Truly, for those students that have acceptances, even if not from their top choice…LOVE THE SCHOOL THAT LOVES YOU! As @buuzn03@Happytimes2001 and countless others have said, it’s less about the name or what was number one in your mind’s eye, but really so much more about fit.
Those that have acceptances, you have those acceptances for a reason. Those schools chose you because they saw and felt that you would make a great addition to their school. Sometimes it can be the very best thing in your life to let go of what you thought as your number one and embrace the one that chose you. Maybe come revisit day, or the start of the new school year, your number one will be long forgotten because you started loving the school that loved you.
Question for the forum - Do these two schools - “Lawrenceville and Peddie” offer admit with waitlist financial aid (if the candidate applied for FA) or they just waitlist/reject the candidate if they think they cant offer sufficient FA ?
Just want to chime in late here to review one wrinkle - briefly- for students who were accepted but wait listed for FA or who were specifically told by an AO that are wait listed solely because they need FA that is not currently available. If you are in one of these two baskets, and there is any possibility of you forgoing FA and becoming a full pay student, your parent should call the AO at your 1st choice school and let them know that you would be willing to attend as a full pay. Several students on CC have had success with this. Obviously this is not an option for the bulk of FA applicants who require significant FA to attend which stinks. We were able to get a grandparent to help to make it possible to forgo FA (we qualified for FA for a little less than half tuition). You can PM me if this applies to you. For other accepted students waiting for FA, you may hear some news around April 10 as some kids who were allocated FA pick other schools but keep in mind that the FA waitlists are also huge. The year my DC applied to NMH her AO told us they had 6X as many kids that they wanted to accept who needed FA than they had FA to allocate.
Will also add that some of those rolling admissions schools are surprisingly great. NMH is one! My 2nd DC was a late applicant who had to apply in May based on where there were open seats and ended up at a tiny school we had never even heard of on CC - she graduates next year and it has been the perfect school for her. Be proud of all the hard work you put into applying and don’t lose hope. As they say in Spain, life is long.
Wondering if anyone can explain. If you are placed on WL, could you be notified before April 10 if you happen to be accepted or is it always after that date. Also, if not taken off WL, do you get any type of notification. Thanks in advance.
IF you are taken off the Wait List, (note prior posts and I am typing this with extreme caution) it is always possible that it could happen prior to April 10…although this is less likely. Many schools, if not most, do not notify you if you are not taken off of the Wait List. Some schools will send out a mass email that says they will no go to their WL.
If you are taken off a WL (especially at one of the frequently applied to schools), I would suggest quickly going out and buying a powerball ticket. The odds are about the same and you apparently have good juju!
I was waitlisted by Exeter, Deerfield, Milton, Hotchkiss and Lawrenceville (Grade 11). Could you please advise if it makes sense at all to inform the Admissions Committee now that I am ready to repeat a year if they find me a suitable candidate for Grade 10?
Not trying to discourage you but our son agreed to repeat the 10th grade and was WL to the same schools with the exception of Milton, didn’t apply. He got into PA as a 10th grader but he decided that was what he wanted. So, you could still try. Just wanted to throw that out there.
I completely agree and understand the “love the school that loves you” so how do you process it when your only options are school #1-accepted but Financial Aid waitlisted and school #2-waitlisted all others rejected. DS applied for 11th grade. We are able to attend the revisit day for the accepted school. Not many opportunities to make it out to the New England area as we live in the Midwest.
A note of caution if you or your student has the good fortune of getting pulled from the wait list, I have read on here and know personal stories that the turnaround time is super quick - like make a decision in 24 hours or the school is moving on to the next applicant. Just good info to have…
@harshdog Cross your fingers that you make it off the FA waitlist, but don’t hold your breath. Do you have a good local option? Can you call some of the rolling admissions schools and see if they have spots and FA?
@harshdog If I were you( I’m assuming maybe incorrectly that you are a parent) , I would contemplate if you could possibly ( and I mean take a second job or do something big) pay this year, would they be able to give you FA next year? It’s possible if they see your sincere interest and trying to make it work this will help you. Also, since you only have 11th and 12th grade to consider paying for, the costs are lower. Just a thought. You could also ask if it’s possible to pay in more installments. This would naturally only work if you have some money saved and it’s worth it to you as a parent. If you are a student and your parents are unable to make this huge sacrifice then this plan might not work. There are many on this board who work extra jobs, hours and have grandparents and others help to make BS possible.
Our local option is literally Plan XYZ. He went to school locally for 9th grade it was just ok, he is playing competitive hockey out east and doing online school for 10th. We/he really want a better education and opportunities. I figured the schools with rolling admission still wouldn’t know admissions or FA availability until after April 10.
@Harshdog If your son is a really talented hockey player maybe try reaching outl to coaches at some schools where you haven’t applied yet. Schools like Cushing, Brewster, NMH, Berkshire etc. might be interested if they are trying to fill a particular position. They might not be able to give you an answer until after 4/10 but at least you would have your application on file at a few schools so they would know your son is available. I think the rules might be slightly more flexible for an 11th grader as there are practically no spaces for 11th so schools might understand you reaching out now. I know of a few students who applied to a rolling admissions school after the deadline but while the school’s waitlist was still active and did jump over some WL students because they filled an important hole. In fact when we went to Proctor in May, they told us flat out they were holding their one remaining 10th grade girl opening for a hockey player. We were happy they were so candid so we could move on. Also check schools hockey rosters for your son’s position - you can look at what year certain positions are graduating and determine how deep their bench is and make an educated guess about where the openings might be.
I would also encourage anyone on the waitlist to be candid with schools - if you have no options and know you would attend school C if they accept you, you should let school C know this.
@momensa I have heard of people being pulled of the waitlist the earliest on A9 as some schools can start to predict their yield by then, but even that is very unlikely. While I agree with Buuzn03, I think that the odds of getting off of a waitlist are low, but they are not impossible, but DO NOT, for the sake of yourselves, your parents, and everyone here on CC, bank on a waitlist school working out. Essentially, assume it is a rejection and move on to the schools that have accepted you or begin applying to schools with rolling admissions, and if you get a call in April saying you are off the waitlist you will be ecstatic and going off to one of your dream schools, if you do not get a call you can find solace in the fact that you were able to properly plan to attend a different school that you genuinely like and will be content in during your high school years.
On another note: I know that on CC, especially on this thread, we tend to make it seem impossible to get off of a waitlist, however, every year a lot of schools do have waitlist movement, however, the odds of it being in the applicant pool you are part of and then also factoring in the odds of you being the applicant picked out of your pool brings the chances of being pulled off of the waitlist much lower. So yes, do schools pull students off the waitlist most of the time–of course, but in almost all cases only a small part of the applicant pool is being reviewed for those openings.
It always amazes me how people on this thread were freaking out about their “low” chances of getting into highly selective schools with acceptance rates in the teens, yet end up holding on to any glimpse of hope of getting off a school waitlist which always has a MUCH lower acceptance rate than the schools overall rate. For example if Deerfield’s acceptance rate is 17 percent, the chances of being accepted off the waitlist is near 1 or 2 percent (and even that is a generous estimate).
@Skolnayapochta, Only do that if you would actually be willing to repeat a year and not spend the whole (potential) year at boarding school wondering if you would have gotten off the waitlist as an 11th grader. From what I heard from Exeter Admissions officers, they have a MUCH smaller repeat year population, according to their director of admissions at an information session it is around 10 percent of their students, while repeat applicants make up 25 percent of their applicant pool.
Personally, I don’t think it will help or hurt your chances. If you say you would want to be considered for 10th grade and an opening occurs in 11th grade, you have lost that opportunity to be admitted, if you say you would want to be considered for 11th grade and an opening occurs in 10th grade, you have lost that chance of being admitted. Waitlist acceptances IS NOT about being the strongest candidate in one of the applicant pools, it is about being the candidate the adcomms feel is strongest for their school within the applicant pool they need to fill. Which tends to be only a couple of the different pools. For example, lets say Milton needs 2 10th grade boarding boys and one 9th grade day student girl. Well all the other applicants outside those groups will not be considered. Meaning 9th grade day boys, 9th grade boarding boys, 10th grade boarding girls, 10th grade day girls, 11th grade day boys and girls, 11th grade boarding boys and girls, etc. all will not be considered since they do not meet the admissions committees new “criteria”.
I know this was a redundant post, but I feel the need to make this as clear as possible for everyone on this thread.
@westcoastmom987 I tried the open seat search, found it - but on my ssat screen I do not have the same info they are showing! How can I see this open seat info??