Occidental Waitlist: Question about Financial Aid

My son got waitlisted at Oxy yesterday. Given that we’d need to be awarded substantial financial aid for him to attend (EFC=@ $4500) does it make any sense for him to accept a place on the list? I’m not sure how that works.

if Oxy is still in play, then go ahead and accept the WL spot, it’s not a commitment. If they come back later in May or June to say S is admitted, then he’ll have a few days at that time to decide. FA should be the same for WL admit as usual, so if you ran NPC you should have a good idea what it’ll be.

Oxy doesn’t abuse the WL as much as other schools and their CDS bears this out. Here are stats for the past several years. It is definitely NOT LIKELY for S to be admitted off the WL, so he should get excited about another school and start focusing on that option. Put Oxy aside for now.


Year     # offered   # admitted
           WL spot      from WL

13-14        874          20
14-15        792          65
15-16        705          26
16-17        821          70

This is excellent information. Thanks for the detailed response @lz57c4

I don’t know if this is helpful, but my son was waitlisted 2 years ago and was ultimately accepted. When asked if they would match a merit scholarship he received from another private college, Oxy’s response was a resounding “no.” Needless to say, he is now happily enrolled in the other college.

just to counter mrsmontana’s comment … with a 4500 EFC, Oxy will meet your need with a substantial need-based grant if admitted from WL Merit aid when need is in play doesn’t matter for 100% need met schools because the overall package would be the same whether you get merit or not - they’d reduce the grant accordingly.