Was hoping to start a place where those could report their good news. Please provide as many details as you can about yourself, school and conditions that surrounded your situation.
I would assume that any waitlist acceptances of CC aficionados would become known around 4/10ish. I did hear from a parent recently that they were told that there would be no FA for a waitlist acceptance. This was from one school.
All stories are welcome! Any school. Any situation.
There won’t be (m)any stories until A10 at the earliest.
In another thread, a parent of a HADES applicant had this to say “We are not actually thinking that she will get a spot off the wait list.”
I’m sharing it here because the applicant is not just a legacy via parent but also has a sibling at the HADES school in question. So arguably, they have an advantage over the average applicant…but, IMO, have a realistic take on their W/L situation.
So all you W/L folks out there…ask yourself “If this family is pessimistic, why should I be be optimistic in the slightest about my chance/my kid’s chance of getting off waitlist?”
Yes, I know people have “I got of the waitlist stories” but these are few and far between. Love the school that loves you, embrace Plan B, etc.
The waitlist letters are often quite clear about the odds, IMHO.
EG, Groton says it waitlists “hundreds” and on average takes 6. Exeter didn’t say how many are WL, but they did say the average W/L draw in recent years has been 0-15.
These waitlists are not really waitlists, so much as rejections “without cause” if you will. They are the school’s way of saying that you were a perfectly viable candidate, but you were not chosen because another candidate met their goals for certain EC’s or class composition or whatever.
@6teenSearch excellent summation
@6teenSearch: Yes, but…have we not seen a rash of “What’s my chance of getting off the Exoverhotch waitlist?” posts in the weeks after M10?
Yes, I am trying to underscore your point. IMHO the schools are pretty cagey about their data, but the Waiting list letter was, to me, refreshingly blunt.
Like this:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1875202-waitlist-people.html#latest
Many people seem undaunted by the odds and cling to any sliver of hope.
Again, I know it happens, and it’s happened to people on this forum. But that does not mean it’s likely for the average waitlisted applicant.
Full Disclosure: Neither of my kids was waitlisted at any school they applied to…they were either accepted or rejected.
My kid got off the waitlist at Thacher. I’m pretty sure he was the only one, or one of two. I could not agree more with 7dad however. It’s damn near impossible and not worth a lot of time or worry. It came as a huge surprise to us.
I don’t think staying on the WL a bad idea though. It doesn’t hurt as long as you know the odds and make plans accordingly.
@panpacific: Well, this may one of the few things we agree on! 
I do think people should pick one or two of their WL schools (assuming a few WLs) and stick with them and even put the hard press on (“If accepted, he/she will commit to school”), but if offered a slot at a school they can live with (and honestly, they should not have applied if they weren’t willing to go) should also pursue that route.
Of course, there might be financial constraints for some, and decisions will have to get made.
What I am against is people putting too much faith in their chances to get off a WL at one of the selective schools and possibly making bad decisions based on that faith.
@SevenDad I can understand you reiterating the ‘love the school that loves you line’. And that is great if you have acceptances. But some of us were not so fortunate. Our safety schools turned out to be less than safe. Perhaps we didn’t do sufficient homework, or put too much confidence in a coach or strong grades, ECs, hooks, etc. But at the end of the day, we are definitely waiting on the wait list outcomes, hoping that others will get off the wait lists we’re on, and pick other schools if they’re in our pool. And we certainly are looking for those glimmers of hope, even while we pursue plan Bs and comfort our dismayed youngsters. So let’s celebrate the few that get in. And urge the others to embrace the schools that love them.
Congrats to you and yours @ThacherParent! Did you do anything in follow-up to the WL letter?
@Gnomen16 - my son and I wrote two - very short - notes to the AO following the WL notification. They each said thank you and committed to attending Thacher if my son was admitted before we had to accept at one of the other schools. That was it.
@Gnomen16, Both my kids were on many wait lists two years ago. They both told their first choice schools of their love. I don’t know whether that helped. My son was admitted to his first choice school after April 10. My daughter went to public high school. My son’s school became my daughter’s first choice for the next year, and luckily, she was admitted. I wish your child luck as well.
Here is our (limited) experience with WL. GoatKid was accepted to six fine schools but waitlisted at her first choice. The coach and a couple of teachers from that school with whom she has communicated during the admission process wrote to her on M11 that they will be happy to lobby for her “quite energetically,” and that they have had “many happy students over the years whose career began this way.” Although GoatKid appreciated their encouragement and support, she wrote back that she has decided to move on. A bird in your hand is better than two in the bush.
If she didn’t have any acceptances, I am sure we would have taken advantage of these offers to help and also followed up with the AO. Good luck to everyone!
@Gnomen16: Apologies if I’ve been insensitive. Having never been in WL limbo-land with either kid (well, not counting 7D1 getting waitlisted — then rejected — by one school during her college process), perhaps I am tone deaf on this particular topic.
Keep in mind that I’ve been on the forum for many app cycles (too long?) and have seen patterns repeat themselves year after year. Which is one reason why I used to bang the drum so hard with my “cast a wide net, do not overestimate your chances, do not fall in love” message.
Of course, what I’m really pushing against are those folks who have a perfectly good acceptance or two in hand but who hold out hope that “magical school X” will go to their waitlist.
For folks in your situation, with no birds in the hand so to speak, I have only the advice of focusing on only 2-3 of the schools (depending on how many WL you have) and dropping off the rest…saving your energy for putting a relatively hard press on those 2-3. IMO, you must be able to say “If accepted off the WL, we will commit…regardless of what happens with other waitlists.” Best of luck to you. Fingers crossed that post A10 you have some options.
Somewhere on some recent thread, someone wondered if there would be a lot of waitlist movement because so many kids get into multiple schools. It has already been stated, but know that schools bake all of this info into their yield projections and number of offers extended.
Fair point, Gnomen. I hope things work out for your DC.
@SevenDad , I disagree about dropping off of any waitlists. I think you keep whatever slim chance you have and maintain contact with all schools. Of course, the applicant should only tell one school that it is his or her first choice, but he can continue to show strong interest to the others.