<p>This raises an interesting question, though. A candidate accepted to “Small School X” with full FA will not have paid a deposit . . . after all, the tuition is fully covered. So what’s to stop that student from bailing on that first offer - even as late as August - if an equivalent offer later comes through from a HADES (or other) school. The student can, of course, accept the latter offer with no financial consequences whatsoever . . . but what ethical obligation does he/she have not to leave “Small School X” in the lurch after making the commitment to attend that school?</p>
<p>I believe a commitment should mean a great deal, especially if you are committing to not only the general population but also a certain specialty role in a sport/EC. You not honoring that commitment harms the people trusting your word.</p>
<p>However, these are 14-16 year old children. If another offer comes in that is CLEARLY in the best interests of the child (as judged by the child and by adult influences), I would have no problem with them changing their commitment. The relative harm to the school would be minor compared to the perceived benefit to the child.</p>
<p>If a student is offered full FA at a hidden gem, waitlisted at a top school, then in a freak lightning strike, later offered admission with FA–I still think there’s a strong argument for going to Hidden Gem, deposit or no. Hidden Gem school is seeing something in the child that Top School did not…and so I’d say the odds of the child having a happy, successful career at school number 1 are greater than at school number 2.</p>
<p>@classicalmama: I repectfully disagree. While I can understand the sentiment when people say “love the school that loves you”, this is really not a love affair. Rather, it is a process of choosing the best available option taking consideration of multiple factors, an important one of which is cost vs benefit (however you define benefit). In top schools where AOs are reviewing thousands of applications, a waitlist or even a denial sometimes doesn’t mean the applicant is less qualified. If “on paper”, the applicant is just as strong as the next ones, it often means one particular AO who read his/her application had a preference that worked against the said applicant, or they had to choose from several applicants with similar profiles to form a well-balanced class… So, if one is pulled up from the WL and feels it is the right school, then he/she should follow his/her heart. There is no reason to believe they will be more likely to be unhappy or will not thrive there just because they were WL’ed first.</p>
<p>Maybe so D’Andrew, you make a valid point…but I do think that there is a difference, albeit perhaps not a huge one, between an accepted applicant and a waitlisted one (and I say this as a parent whose kid was both accepted and waitlisted at schools, probably for FA reasons). If a school sees something in an FA candidate that makes them accept that student with full FA–particular a school with limited FA offerings, that says to me that the school sees a student who will probably shine. In the waitlist situation, OTOH, the school sees a student who will do just fine but is not at the top of the heap. </p>
<p>But this is mostly because we’re comparing acceptance at a hidden gem and waitlist at a top tier. Based on my observation of just how challenging a school like Exeter is even for very well qualified kids, I’d be worried that my kid would be less likely to thrive. If the two schools were more or less equivalent, I think I’d agree with you.</p>
<p>Oura54 - You are certainly not the only CC’er eagerly awaiting news of waitlist movement. But there are several things you need to keep in mind. First, most, if not all, schools are on break right now - and that includes the admissions offices, which are operating, at best, with a skeleton crew. So this is not a time when waitlist decisions are likely to be made, even very early ones. Second, most waitlist decisions are made after April 10 - after the school has received responses from those students who were offered enrollment. The waitlist is in place primarily to “fill in the gaps” if enrollment should unexpectedly fall short. Schools usually can’t know if that’s the case prior to April 10. </p>
<p>Finally, and most importantly, you need to remember that few, if any, candidates get called from the waitlist. Please go back and read the [first</a> post](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13982149-post1.html][b]first”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13982149-post1.html) in this thread. The dates mentioned in the post are a bit off, because the quoted statement refers to college, and not boarding school, admissions, but the statement is otherwise equally applicable to both environments. For the most part, the waitlist operates as a safety net for the schools<a href=“not%20the%20students”>/u</a> and, in a good year, it will never be used.</p>
<p>There are always exceptions, of course, and there are also some schools that do things differently . . . but just because one or another CC member posts next week or the week after about being pulled from the waitlist early (and it does happen), don’t count on it happening for your child. If you have other offers, go to revisit days and pick the school your child likes best. Send that school your deposit and get on with your lives.</p>
<p>A waitlist letter is a wonderful affirmation of a candidate’s qualification to attend that school . . . but a waitlist is also, unfortunately, rarely your friend.</p>
<p>My son Just informed Hotchkiss that he will be declining their admission offer. This was tough to do, as it is an amazing school… Very hard toilet gomof the opportunities that any one of these schools offers. That said, he wasn’t feeling it as much as he was with 2 other schools, and we were only able to visit those two for re-visits. My guess is that others who were offered admission will also opt out as they narrow it down, and if they are like us they will realize that the sooner they notify the schools they are sure they won’t be attending, the easier their own decision will be, and the better it will be for the school and the candidates who are on the Wait List… So there might be movement before April 10… Best of luck with all your decisions!!</p>
<p>one student declining an offer of admission ≠ one student pulled from the waitlist</p>
<p>The schools plan on a certain percentage of their offers being declined. If and only if the actual number exceeds that figure will there be movement on the waitlist due to inadequate enrollment. (Again, there is always the possibility that a candidate will be pulled from the waitlist for reasons other than enrollment figures…)</p>
<p>Dodgersmom – for what reasons other than enrollment figures might a student be pulled from the waitlist? If the WL student needs to board, wouldn’t a spot in a dorm need to open for that child to be pulled? I am a newbe to all of this, so am trying to get the lay of the land. My D was accepted at several schools (including some GLADCHEMMS) and waitlisted at another GLADCHEMMS so we are contemplating possible strategies.</p>
<p>Let’s say “School A” really needs to fill a certain position on a sports team (i.e. a goalie for varsity girls hockey), and they offer admission to a qualified student with that special skill. That student is offered admission at several schools, and ultimately decides to attend “School B”. “School A” might then go to the waitlist and specifically pull another student who meets the same need, even before they know whether or not they correctly predicted their yield numbers.</p>
<p>The schools are all “building a community” and are looking for some magic mix of skills - people to write for the school publications, be on the debate or math teams, sing in the choir or play in the orchestra, be student government leaders, and populate the sports teams. They take into account who is already on campus filling those roles, which roles the graduating seniors and the rising juniors are filling, and where they may have “gaps” they need to fill. And of course, they’re also balancing genders, class sizes, day versus boarding students, international students versus domestic students, and ethnic and geographic diversity, along with the need for financial aid.</p>
<p>It’s a pretty complicated equation - and I don’t think there is any way to predict in advance who might come off a waitlist.</p>
<p>massmomof1 - As far as I’m concerned, the only reasonable “strategy” in your daughter’s situation is to pick the school she loves best from among those that accepted her and say a fond “farewell” to all the others, including the one that waitlisted her. Not terribly strategic, I’m afraid . . . but practical, nonetheless.</p>
<p>In answer to your other question, other than enrollment figures and related concerns (including what mountainhiker described above), the only other likely reason a candidate might be pulled from the waitlist is if the candidate appeared overqualified for the school and the school responded with a tentative “waitlist” instead of an enthusiastic “Yes!!!” due to concerns the candidate was likely to turn them down and select a different school instead. Known as the “Tufts” effect, this is the school’s way of protecting itself from having its offer of admission turned down. If the candidate turns around and says, “But I love YOU and would much rather be a student here than at any of those other big name schools that accepted me!”, then the waitlist is likely - in these limited circumstances - to turn into an “admit.” This is not going to be the case where a student was accepted at Hotchkiss (for example) and waitlisted at Deerfield . . . but might be the case where a student was accepted at Hotchkiss and waitlisted at “little-tiny-school-no-one’s-ever-heard-of-with-an-average-incoming-SSAT-score-of-50%.” If the candidate really prefers “little tiny school,” then he or she might have a chance of being admitted there.</p>
<p>And there are, of course, always rumors of other waitlisted candidates magically being admitted after a telephone call from . . . well, I don’t know - the president of a foreign nation, perhaps? We hear of such things from time to time (without ever knowing who made the phone call) . . . and I imagine in some cases, it probably happens.</p>
<p>Some schools turn to their waitlists more than others, and others may use them somewhat differently than what’s been described here. But for a student who’s been admitted elsewhere, unless there’s a really compelling reason to stay on a waitlist (a particular coach, perhaps), the best strategy is to let it go and move on. Trying to hold on to “the one that got away” won’t do you or your daughter any good. Visit the schools that sent admit letters, embrace them, and find the one that will be “home” for your daughter for the next four years!</p>
<p>Actually, if there’s any WL movement, you might hear something on the 9th or 10th of April. People tend to have a hard time deciding on offers from schools of the same tier so they may make a last minute decision (while we hope them to make the decision sooner rather than later, the schools that admitted them would rather they take time and make the “right” decision rather than rush to a unfavorable decision - that is by April 10 of course). If you receive one of those calls, you’ll need to make a decision very quickly. Don’t count on such a call because it doesn’t happen often as the selective schools haven’t turned to their WL’s much in recent years, but be prepared how to respond if you have decided to wait.</p>
<p>If ( and of course I’m being hopeful) that phone call of an offer to come off the wait-list occurs, is the decision generally expected on the spot? What if the applicant is not at home? Can anyone comment ?</p>
<p>I know that they’ll call you back and/or leave a message and maybe email you too. Each school gives a different amount of time for you to make your decision but it’s usually between 3 days and 2 weeks. You won’t have to tell them right there.</p>
<p>Still waiting to hear from Choate and Hotchkiss-- although when given the choice of waitlist till April 10th and waitlist through the summer, we picked the former for Hotchkiss. I’m not willing to lose a deposit.</p>