<p>What is the protocol on visiting a school if you are put on a waitlist? </p>
<p>My D has two offers at schools she has visited, one which she loves and will put a deposit on. She is also waitlisted at her first choice school but other than auditioning there she did not get to see the campus or sit in on classes. (We were in a time crunch when she auditioned.) Although getting off a waitlist is difficult, I would not want her making an uneducated decision if it did happen. Knowing my D she would second guess herself if she chose one over the other without getting to know both equally. The problem with waiting until after May 1, is that students are finished for the year and you don't get to sit in on classes. </p>
<p>And yes, she has moved on and is very happpy with her current decision, but that could change if a yes came through at her "first-choice-through-the-whole-process" school.</p>
<p>Has anybody ever been in this situation, and what do you do?</p>
<p>We’re in the same situation - my daughter is now very happy with her 2nd choice but we will be visiting her first choice, where she was waitlisted, next week. Often the decision needs to be made within days of the notice that you’re off the waitlist and being offered a spot so we want to make sure she’s sure when it happens. It’s a fine line but not much you can do about it! Good luck!</p>
<p>If your S or D is truly happy with the school that has accepted him/her at this point, one option would be to take your name off the waitlist. That way you can truly move on and start planning your life as a college student. Throughout the spring and summer there is alot of bonding that takes place with the kids in the various programs and if you are in limbo it is really hard to move forward. Of course, you will never know whether or not you would have been accepted, but there is a good feeling in taking charge of your own destiny.</p>
<p>My advice…don’t be too hasty. My D and I flew to see an accepted school…from different starting points. She arrived…my flight got cancelled. She went about the day…toured…sat in on classes…met the head of MT, etc. Loved everything and was ready to sign on the dotted line. I couldn’t arrive til after 5…missed the whole day…admissions closed so couldn’t sign the check and close the deal. We left the next morning…bright and early…going different directions. When I arrived at my last connection…had a text message from D…received phone call from her top choice pulling her off the waitlist. Had I arrived on schedule…we would have already moved on and missed the one she so badly wanted. We felt good with the choice she had been about to make…but feel even better with this one in the bag. So you never know…but if you really think there’s hope…wait a bit longer. Dreams still can come true. Visit…don’t sign too soon!!!</p>
<p>After attending the admitted student programs at two of my daughter’s top choices (#2 and 3), my husband and I have re-thought visiting the school she’s been waitlisted at, although we have not told our daughter yet. Given our recent experience I just can’t imagine how she would feel visiting her “top” choice and still not knowing if she’s been accepted. Plus, any questions she might have she would be reluctant to ask for fear of the potential consequences. I think it’s much better, both to gather information and emotionally, to visit one final time from a position of power where they want to sell you and not vice-versa. This will work best if school is still in session so we’re hoping to find out before June.</p>
<p>Just a quick update - my daughter received her acceptance letter Friday for her waitlisted school and we were able to get her into the admitted student visiting day. Of course, after moving on to her #2 and 3 choices she’s not so sure her waitlisted school is number one anymore! After visiting all three schools on their admitted student days she’ll have 3 (very stressful) days to decide; I’d love for one to stand out above the others but I don’t think that is going to happen. The truth is, any one of them are wonderful choices, but we’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>amtc, congrats to your D in getting off the wait list at her original top choice school. It’s great that she has many good options even if it is difficult to decide.</p>
<p>My daughter was wait listed at her top choice school also. She has gotten into her second choice and she ok with it BUT really wants her first choice so we are patiently still waiting. They told us it could be as late as May 5th.</p>
<p>My question is… </p>
<p>Do we send the deposit for the second school if we don’t hear anything by May 1st? </p>
<p>What if her 1st choice school calls after we send the deposit?</p>
<p>Yes, send in the deposit to the second school by May 1!!! You must enroll with a deposit at a school by May 1. Most wait lists do not even get going until AFTER May 1, when colleges will have then received their replies and can gauge if they have filled their class or not. </p>
<p>If her wait list school comes through after May 1, your D can then enroll at the wait list school with a deposit and then must withdraw at the original school, but you will lose the deposit. Then, that spot will open up for someone on THAT school’s wait list. and it has a domino effect into the summer which is often called summer melt. </p>
<p>The procedure I just described is the expected procedure that all colleges follow.</p>
<p>One college said you have to be “released” from the school you have your deposit at. Anyone have any info on this? Would a school ever NOT release you? Also, are any of you admitting to the #2 school you are on wait list at #1 and might go if you get in? That seems fair, but maybe stupid??</p>
<p>I have never heard of having to be “released” from a school where you have put in a deposit where you applied RD. ED, yes; RD, no. You are under no obligation to attend but you will simply lose your deposit. Colleges expect that a student accepted off a wait list at another school after May 1 may back out. </p>
<p>I see not reason to tell the school you have enrolled at that you are on a wait list elsewhere. The wait list may never come through, after all. And if it does, you’ll let that school know at that time. There is no reason to even get into it. Your intent to enroll is genuine and you may never get off the other school wait list. And if you do, colleges expect students will back out over the summer (“summer melt”) and they will then pluck someone from THEIR wait list if that happens.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I am assuming my D’s first choice won’t have what you call the summer melt because they told her she would definitely hear before May 5. So if I sent the deposit, postmarked by May 1st and her first choice calls by the 5th, can’t I have the check canceled?</p>
<p>^^^ Hmmmm, that possibly might work but no way to know for sure. But you definitely need to put a deposit down at a school by May 1. I understand that your D’s wait list school said they would know if your D got off the wait list by May 5. That makes perfect sense because they will have all their replies in hand from the accepted student by May 1 and will know what they need, IF anything, from the wait list. BUT…you have to understand that it is quite possible that someone who DOES enroll at this school is on a wait list at some other school and could get off a wait list at the other school, say, on May 15, and then choose to attend their wait list school and thus THEIR slot opens up at the original school (your D’s current wait list school). Thus, there is a domino effect that can continue on conceivably for some time…summer melt.</p>
<p>Bottom line…if you want to be active on a wait list and play the wait list game, you still must put a deposit down at another school by May 1 and risk losing that deposit if you eventually get off the wait list elsewhere. Nobody should wait until they hear from their wait list school. They will lose their 100% acceptance school in the meantime if it is after May 1 and they did not put down a deposit. Staying on a wait list implies the possible loss of a deposit elsewhere. That’s the name of the wait list game.</p>
<p>Ha ha… I get it now… That’s crazy, but makes sense. Would you have an opinion about 2 schools (#1 and #2)? They are completely different but maybe you would have a really strong opinion over one vs. the other???</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you are asking me…you mean about specific schools you have not named? If that’s what you mean, I would not really have an opinion. I never had an opinion about my own D’s choices or the ones of my students’. It is ALL about which one THEY wish to attend and by first listing all their personalized list of selection criteria and then listing things about each school in terms of that criteria and putting them side by side and comparing them and then also which school most closely fits their personalized selection criteria. I don’t have opinions as to which school is “better” but more which one matches what a student wants in a college the most. That’s how I would go about it. </p>
<p>However, in the case of a wait list, I would not even think about that too much. I would embrace the accepted school and if interested in the wait list school, do what I could to advocate to get off of it, and once I did that, I’d then let that school go completely and move onto the school I was enrolled at and act as if the wait list school is never gonna come through. And then, IF it does make an offer down the line, deal with it then. No sense comparing what you have to what you don’t have right now.</p>
<p>Ok thanks, I totally understand what your saying. I guess since my daughter got wait listed she still has really high hopes for that school. So if I could convince her to start thinking of her 2nd school as her 1st choice then I guess she could move on. She just keeps getting led on by her 1st choice since the theater professor called her the other day just to talk and told her what her options are etc…</p>
<p>But I think your right, she needs to move on :)</p>
<p>Pay the deposit NOW on the school where she was accepted! You probably should have done it awhile back. She may already be low on the priority list for housing - something we’ve seen happen to others who waited on a deposit because they hoped to get into a wait listed school. If she gets into the wait list school, the worst thing that will happen is giving up / losing the deposit money. We’ve seen too many people who did not get into wait listed schools and who have been very happy at that second choice. It will all work out fine.</p>