Alright, here’s our discussion place. Feel free to discuss anything waitlist/ND related here.
I’m a little confused on what this entails though. ND mentioned that decisions are released on a rolling basis, possibly taking until June for us to get decisions back. But don’t we need to commit to a school by May 1? If someone could explain this to me, that’d be fantastic.
@IvyHopeful98 You will have to deposit at another school and if ND pulls you from the waitlist, you will lose your deposit, but it happens all the time. I will say ND doesn’t historically waitlist a ton of people relative to other schools and there are some years when they pull off and some they don’t. Last year, I don’t believe they went to the waitlist. The year before, I seem to remember them taking @50-100. The year before that, none. So maybe if the cycle holds, they will be going to the waitlist this year. Good luck!
Oh my god two waitlists already… And from schools I thought I had a decent chance at… No acceptances from schools I’d like to go to jesus christ. SOMEWHERE ACCEPT ME PLEASE!!!
Got waitlisted also. I should have studied more for my act, everything else on my resume was fine.
@ejcclc Thanks for the information! Pretty annoyed that I have to wait even longer for what could be fruitless, but at least I haven’t been denied yet. You are correct that last year, 0 students were pulled from waitlist. With an expected number of 800 students accepting waitlist spots and only a few getting them, its hard to see myself at ND for the next 4 years. Best of luck everyone.
Deferred in December, now waitlisted. I’m so crushed man. Plus I got waitlisted from my other #1. This week has been horrible.
Got waitlisted too. Thought ND would be a bit easier to get into.
I know I said I was gonna take a break, but reality is really starting to sink in and I needed a place to vent. I was honestly emotionless when I open my waitlist email. But the more I think about it, the more I realize I’m not going to ND. Getting off the waitlist is near impossible, and looking at you guys, it looks unlikely I’ll be ahead of you all in case anybody does get off waitlist. Seems like GPA/Scores and/or lack of hooks is what killed us, and knowing that sucks. Best of luck to you all getting off waitlist, because I’m probably on the end of it anyways.
Hi @IvyHopeful98 despite my screen name I am actually now the parent of senior at ND. Every year about this time I take a look at the ND admissions thread because of my daughter’s experience and to see if I can pass on some words of wisdom. Back in 2012 she was deferred EA and then waitlisted RD. It was pretty devastating for her AND a LONG waiting game but ultimately she got in. You may well too. I won’t say that the day in May when she got the admissions call saying she was in (one week after everyone else had committed) made the wait worthwhile because that wait was TOUGH but the call coming in on her cell phone with a South Bend area code was pretty amazing (during an AP calc class no less). On an earlier thread from, I think 2014(?), I gave some specific advice to those from that year about what she did to keep her name in front of her admissions counselor, my guess is that it is still there–I’d offer to have you PM me if it would help but I don’t login very often! Having said that though, I would suggest you put down your deposit at your next choice–we did at BC–and then, if you do get into ND you forfeit that $$. When she got into ND we always figured that was just our donation to BC and they would put it to good use. Once you put down your deposit though and even if you are still trying for ND please do try to get excited about the school where you’ve held your place. Embrace it because I am sure you bring wonderful gifts to them. Wherever it is you will learn and grow there and may find that it is the place you were meant to be all along. In the meantime, I am going to campus for a “Mom’s Weekend” in April and graduation in May, I will say a prayer at the Grotto for you and the other deferred candidates. Given our experience, you all have special place in my heart.
@MomofnewND Thanks for the reply! As I mentioned in my most recent post, I’ve had time to cool off now, after letting all of my emotions out. I found your post, and I intend to do everything I can to get off this waitlist. While I’m not going to bank on ND taking me off the list, I am going to keep trying. Unfortunately, my 2nd choice school also wait listed me (also BC), so it looks like I may be depositing at my third or even fourth choice school. I would definitely appreciate a prayer, as this is going to be the slowest 2 months of my life. Hopefully I’ll get a phone call mid class that makes it all worth it, but only time will tell. Thanks again for the encouraging words!
0 people got off the wait list last year? What should I do after being wait listed? Email my regional admissions officer? What are they looking for-- updated grades? Extracurriculars really havn’t changed since a few months ago when I applied… Confused because I thought I was honestly the perfect candidate for ND and didn’t realize ND was this selective.
What are the odds of getting off the waitlist for a Mendoza applicant? I was sad to be waitlisted when I met all the requirements and thought it would have been a little easier to get into ND.
They didn’t take any off the waitlist last year? How is that even possible when some people must decline the offer to attend ND im getting into Ivys etc. Where did you get that information? Also what are the first steps of being waitlisted-do you have to write a letter to ND and when should I send it? I will do anything to come off 
Clicked into this thread by accident. I was accepted to ND just a few hours ago, and I have something to say about the questions posted above.
When I applied to Notre Dame in December, my 2nd time SAT score wasn’t out. My October SAT was 2160, good but…for ND, 2160=very uncompetitive.
But I loved ND so much!
But I didn’t want a rejection!
Despite going to ND’s summer camps and a ton of ND related activities, once I wrote ND a letter. (Actually I wrote a lot of letters)
In that letter, I didn’t just say “OMG ND is so great I love you so much I have to go there I can’t picture myself going anywhere else” or anything like that. I talked about anecdotes that happened when I was on ND campus.
I was in the library one day and got into a conversation with a current ND student. She told me about kiNDness, about volunteering in Africa as an engineering student, about some quirky things in ND that made me laugh.
Also I wrote about the pond near Touchdown Jesus. The water is green-blue, and I always wondered if some chemicals are added and why the color stays that way.
I just kept sending letters like that, even after I knew that I got a 2310/1560, I never stopped (hint hint shawshanks redemption)
I wrote in a manner, not bragging my accomplishments (although you should definitely let them know lol), but to show them, “hey, you can also see me as a part of ND’s community, right?”
If you ask me what the focus on, like the one thing to focus on, I’d say it is passion. Another thing is “give back.”
Anyways, best of luck to all of you. Never lose hope. If you’re losing hope, watch Rudy 
Hope to see y’all next fall! Go Irish!!
@businessg101 Yes, nobody was taken off the waitlist last year. They accept around 3500 students, and around 2000 enroll. If they get under 2000 people to enroll, they use the waitlist usually. If it’s over 2000, on the list we stay. The 0 off waitlist statistic came from an information meeting I attended, but can also be found here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-notre-dame/1757534-notre-dame-2019-waitlist-p2.html
Over the past 3 years, students accepted off of waitlist have gone from 0 to 50-100 (I think), and back to 0.
I was waitlisted as well.
I think the reality of the situation is that you have to treat this as a rejection. You’ve got to put down a deposit somewhere else and make all the preparations for going to that place. If at the last hour, ND comes calling, that’s a conversation for then but its unreasonable to even expect to get pulled off the waitlist.
But out of curiosity, do those people pulled off the waitlist get the same financial aid? Seems pretty late in the process.
@IvyHopeful98 The stats that you gave about the waitlist do make sense to me. If ND has a higher yield then what they did the previous year, it likely means that nobody gets in off the waitlist. The following year, ND most likely adjusts the number of acceptances assuming a projected higher yield rate. If they overcompensate on the adjustment to the number of acceptances, then they most likely hit the waitlist again. Three years ago they had 0 off the waitlist, they probably became more conservative in the number of acceptances the following year. The same could hold true this year. Last year ND took zero off the waitlist, they were likely more conservative this year which could result in the waitlist being used again.
@GraceDad Your assessment is 100% accurate. If the cycle holds, they might go to the waitlist this year. In a week or so ND will publish admissions stats, so a numbers comparison from past years might give a little context as to what might happen this year. FWIW I know a kid pulled from the waitlist two years ago and he heard in mid-May.
@ProbDeferred FA should not be negatively impacted.
@ProbDeferred I agree that we must treat this as a rejection. While making an effort won’t hurt us, there’s no point in getting our hopes up. Here’s how I see it: Instead of competing with 19500 applicants, some of whom may not be qualified, for 3500 spots, we are now competing with the best 800 to get a handful. The odds are still slim, so it’s important to all of us that we choose to commit to a school that we want to be at, and if we get taken off waitlist, that’s something to figure out later. And no, waitlist should not affect FA.
@GraceDad It would be nice if they used waitlist again, but I’m not getting my hopes up. It’s time to focus on other colleges and figure out where I want to be, assuming ND doesn’t call me in May.
You are probably taking the right approach. Here is an old article talking about waitlists and how colleges inflate them for various reasons.
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-realities-of-a-college-wait-list/
Also found an old article from a few years ago where someone from ND Admissions office explained that they adjust the number of acceptances that they issue based upon projected yield, but that they try to hit a target of using 15 to 100 off the waitlist.
The one thing I don’t understand is why they offer so many applicants waitlist, when they know they will accept 200 max if something went seriously wrong. They won’t need to fill 800 spots, so why expect 800 kids to accept waitlist? Why not put your best 400 on waitlist, instead of giving so many students hope? I’d rather know I’m rejected now than in late May/June.