Not so much luck as need. For example, if a 9th grade boy boarding spot is open, a 10th grade girl day student on the wait list won’t be considered. If the soccer team is losing their goalie to graduation and the heir apparent chooses to not enroll, they will go to the wait list to find a soccer goalie. That is why the wait list is considered unranked.
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thanks for answering.
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We faced a similar experience last year and tried again this year. Fortunately, the second try worked!
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I agree. I’m shocked by this result.
i just read that post, and i’m a bit confused. i’m in the situation of one acceptance and top choice waitlist-- how does the whole A8 A9 thing work? and how much is the deposit?
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You will see the deposit amount in your portal with the enrollment info.
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I’m assuming you would be happy to go to your one acceptance school? If so, they should be able to tell you the process of making that deposit, and it probably was in your acceptance email or on the school portal.
For your top-choice WL school, I think you immediately confirm to them in exactly they way they want it that you want to be put on the WL. During the period from now until when accepted students have to make their decision, that school is only going to focus on accepted students and re-visit days. Immediately before the deadline for accepted students to confirm they are attending or not, have your parent call the admissions office and speak to the head of admissions to see if there is any possibility you might be accepted and that you have to put a deposit at the other school. If they say it is unlikely, make sure you have the deposit in your accepted school.
At that point, the deposit is not likely to be refunded. You can continue on the waitlist at the other school, but you’re likely to forfeit your deposit if you get into the other school. And, the accepted school might not be happy.
The original post lays it out very clearly, so I hope this helps add to the excellent advice in that post. All I’ve done is state in different words what that the post said (I think).
I don’t want to say it’s impossible to get accepted via the WL. There are cases, but it all depends. You have a bird in the hand, and that’s wonderful. Just play your cards carefully, don’t be overly optimistic, and then play the waiting game.
Remember to love the school that loves you. If the school that accepted you is one that you want to attend, consider yourself extremely blessed.
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@gardenstategal @mynameiswhatever thank you for the clarification.
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ive heard that people on the waitlist are sorted into categories, but what if you don’t fit into the standard ones of a female dancer or male rower? are your chances practically 0 or…?
Hi! I’ve gotten waitlisted at 4 schools and accepted to one which I don’t know whether I want to attend. What are the chances of getting accepted off the waitlist?
(These schools being Concord (my top pick), Winsor, Milton and Groton.)
I am applying for 9th grade
ECs:
Volunteered for 4 campaigns (canvassing, phone banking, and outreach work)
Lead Communications volunteer for local girls education nonprofit
Writer for climate justice organization
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Mandarin for 4 years (intermittently and impeded greatly by COVID)
Fencing for 2 years
High Honors CTY (8th grade)
Outstanding Student Diploma for Digital Exchange Program
SSATS:
90th math, 92nd verbal, 94th reading
Currently, a small independent school student, applying to all as day on FP (I also have an identical twin who is applying to a lot of the same schools as I am and we BOTH got waitlisted at Concord & Milton)
Thank you so much 
i also got waitlisted by exeter and rejected by andover, well i also got waitlisted by 8 other top schools without any acceptance so im pretty much depressed now 
i don’t know if it’s just me but it feels like there were muchh more waitlists this year
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Last year there were a lot of WLs too (at our house anyway). Adjusted our list and applied as repeat and two acceptances but both without any FA so not possible, rest waitlists even at legacy. another tough M10 for my child. Have a plan B (solid day school) but will be in contact with a couple of those WL AOs because child really wants boarding and he really loved the schools. I know without FA he would have had acceptances at most, one AO was really candid about that for FA applicants - excellent student with perfect grades/scores, great kid with lots of Community Service, decent athlete, we’ll give him a WL without a coach recruiting him. Good luck to all the kids who also had a tough M10, guess there were just too many great kids and not enough spots
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I don’t understand the volume of waitlists. It seems to render the entire waitlist process useless. These kids are not fragile flowers, and rejection could honestly be easier, you move on. But the waitlist provides false hope when there are 25x - 50x the number of kids on the list than would ever possibly be offered a spot. Everyone we know received numerous waitlists and maybe one rejection if that, many no rejections at all. In my day being put on the waitlist was unusual. (And I was waitlisted where I ended up going to college. 100 students from my high school applied to said school. 9 got in, 2 were waitlisted, me and my best friend. She immediately declined the waitlist offer and accepted another. I immediately said I’ll come if you let me in and they immediately accepted me, way before decision day. I had very strong rival acceptances to leverage. Seemed way more productive than this nonsense.)
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I think schools are doing what’s best for them. They keep a long list because they don’t know, mid April, what spots will be available. It’s not about protecting the kids.
A coed school needs lots of boys and girls on their list. It’s possible that they find they need only one gender.
They have day and boarding students on their list.
There are also great candidates who need FA but a limited FA budget.
They may want to manage international students to have global diversity.
Unlike a college that can deal with over-enrollment by renting a hotel down the road or asking upperclassmen to find off campus housing, BS are really managing to the numbers. That suggests that most school will need a few kids from their WL
To boot, lots of kids are offered WL spots who don’t need/want them because they have an acceptance they love. So if a school that has 200 freshmen has a WL of 400, it’s possible that fewer than 100 will even want to be on the list.
This has indeed gotten worse, but the reasons are clear. If you are on a WL, there is zero way of knowing if you will be offered a spot.
With that said, I sympathize-- it leaves open a possibility and one without odds.
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sorry if this is an obvious question, but is it necessary to send an email to confirm your being on the waitlist (and would you send your email to the admission office)? i just want to make sure it’s not something more bothersome than good.
They should have communicated exactly what you need to do in the email informing that you were on the WL. Is there nothing about that in their communication to you?
Andover should have sent you something this morning to check a box yes/no. I don’t know about the others.
i’m on the waitlist for andover and exeter and they both had a sort of form to fill out with a yes-no box. i was wondering if i had to further email them to confirm it or anything because i saw older threads with people doing that.