Multiple Acceptances/Multiple Waitlists

<p>While many of you are wisely waiting for re-visit days to decide which school you will go to, some of you may have already made up your minds. If you can, let the schools who accepted you or waitlisted you know that you have decided to go elsewhere. This will give those remaining on the waitlists a chance.
To those who are trying to get off of a waitlist, let your top choice school know that they are your number one choice - that, if they offer you a position, you will ACCEPT! Good luck!</p>

<p>some of the waitlists state when to call them. we called one today to take my son's name off-- they asked for a call by march 22.</p>

<p>Excellent post. There are probably 100 members of this forum, and if you estimate that each has an average of at least one school acceptance to a school that they will not be attending .. thats 100 spots that we can free up for others who are suffering through March. Turn in those declines! We have already turned ours in.</p>

<p>just remember that due to yield predictions, many have to reject the top schools before they even go to the waiting lists, unless they now are missing an oboe player for example.</p>

<p>thats 100 spots that we can free up for others who are suffering through March.</p>

<p>No, it's not. That's more likely to be 100 spots that the schools anticipated they would not have to provide chairs for when they sent out their offers of admission. Unless a particular school's yield numbers are seriously tanking right now, then don't expect any WL movement until April 10-11 when the schools can intelligently assess how many more seats -- IF ANY -- they need to fill. Some of you may get off the WL because a school was simply waiting to see if your second term grades held up. Or maybe they already know that the 3 flooglehorn players they offered have turned them down and the school needs to act now before the few remaining ones also get away. But for those who are mired on the wait list without some special hook...there are few if any spots that will open up before April 10 because students here communicated to a school before that deadline.</p>

<p>That's not to say that I disagree with the suggestion that students should communicate their decisions -- yea or nay -- promptly once they're sure that they can commit to and live with those decisions. I'm just trying to keep the waitlist hopes in perspective and remind people that the schools have built-in and anticipated some attrition. </p>

<p>One school that I spoke with last week indicated that, at the time they sent out offers, they were expecting that they'd have several additional sophomore spaces open next year because they were prepared for lower yield -- but apparently not compensating for it with more acceptances or movement off the waitlist. Remember, they've got next year, too, to fill out that class.</p>

<p>The problem I point out above is not just a matter of giving false hope to some applicants that if others communicate their decisions now they will make the waitlists move sooner. The problem is that that thinking will actually SLOW DOWN the process. Any applicant who is buoyed by the false hope that CC members are going to free up 100 slots, will be more likely to hold on, as long as possible, to a WL decision and wait until the last moment to send in a deposit/reservation to a school they were accepted to. </p>

<p>Urging others to act sooner (with the expectation that schools will respond with waitlist acceptances before April 10) is as strong an argument for some applicants to sit back and do nothing as it is an argument for others to act quickly and decisively.</p>

<p>D'yer, I completely agree. If a student has an acceptance and a spot on the waitlist, I do not recommend staying on a waitlist. Historically, there has been very little movement off of waitlists. I did not mean to give false hope. I do think the sooner the boarding schools are able to see who is coming and who is not, will let the boarding schools be in a better position to talk realistically about movement off their wait lists.</p>

<p>also as d'yer has stated, there really are different types of waitlist candidates.</p>