Oh, I’m not at all. We don’t expect to see any movement on any WL since we’re not full pay, or even close to it! But still, what a weird system.
UW waitlist was 4/1, I think most UCs 4/15. We signed up immediately for two. Though he’s already seen both of those campuses, it would be stressful to be called up before 5/1. I think I remember reading UW started in April last year because of COVID and Rick Clark said he thought selective schools would start a slow roll out in April. But most students are unlikely to get called up before early May 1st I would think unless maybe there is a major adverse virus development. Many kids will probably not opt out of their spots before May 1st and will have trouble deciding. I’m not sure if when international students know if they will get a visa or not?
@homerdog you could always ask for a little more time saying you are pretty certain to accept but just need to rule one out or something like that. If one gets “the call” first, does one even get the 3 days though in practice? 
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Right. I wonder that too - that a student could answer the phone and be asked right away if they will accept a spot if offered a spot. Maybe we all need to put our heads together and figure out how to answer that if the truth is you need a few days.
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So you have to decide on the phone for a WL offer? How does that work with FA?
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Waitlist offers generally come with FA offer, if the student applied for FA. Students who don’t need FA, or need relatively little FA, have an advantage in getting off the waitlist because FA budgets are often maxed out by then. Waitlist decisions must be made best case within 48 hours, so there will likely be no/limited ‘negotiation’ of FA.
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Wow, I didn’t know you get so little time.
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No college - zero - will force you to make a snap decision on the phone. For starters, you need them FA offer on writing.
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Not if you are full pay.
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So far D21 has 3 WL, Swarthmore, Colby and Grinnell. She reconfirmed that she wanted to be on the waitlist for Swarthmore and Grinnell. Colby’s form wants more information almost like a LOCI so she did not fill it out. We may try to visit Grinnell but waiting until all the decisions are in before making a decision.
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They will still give you a couple of days.
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Are there anecdotes of kids being forced to make a decision on the phone? I haven’t heard any. That would be absolutely savage, IMO.
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I know a friend of ours was asked “if we offered you a spot, would you take it” by Vanderbilt. He was worried about saying “I need a few days” and said “yes” instead. But, yes, he was asked before they actually said he could have a spot.
Do I know of anyone who said they would need a few days and then were told “oh ok then, we will get back to you” and not offered a spot? No. But asking the student if they will take it before offering it makes that conversation pretty stressful for an 18 year old who has not decided.
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That’s awful! Poor kid.
Luckily, he had visited and knew he would take it. He was thrilled. But that won’t be the situation for every student. Kids might take multiple WL spots this year and probably need to have a good idea of what they will do if called.
Yes. It was a ‘good’ problem for him. But certainly not for everyone.
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I can’t remember which podcast I heard this on, but the panelists there said this is common. AOs will call first and ask how serious a kid is about the school. If they either don’t respond or sound unsure, they go to the next person on the WL. They gave a strong reminder to students to check their voice mail!
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yes. This is what I mean. I’ve heard this too. Make sure your kids answer their phones. Make sure they have voice mail set up. I supposed the happy middle is to sound excited and say you love the school but need a little time.
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For my kid last year, the WL offers were either a phone call asking “are you still interested in a spot at X school?” or an offer in writing through email with a follow up on the phone. All of them had multiple means of communications through phone, email, sometimes text, and a sometimes call to the GC. I don’t think a school would make a missed call and that’s it, the spot disappears.
I think all of them were after the May reply date, except maybe one vague inquiry to our GC (and they were probably asking about several students since it’s a college that takes a lot of kids from our HS.)
YMMV
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My son let 4 of his offers go last night, we sat down and took his list of 8 down to 4. One of the remaining 4 hasn’t given him his scholarship amount, so we are waiting for that. The remaining 3 my husband insists he sees the other two before making his final decision. Then there are 2 he’s still deferred, but we are pretty much considering them NO right now and probably will be quite honestly at this point because 2021 sucks.
It did give me relief to know at least his list is smaller. He got scholarships at 3 of them too so who knows if that money can go elsewhere.
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@littlerobot I can’t wait for this be over! She was very relieved to get her JHU acceptance, so Ivy Day should be less stressful!
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