The Wait List

Many schools seem to have a very deep wait list pool, in some of the bigger schools its almost the same size as their acceptance size…

@atria - If you are correct about the waitlist, it seems pretty cruel. If, as others have said, the schools are pretty good about their yield estimates, they shouldn’t need to waitlist so many. Why string kids along like that?

Many schools use the WLs for soft rejections. As in, ‘You were a terrific candidate – but we had many more qualified candidates than we have spots for.’

I remember this being posted in CC awhile ago (regarding Exeter)
I do agree its cruel…

Perhaps @Kthor626 or @laenen can weigh in?

Schools approach the waitlist differently -some only waitlist kids they really really want and keep the list pretty short, and some waitlist almost everyone who meets their basic requirements and isn’t a clear “no”. Many schools will send a follow up letter in April with more details re their numbers or saying they are fully enrolled and closing their list.

When I went through the WL process last year, I remember a couple of members providing harsh truth and I just couldn’t accept it. I wanted to hold out hope. I should have accepted the results. I think my belief some how was transfer to my son and I remember him in the early summer if there was still a chance. Although by the summer I was long since over it, I was wrong to have not accept the harsh reality on M11.

In hindsight, I appreciate the tough love.

I agree with HMom16 that schools are not being fair to its applicants. We hear from 10’s of people that they are wait listed. Really, PEA are you really going to go 10 -20 deep into your wait list. It is kind of a crappy thing to do.

Also because admissions are increasingly competitive, kids are applying to a larger number of schools and this means fewer kids will yield at any one school. For this reason, schools are hedging their bets with larger wait lists as a form of protection. Same exact thing is happening in college admissions.

I was neither accepted or denied at the schools I applied to. If I have a waitlist at all eight of the schools do I have a chance of getting into at least one of them?

My brother has got waitlisted for two of his favorite schools. What are the best approaches to waitlists? I read some of the past posts and it seems to be different for each schools.

To the schools defense, although I do think they could pare back the waitlists a bit, when they go to the waitlists they will be looking to fill a certain niche - a 9th grade girl, 10th grade boy, a cellist, etc.

If you have acceptances, go to the revisit days. These schools thought you’d do well there and they’d benefit from having you in their community. They WANT you! Really, win win! This is the essence of the “love the school that loves you” argument. Imho, choose one and move on!

If you have no acceptances, hang in there on the WL, let AO know you’ll come if they call, and understand that it may not happen and plan accordingly.

The schools do this in part not to discourage future applicants and in part because a huge # of those WL will enroll elsewhere and move on, taking themselves off the WL. They want to be left with a WL pool that will allow them to balance out their class. If on A10, the girls dorms are filled, only boys on the WL will get a call. It seems cruel, I know, but it’s the way they fill their beds to capacity with the intended mix of students.

Many colleges with freshman classes of 500 will put 750-800 on their WL. All part of enrollment management.

@hopefulandhappy, It is possible, but not likely. Let the schools know that you want to remain on the waitlist. Email your AOs, especially at schools that you really love, and let them know that you were waitlisted everywhere and you still really want to go to X school. If one is your first choice, say so explicitly. Do not say so if not. Remember they are very busy right now, so don’t worry if you don’t get a response or get only a cursory response. Then just hope for the best. It is also important to start planning for next year at your local public high school or wherever you are most likely to go next year. Start to find the positives and get excited about the opportunities that are only available to someone who is not at boarding school, for there are many. We have dealt with both outcomes. Both my children had many waitlists and no acceptances for 9th grade. My son came off a waitlist on April 11. My daughter went to the public high school and had a happy and successful year. She reapplied to her brother’s school for 10th grade and was accepted. Best of luck to you! Remember you can be happy and do well in a variety of situations.

A waitlist may seem larger than it is, because there are different categories: day/boarding, male/female, needs FA, athlete in specific sport/player of specific instrument/other desired or important ability, etc. There may be relatively few students in any given category, although the entire list seems long.

The chances of “getting in” when you are on the waitlist is slim to none. My daughter applied to eight schools for her freshman year, and was waitlisted at Exeter, Hotchkiss and St. Paul’s. Denied at Deerfield, Choate, Groton, Andover, and Middlesex. So, she didn’t and couldn’t go, and had an over 98% on SSAT and A/B grades with a couple of C’s in middle school. This year she she cast a wider net with those same schools, plus 5 more, so 13 total. She was again waitlisted at Exeter and St. Paul’s, but was accepted to NMH, Kent, Pomfret and Williston. Bottom line: waitlist is a no, unless you win win the lottery. I mean mega-millions. It just doesn’t happen enough to count for anything. Apply to at least 10 schools unless you have perfect or neat perfect grades and 90%+ on the SSAT. Remember that the cohort of oldest girls who have good grades, good test scores, who play an instrument is the most competitive cohort of kids. I was told by 2 admissions counselors that if she was a boy, she’d be in. They have lower standards for boys, and I think most parents understand this fact and why it is.

@twinsmama If my interviewer was an alumni and not an AO, who should I email?

@Silverca07 The main admissions email, I suppose (admissions@xschool), or find out who the AO for your state/region is.

@twinsmama thank you so much for your advice!!

Do you think there is any benefit (from a waitlist standpoint) to sending thank you notes to people outside of the AO (such as coaches, teachers, etc.) that your kid met with?

I mean - we already thanked them after meeting with them initially. This would be to thank them for their help during the actual admissions process.

I’m not sure about sending notes. Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me, but I may be wrong. However, in our experience a coach can be a powerful ally if he really wants said student on his/her varsity team. In two schools where my DD was waitlisted, the coaches offered to advocate for her with Admissions, and one of them indicated that he has had multiple candidates in a similar situation who are now happily playing on his team. In a third school, the coach was instrumental in getting more FA dollars from Admissions. All this is very subjective, of course, and it will vary with school, sport, candidate, year, etc.

@HMom16 dependent on sport, a coach can be your most powerful ally. Alumni and current students remember sports as their favorite event to go to and participate in. Alumni love to donate to sports because of this, so the school is always looking for athletes to fill the facilities. Sending a note to a coach may seem strange, but it certainly shows interest and can’t hurt.

The problem with the waitlist is that you have to be super pushy to get off of it and everyone is doing so. Matriculation numbers aren’t as high as people think they are, and it goes year to year as to how many people actually get off the waitlist. It really is a soft no to be honest.