<p>Nephew got waitlisted by his top choice school,and his friend with lesser SAT scores,lower GPA,lower rank, and not as impressive EC's was accepted...knowing both very well, my nephew feels he was slighted..I have tried to explain to him there is not a cut and dry formula to putting together a incoming class,but he is somewhat disappointed...Both were applying for the same major,so i don't think that had anything to do with it....He is unsure if wants to 'wait', and i know nothing of the process involved...</p>
<p>Any idea how a waitlist works? I know that ony a small percentage eventually get in off list..if my sister deposits elsewhere, does she lose that deposit if he gets in off waitlist?</p>
<p>Some waitlists are really used to manage the yield and kiddos are actually taken off of it. Then there are waitlists that are created to be “polite”, they place a ton of students on the waitlist and literally very few if any come off the waitlist.</p>
<p>As his first choice school he can always update his file, contact them and let them know they are still his first choice and maybe have the GC give them a call. GC can see how their waitlist really works and put in a good word for him, let them know he is serious about going to school there.</p>
<p>As far as the deposit it would depend on that specific school but past a ceratin date I am sure that deposit would be non-refundable. Again I would call the specific school and determine what the policy is regarding deposits.</p>
<p>The negative about remaining waitlisted is the agony and uncertainty is prolonged. And only your nephew will know his tolerance for the time extension.</p>
<p>In most cases, one does lose the deposit. It could be your nephew had such high stats that the college wasn’t sure he would attend (What we use to call the Tifts syndrome.). Lots of threads on getting in off waitlists. If nephew has something new to add, another recommendation, award, then he could send that to college and wait. </p>
<p>Still, it doesn’t seem fair, but this whole process is unpredictable.</p>
<p>If there is no financial need involved outside of a possible Federal loan, then I would say the best thing to do is to contact his admissions adviser at that college and tell them he’ll attend and deposit if he’s accepted.</p>
<p>Likely not random at all. For example, if they went to the same school, and the school is a “feeder” to the college, the admissions officer probably called up the GC and asked which he recommended (as both could do the work).</p>
<p>I would say that, if it is truly his first choice, and he’s been placed on their waitlist, he (or his GC) should definitely let the school know that. I cannot see the harm in that.</p>
<p>qdogpa, if you can find the school’s Common Data Set, there will be information about the waitlist - how many offered a spot on the waitlist, how many accepted a spot on the waitlist, and how many on the waitlist offered admission. </p>
<p>It’s sometimes hard to know what leads a school to select one candidate over another. My S and one of his best friends both applied ED to a very small LAC that’s a great distance from here (they visited together). Both came to the decision to apply ED independently from each other. However, they are similar in many ways and in general liked the same schools.</p>
<p>They are NOT planning to be roommates in college and each was aware that both could be denied, both admitted, or one admitted and one denied.</p>
<p>My S ended up being the one admitted; his friend was deferred and we’re still waiting to find out if he’s admitted RD. They both have strong areas, with a lot of overlap, and I was shocked - I thought if they only picked one, it would be the other boy.</p>
<p>However, I did not see the friend’s essays, and in fact, his parents weren’t allowed to see his applications. </p>
<p>I’ll probably never know why they admitted S ED instead of the friend. S has an older sister who is also in college on the east coast; the friend is the oldest in his family. Could be something as random as the school knowing that since S has an older sibling successfully attending school far away from home, that we understand and are realistic about the challenges that come with the distance.</p>