The Wait List

Most of them are after April 10, but they may come before if the school is getting WAY less enrollments than they anticipated.

For example, school A gives out 50 acceptances and expects 40 of them to come. However, by the end of March, 20 accepted students have already told school A that they are committed to school B. Even if the rest of the undecided students ALL decide to enroll, they are still 10 spots short.

This is when they look at the waitlist, and pull off their desired candidates before April 10.

That is great to know. Every school seems to play by different rules, so it is worth checking each school.

Looking at this year’s decision thread:

I notice two “trends” popping up. 1. It really was “test optional.” 2. It was perhaps “FP mandatory.” More than any other years.

There are not WL “decisions”. There are WL offers. And they don’t generally happen all at once. A school may realize it needs boarding girls, so it may reach out to those. A week later, maybe they’ve lost 2 day boys to another school that made those boys a WL offer. So they’ll fill those holes. Sometimes, schools are surprised by how many students accept their M10 offers and are slightly over-enrolled, in which case they never go to their WL. And

So you may see WL activity on these boards without hearing a peep. And you may hear nothing except that the WL is closed. So please, don’t gear up for another decision day.

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Hey all, I saw from earlier on this thread about a person who’s daughter wrote a letter of continued interest, and got into Lawrenceville just a week later. I did the same, but today I got a national scholastic art awards silver medal!! I did include in my apps a lot about my passion for art, so would this national prize help them re think putting me on the waitlist? I know exeter’s process might differ from LV but just wondering.

I am also an applicant this year, so I’m not too sure about if it will get you off the waitlist, but I think that will definitely help your application! It’s another accomplishment, and I think schools want to see that you’re still improving and doing the things you love. So I would say, it wouldn’t hurt to update Exeter about this accomplishment!! Good luck!!

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No school put you on a WL because you didn’t accomplish enough, and no school is looking to take anyone off a WL because of new accomplishments – you 've already passed that bar. You may get off a WL if, after A10, the school finds itself underenrolled and your profile matches a hole they need to fill, say a female tennis-playing boarder or a male day student. That’s how it works. They are already impressed by you. They are not looking for more accomplishments.

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Feel free to update your schools but as @ChoatieMom notes, you aren’t on the WL because you weren’t “good enough”. I say this in the event that you are submitting this because you thought that was the case. You are indeed good enough.

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So we have a box arriving on Saturday from an area where a school is located. If you get off the waitlist, will they mail a package? Will I get a phone call? Maybe I am being wishful thinking. Maybe they just haven’t called yet?

It is highly highly unlikely that there will be any WL movement until well after A10. The package is likely something ordered from Amazon.

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Not amazon. I have nothing pending. It is very strange.

Gunn wait list is going to be hard to move off. I spoke with admissions my D was waitlisted and this school is her first choice. She was accepted to Taft and Westminster. Gunn admissions had 5th consecutive year of record number of applications and although Frederick Gunn is generous with FA for a small school the yield is very high from initial acceptance. I appreciate their honesty about specifying FA waitlist versus others schools that pretend it is not a factor.

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Hey so let’s say hypothetically you get pulled off the waitlist because they needed someone with an activity you included in your app. What if I’m deciding not to continue that activity? Will they see that when I’m registering for classes and reject me or something? I included I did saxophone (didn’t say it was my favorite thing to do just that I know how) but I’m not sure I’ll have time to do it with everything else I wanna do, since it’s not my top priority. Just in case chance is on my side and I get pulled off the waitlist, I don’t want to be chosen for the wrong reason.

Once you’re admitted and have paid your deposit, they aren’t going to rescind your admission unless your grades don’t hold up or you do something inappropriate (such as cheating, plagiarizing, post something threatening on social media, etc.)

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Doesn’t matter. You won’t know if they take you for saxophone or something anyways.

Don’t kill your brain cell now over what if.

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If they pull you, it won’t be for your saxaphone playing. If they need a sax musician, they’ll be pulling from from the virtuoso pile, not the casual player.

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Hi, I’m on the waitlist for Andover, Exeter, and Lawrenceville, and I have a few questions on how to continue:

  1. Is it a good idea to write an email regarding interest in the school, as well as stating that you would attend the school if chosen.

  2. I applied for financial aid thinking it wouldn’t hurt my application. Now that I know a lot more about prep schools, is it a good idea to tell these schools that my family is willing, and able to pay for the full cost of tuition in order to improve my chances?

Best,
Robert

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Yup! You can scroll up and see how other people wrote their letters but you should definitely email an AO.

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Andover and Exeter are need-blind, so saying that you would pay full tuition will not help.

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Exeter is not really need blind. And in a world of covid, being fullpay will only help.

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I was about to say the same thing a lot of the students I saw being admitted were full pay. There is no way they’re completely need-blind and admitted mostly FP students.

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