If “UCLA, Berkeley, and GA Tech are all out” due to cost as you mentioned in post # 11, how are you going to pay for any of your waitlist schools as their price tag is just as high or higher? If you can’t afford the school I would not worry about getting off the waitlist.
@KKmama and to all others. I did not at all expect to get into all of them. I was hopeful to get into perhaps one. Don’t make assumptions about me or my family. I have experienced denial numerous times in my life. I do not hate Cornell, it simply was not among the top schools on my list for a number of reasons other than prestige. My post was just my initial reaction to my decisions.
I appreciate some of the more constructive advice some of you have given, but demeaning me for my college choices and things like that is not helpful in the least, and only makes you look bad.
Just ignore the unhelpful stuff @Y2JRedskins
You will love Cornell. I promise!
PS: be proud! This is a great result!
@Y2JRedskins you got into some fantastic schools! Congratulations! I recommend you attend one of them and not put any hope in getting in somewhere else off the waitlist.
I agree you will probably love Cornell. It is a great school and very well respected. Although no one can chance you for getting off a waitlist my advice would be pick one of the schools you really think is a fit for you and look at the common data set. Know your odds going into it so you can say you gave it a shot but don’t beat yourself up over the results. Send that school an honest letter of continued interest and say you will attend if accepted off the wait list. But please only say that if it is an honest statement (meaning you will attend and can pay COA) and don’t say that to more than one school. Be humble in your approach. I’ve always wanted to attend and even after being waitlisted you are still my number one choice. It may get you to the top of a waitlist or it may not. In the meantime, embrace the opportunity you have. These schools did not reject you but there are a lot of qualified students of which you are one.
Thank you guys so much for the significantly more helpful responses 
@Y2JRedskins
you might want to visit UVa again to see if it strikes you more positively this time, maybe a more in-depth visit like an admitted students day. if possible visit Cornell also. i would focus on sorting out the decision between Cornell and UVa. it’s a better use of your time and energy than trying to break thru on the waitlists.
keep your chin up b/c Cornell and UVa are great schools that will help you get where you want to go in life. you have a bright future, don’t hinder yourself by dwelling in the past.
@Y2JRedskins this is probably obvious, but have you spoken with your college counselor about the waitlists? Depending on your school, your counselor may possibly have a relationship with one or more of the admissions officers at some of the schools you were WL’d at, and s/he may be able to feel them out and/or let one know of your very strong interest in getting off the WL. Of course you would want her/him to go to bat for you only if it’s your top choice that you would definitely attend if admitted.
Good luck and congrats on all your great acceptances!
@GnocchiB thank you so much! What should I have my counselor say if I would definitely attend if admitted from 4 of the colleges I was WL’d at?
“you might want to visit UVa again to see if it strikes you more positively this time, maybe a more in-depth visit like an admitted students day. if possible visit Cornell also.”
Great advice. Go to both schools’ admitted students’ days with an open mind. After the end of each day, make a list of pros and cons for each school and then review those before you make a final choice. Good luck!
cornell is better than almost every school on your waitlist (for CS), why would you not want to go there?
“…tbh I don’t really appreciate the lack of respect it has among its ivy brethren”
Cornell has huge respect among its Ivy brethren. You should try to understand that
Wait list for these colleges is iffy. We get that kids really, really want to know if they still have a shot. But it’s time to reevaluate both Cornell and UVa and find what’s to love. WL is a big pool of lots of kids who didn’t deserve an outright denial but there wasn’t a spot.
@Y2JRedskins congrats on your acceptances, however you should consider giving up your spots at the schools that are OOS and not interested in attending so someone else can get off their waiting list.
Pretend you were not waitlisted but where rejected. You have a slim to none chance of getting off. Be excited and FOCUS on your acceptances. Revisit the top 2-3 you like best of schools that ACCEPTED you.
BTW, you cannot possibly truely “love” Brown AND University of Chicago / Carnegie Mellon AND Columbia. Brown is a TOTALLY different vibe than those other 2 schools and Columbia is totally different than the other 3. If you are insisting on accepting a spot on the waitlist, only accept at 1 school that you actually love. Not all of them. Stop playing the college admissions game - its over.
@kjake2000 Location, over familiarity, size, etc.
@suzyQ7 I genuinely liked all of the schools I applied. There was a definite hierarchy to my preference, however. I’m not too picky regarding open vs core curriculum if that’s what you’re referring to.
OP, if and only if it’s the truth, your GC should say that you would definitely attend your top WL school if admitted. As other posters have pointed out, it’s extremely unlikely that a WL spot would open up, but it doesn’t hurt to write a LOCI and have your GC try to reach out if he/she has any contacts with that specific college. Just be sure you don’t say it to more than one school.
Hey everyone, there’s a slightly new problem that’s come up. My mother (a Cornell phd grad), when angry at me, has recently taken to insulting me for only getting into 1 out of the 7 ivies I applied to, that too Cornell, which she thinks I “backdoored” my way into via the fact that she used to go there. She seems to think that since she was able to go to Cornell straight from India 25 some odd years ago, that getting into there is no big deal. This is something I was worried about initially, however, my mom seemed to be supportive and understanding. Now that the initial wave of emotion post-ivy day has worn off, she has resorted to indirectly calling me dumb for some of the college’s I got into.
Thanks!
^This is inappropriate. Period. I’m sorry. And a Phd legacy likely did not help you at all. You did this yourself!
If it helps, she is the one who “backdoored”, as it was SO much easier to get into Cornell 25 years ago. See admit rates below and show her it was 3-4x easier 25 years ago. And she was not even an undergrad applicant.
http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000002.pdf#zoom=100
from this ^ the admit rate in 1990 was 30%
From below, the admit rate for 2017: 12.5%