a child who got into Stanfordo from the waitlist last year.</p>

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<p>Fabulous acceptances!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!</p>

<p>No personal experience, but I know 2 people last year who got accepted waitlists (Ivy). The only rough part is that you can find out as late as June/July. All the best with deciding.</p>

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<p>Quote: "without looking up the numbers, let's say Duke might be an example. " "Pretty easy to see why there are so many more long faces on the Harvard forum and more recipients of good news on Duke forum."</p>

<p>Duke had 18,062 applicants this year. The acceptance rate was at or below 20%. That means there were still over 14,000 applicants who did not get accepted! That sure is a lot of unhappy faces........</p>

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<p>I think your S has plenty of reasons to feel celebratory. He's done a great job!
Good luck to you both as you consider the waitlist situations. Even without those, he's got some great options.</p>

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<p>I do agree with interesteddad's logic. Except for HYPSM the normal yield rates at other selective schools are around 40%. Stanford's overall yield is about 65-70% with 85% from EA and about 50-55% from RD. If you take out RD from Pricenton, the yield will be about 50% from RD.</p>

<p>congratulations momof2inca</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone for the kind wishes and congratulations.</p>

<p>Yesterday, the waitlisting felt like a soft let-down. Today, it just feels aggravating (and I say this at the risk of sounding ungrateful for what acceptances he does have... please understand we are extremely proud and happy about them, so don't flame me :)). But for S to come so close to getting in to the reach schools and yet not quite close enough, ugh. I don't know if he's ready to move on yet, but I'm tired of waiting. And the mama-bear in me is sort of mad that H and Y didn't find my S attractive enough to admit him. It REALLY puts into perspective how very hard it is to get into H or Y in the RD round without being a legacy, athlete, development case, etc... I mean, people can say how hard it is, then you experience it. </p>

<p>To help parents of younger kids who are thinking of applying next year, some stats, which I've never shared before, but think doing so now would be valuable for others:</p>

<p>1550 SAT
800,790,750 SATIIs
National Merit Finalist
Top 5% rank at a top California public magnet
National recognition and award in his main EC
Founder and president of EC at school, with state ranking
Extensive leadership in one other school EC
Internships and community service in his EC area (he is currently writing speeches for an elected official)
5 APs
12 college classes since middle school
4 summers of CTY
Glowing letters, Excellent essays
Visited and interviewed on campus
Local alumni interview with a respected former Rhodes Scholar who really went to bat for him for H
(His application was extremely focused and personal. We had no help from outside counseling firms, but I read every book there was to read and of course CC helped more than any book -- my sincere thanks to everyone here!).</p>

<p>The good part is that S accomplished the above not for the purposes of gaining entrance into Harvard or Yale, but because he was interested in doing those things (well, not so much the SATs, but you know what I mean). So, we don't feel, as some others have felt elsewhere, that the above was all a waste. And we have no regrets about his high school experience. Despite the sometimes frantic pace he set for himself, it helped him become an interesting and interested young man who will contribute a lot to the world no matter where he goes to college. </p>

<p>I understand it was a crapshoot, but I'm still bummed. And now I am truly in awe of those students who were accepted. Congratulations to each of you whose kids got in to the uber-reaches!</p>

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<p>Momof2inca: It wasn't a waste; got him into Chicago and got scholarships from other fine schools. Consider taking the money and running; you can always reconsider if he gets accepted off a waiting list, but that could take up to a couple of months.</p>

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<p>"About 1,000 students -- approximately 4 percent of the total applicant pool -- were waitlisted this year, Shaw said, who added that he would rather take people off the waitlist than admit too many students."</p>

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<p>momof2inca,</p>

<p>I am sorry you are in the limboland. Your son is such an awesome applicant. I can't imagine he didn't get in everywhere. I think it's hard to experience the reality after living the "what if" for so long. You don't sound ungrateful to me, just disappointed for your S. My S's dream of UChicago appears to be in trouble. He got in, but can't attend without some merit money...so far no mail in Ohio! :-(....</p>

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<p>Mominca:</p>

<p>You have every right to feel bummed. It is a crapshoot. My S's stats are very similar to your S's and he had far fewer ECs, but he did have a couple of hooks. That's all. Fond mom though I am, I don't think he's awesome--at least not any more than many of the kids who've been either waitlisted or rejected. I read the Harvard board and it made me cringe.<br>
I'm rooting for your S to choose Chicago. There are some very happy, thriving CC kids who are getting a great education there. Berkeley, is of course, a great school, but its size makes it less comparable to Harvard and Yale. We've met several graduates of Chicago who are now graduate students at Harvard and they are incredible.</p>

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<p>Congratulations on your son's acceptances!</p>

<p>Thank you for posting info about your son's stats. Clearly, your son is a very accomplished young man who also demonstrates a strong passion for learning and for his ECs. That he got waitlisted by Harvard and Yale is testimony to how deep the pool is of outstanding youths like your son. I hope that your post about your S will help many parents and students realize how strong the competition is for the top colleges, and how widely they should cast their nets. </p>

<p>Best of luck with the waitlists and with other merit aid possibilities. Whatever happens, Your son has some wonderful choices!</p>

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<p>Momofinca:</p>

<p>What a terrific kid your son sounds like. </p>

<p>There is nothing more he could have done. Unfortunately, the SoCal magnet schools are an especially difficult background for admissions at some schools. I think the adcoms tend to discount stats and ECs from these schools because of the notorious "go-go achievement pressure" that is par for the course at some of the SoCal magnets. The nature of the high schools makes it difficult for adcoms to identify the internally-motivated from the externally-motivated students.</p>

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<p>Wow, momof2inca, for what it's worth, your kid is the kind I thought got in everywhere. If he doesn't get in - then it is a true roll of the dice. I bet if H & Y take anyone off their wait lists it would be him. I will say congrats on Chicago too. It is a great school and now we know that the caliber of kids there is world-class. Also you gotta love the city of Chicago. They don't make them like that any more.</p>