I believe the admissions process is extremely complex. The waitlist is one of it’s various facets.
For exeter, I just received the letter today about waitlisting. It does confirm that applicants on the wait list are eligible for financial aid. “If you have requested and qualified for financial aid, you will receive financial assistance once admitted.”
Ack, I applied to Deerfield, Milton, and Exeter and waitlisted at all three. I have strongish EC’s, a pretty good SSAT score, and decently strong academics. Do you think I have a chance at getting off the wait list? I’ve heard they go by who they’re missing: i.e., if they lose a female prep who played flute, they’ll look for another off the wait list? Unfortunately for me, there seems to be a huge abundance of Asian girls applying for ninth grade. 
Any advice?
@danoodle. My son was also wait listed at Exeter and Deerfield. Since zero to maybe a dozen come off the wait list at each of those schools it’s safe to say that your theory would prohibit an otherwise well rounded student from getting in say over a quarterback, vocalist, debate champion…etc. I would also say that at this point your gender, grades and ethnicity really don’t matter. As you said, the wait list will likely fill and voids or gaping holes that admissions failed to fill. My opinion.
Financial aid makes getting off the WL infinitely harder. Just think about it: you need space and money. That said, if you need aid, the school won’t bother accepting you without it.
@dongding123 they’ll give FA if the student gets admitted. They just won’t admit that student over a FP applicant.
Our daughter was on 7 waitlists last year (7 waitlists, 1 acceptance). They were all well-known schools. Nothing came of any of them. Most of them closed their list after April 10th or shortly thereafter. I wouldn’t count on it, and would definitely make other plans. She got into one school but we decided to move and send her to a public school. She is thriving there. For what it matters, we were also full pay.
@Chipin Ah, I guess that makes sense. Is that why a lot of people talk about having a “hook”, or one particular standing point for HADES applications?
@danoodle Not sure about that. Just going by what I have heard and or read on this board.
I was waitlisted at Exeter and loomis, has anyone heard anything from either of the schools?
I am African American, but I need a lot of financial aid…
Does that diminish my chances of being chosen?
And good luck to my fellow applicants on the wait list! Hang on!!
Both kids were wait listed at St. Andrews. Our DD was also wait listed at Deerfield and our DS at Kent. Move on! Make other plans. These were all done as soft rejections as we had connections to all three schools.
@thoughtsofcolor, the need for financial aid affects your chances of admission and your chance of coming off the wait list. However, if you do come off the wait list, financial aid will be offered. Most of the changes happen very soon after April 10. If you don’t hear anything by a week after that, assume you are not getting in (but stay on the wait list just in case). I wish you luck!
Based on what I read, getting off the WL with FA is near impossible. Fingers crossed for April 10th though ;-;
Interesting excerpt from an article on College waitlists, from the Boston Globe. I was googling because i was curious about how the phenom differed at the college level.
"With students applying to so many schools, admissions officers have a harder time estimating how many accepted students will actually enroll. This, in turn, has led the schools to use their wait lists strategically.
Some kids are on the wait list because they’re overqualified. They are wait-listed — but not accepted — because the school fears being turned down, which would drive down an important metric called “yield rate.” That’s the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll, and it can affect the perception of a school’s desirability and even its bond rating.
Underqualified students also make the wait list. “They’re there as a courtesy,” said John Katzman, chief executive of Noodle , a New York-based education research company. It is the school’s way of keeping up a relationship with a guidance counselor, a high school, or parents who are alums. “It’s a much gentler rejection,” he said."
My child was waitlisted as an early admission daystudent at the only private/boarding school we applied to. (We won the lottery for the high performing public school so yea, but can’t shake our love for this private school) Child has written both our AO and the DA of a continued interest in the private school and enthusiasm about accepting a spot if offered. Now I see on the private school’s website that they have announced they will NOT be going to their late round admissions this year as they are “fully enrolled.” Given that it is only april 7, would you say that means this particular school had a high yield this year and our chances of getting off the wait list as an early round applicant needing financial aid just went from bleak to nill? Pretty sure I know the answer, I would just like to be pounded over the head with it by you all lol. Although I don’t want to name the school, it’s a school that has a 30 percent or so admit rate. Thanks in advance for any insight. [-O<
It is April 8th. Schools should start going to their waitlists at this point (if they are going to at all). Any word?
April 10 is the decision deadline; schools will not go to their WLs until all decisions are in and they have their enrollment numbers. After A10, if they are fully enrolled, they will not go to the WL.
April 8th is still not April 10th. 
Nothing will happen before then, at least for the schools that everyone here seems to talk about.
Since A10 is on a Sunday, I’d assume that A11 is day when schools really start doing their number crunching in earnest.
My sister ( who is still plugged in at the local private day school - AKA BS Feeder School ) told me that many parents are requesting an extension for the A10 deadline because they can’t make up their minds…
I hope BSs crackdown on this nonsense so it doesn’t become a trend. I’m sorry, but if you did your initial research well and attended Revisit Days… a month should be ample time to make a decision. It shouldn’t be this difficult.