Hi everyone, I got waitlisted at sps, which is my dream school (and I have a friend from middle school who is currently attending!), but have acceptances from MX and Hill.
My mom’s really excited about the MX acceptance, and I know I am extremely lucky to get in, but I’m just so disappointed…
I know chances are slim to get off the waitlist, and the deposit isn’t exactly a tiny amount either, so what should I do??
I’m applying as a 10th grade repeat.
Everyone: Please read post 1363 on page 91 first:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21211847/#Comment_21211847
And then post your wait list questions so we don’t have to repeat @PhotographerMom’s advice piecemeal.
LOVE THE SCHOOL THAT LOVES YOU!!! My DS had the same situation last year-and the disappointment stayed with him for a few weeks. Until he realized that the school that accepted him really took the time to get to know him and realize what a great kid he is. They loved him for him. And he now says he’s glad he was WLd at what he thought was his dream school. Because his school is perfect for him and they really do love him for who he is!
Part of the value of WL, besides filling in underenrolled spots, is to signal to counselors and middle schools the “right” type of applicant. So your disappointment is helping set the stage for next year’s class.
WL is most often a polite rejection: i.e you are qualified but just didnt fill our needs this year. Many times waitlisted applicants who reapply, will have an improved chance for admission the next year. Schools like that. In essence a WL is meant to encourage you or compliment you. A rejection is often you simply arent qualified or the right fit.
Y’all…this thread is taking me back to last year. Thanks to all of you, who are trying to be firm and yet gentle with those WLd today, as you were with me last year. I’ve come a long way, baby (another old-timer reference) and hope I’m better prepared to go through this with Buuznkid2 in a few years. For those looking to this thread for help…good luck. We’ve been there and we can empathize with your confusion and disappointment.
As the title says, how many people usually get waitlisted by a school? Is being waitlisted more of a ‘soft letdown’? It seems like so many people have been waitlisted by schools.
@ChoatieMom @buuzn03 @gardenstategal @Center Thank you so much! I’m going to stay on the waitlist and go to revisit days etc… I was getting ahead of myself with the whole deposit and waitlist thing. Who says I’m going to be taken off the waitlist anyway. 
I was not accepted anywhere, but was waitlisted at every school I applied to except for SPS (8 schools). Ofc its very difficult to get off the WL, but does anybody have any suggestions about what I should do?
This morning was filled with disappointment for my child, who applied to only one school for 8th grade, and was waitlisted. But, it’s given me a opportunity to reflect on how things sometimes don’t work out, even when the effort has been 100%. While it still stings, you have to learn to get up and keep attacking life head on. For anyone feeling down today, I share with you my go to inspiration for a bitter disappointment—
The Man In The Arena by Theodore Roosevelt—
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Now go out there and keep attacking life.
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@SportyStudent21 read through this thread. All of the answers to your questions are there. And big hugs to you.
@InquiringMind123 , Thank you for that thought.
Our society likes us to believe that with 100% effort, we can have whatever we want. And we can’t. And there’s nothing wrong with wallowing a bit when the news is bad. But as someone once told me, “These holes will be filled, although perhaps not in the way you are imagining now.”
I suspect 9th grade will go better for you – far more options and you now know the game. Wishing you and your kid the best.
I read through and found some very helpful answer. Thank you @buuzn03
@SportyStudent21 trust me, we were there last year. The CC legends gave me some tough love and I can never thank them enough for it. Wishing you the best and keeping fingers crossed!
I just got waitlisted from Milton =(( but I can’t find out how to stay on the waitlist. In the instructions, it says to click on ‘SchoolForms Online’ at the top of the page and submitting the Waitlist Reply Form, but I can’t find the SchoolForms Online thing… Does anyone know?
Thanks so much 
Hi
I’m an international student from korea who goes to a boarding school as a 10th grader.
I applied to Loomis Chaffee as a 11th grade applicant and got waitlisted.
Does anyone know what are the chances of getting off the list?
Got waitlisted to Exeter, Milton and Groton.
Exeter declines to say how many people are on the waitlist, so it’s probably in the hundreds.
Groton only takes 5 people off the waitlist, so that’s out.
I’m not so sure about Milton. Anyone have experience with that?
Waitlisted at: Exeter, Groton, Nobles, Milton, and SPS.
Does anyone get off the nobles waitlist or SPS?
WL at Cate and Thacher. Got into my first choice day school so feeling a bit sad but not overly so. Unclear as to wether I’ll push for either. I loved them both, Thacher especially. Is it strange to feel like maybe I wasn’t meant to go to BS? I don’t think the schools didn’t like me- I’m not taking this personally- I just wonder if it wasn’t meant to be.
I think last year there were 2-3 that got off the waitlist at SPS. But, every year is different, it just depends on how accurate their yield forecast is. I think I saw someone post that SPS admitted 140 but I’m pretty sure they don’t actually want more than 110 (at the most). So…as many people have said, do your best to love the school you will attend next year.