My DD was WL at Colby & Wellesley as our first foray into the highly selective college decisions. If one is still interested in these schools then they should accept the waitlist, right? Okay to accept multiple waitlists right? These are probably dumb questions, but wasn’t sure. She was pretty crushed by Wellesley and pretty concerned she may not get into any of the other 7 schools we have left. Cant say we weren’t warned. Glad when this is over.
She has been accepted to a few less competitive schools, so we may have to dig into those opportunities a little harder.
Adding to make sure to send in a LOCI, essay, etc…whatever the school wants.
Definitely help your D learn to love the schools that have accepted her. An offer from the waitlist may happen, but you can’t count on it, and they are most likely to happen after the May 1 deadline, so she will have to deposit somewhere by May 1.
It is fine to accept WL positions at any school you would attend if offered. So if you were WL at your top 4 choices and accepted at your 5th, feel free to accept all 4 WL positions.
Write each one a LOCI and share any new accomplishment. While keeping it brief, explain why you are a good fit. If it is true, tell them you’ll attend if offered a spot.
As for that last sentence, know that schools extend offers to WL candidates as the openings arise. There is no coordinated date - not even at one school. They may go through several "rounds " of offers as they use the WL to tweak the class profile. You will usually have a very short time window (3 days) to respond and pay your deposit at your new schools (forfeiting the one at your current school.) Realistically, your 1st WL offer is likely to be your only. (That’s not 100% the case, and your best shot at multiple offers is usually the first few days of May, but you should be prepared for this.)
I mention this because while you can accept a place at #4 and pay the deposit then accept a position at #3 and forfeit your deposit at #4, it will be difficult for you and the school.
In all likelihood, if you get ANY WL offer, you should be prepared to accept it and attend and pass on everyone’s else on your WL. It is hard to shift gears repeatedly. But so long as you are aware of how this works and have given some thought to how it can all play out, go for it!
Respectfully disagree with the second part of the above post. If you get into one WL school (School A) and later get accepted into a preferred school from the WL (School B) it is perfectly fine to accept the offer from School B. You just have to let the School A know you will be withdrawing and understand that you won’t get your deposit from School A back. I think this is something that the college and the individual can manage without much trouble.
@happy1 , I agree with you that it can be done, and I said that in paragraph3, so thank you for clarifying if it read otherwise.
I was suggesting, though, that serial “trading up” it is difficult. It will involve forfeiting several deposits, not being all-in at the schools where you are enrolled or having to disengage from where you were all-in. It’s not that far in that people are attending orientations, picking classmates, choosing housing, meeting roommates, etc.
Depending on the school, much of the waitlist movement is concluded before orientation, picking classes etc. but with a very late acceptance off the waitlist that should be a consideration. And I agree that at some point if the applicant is very happy with the outcome there may be a time to pull the plug on other waitilists. In any event, that is not the OP’s issue yet.
If Wellesley is her top choice - I would make sure she reached out directly to her area admission rep - they want young women that want and value an all women’s education - she needs to get that across in her LOCI. If she had previous contact with the rep - all the better.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words and the advice. She got in to Smith yesterday which softens the blow, then another WL from BU. Wellesley or Tufts are her top choices, but not optimistic about Tufts. Looks like Wellesley normally has -1500 on WL and takes -80, not great. Anyone else think that with kids applying to so many schools they may go deeper into WL than ever before?
Also is three WL unusual? We still have 5 schools to go.
My kid had 6 WL in 2016 – which is what brought me to CC originally! I had no idea how common this was.
My hunch is that there will be more movement this year. Schools are so sensitive to over enrolling after some of the recent fiascos, and the WL is the best way to achieve “precise” enrollment.
Glad your D has something in hand that excites her.
My D22 has 3 WL — applied to 13, accepted to 6 (though 1 of these is exploratory studies and there’s no chance for her to get into her CS major even if she meets the CODA criteria), denied at 2, waiting to hear rejections from the final 2.
5 waitlists: Grinnell, Macalester, Colby, Reed, Denison.
CDS has stats of WL movement last year, but that may not be a predictor of waitlist fluidity this year.
I’m hoping he’ll accept a waitlist at a carefully selected school that he truly feels would fit him better than the school he’ll accept at. And really want him to settle in mentally with the school he accepts while considering the waitlist (hopefully only 1) a ‘when pigs fly’ scenario.