If it truly is your first choice, then yes I would definitely add that comment along with a line or two explaining why, and send new accomplishments in a separate letter unless they are very significant and can be summed up in a few words.
Letâs put the WL into perspective (one more time).
The size of any WL is immaterial. It is there for the school to fill the profile gaps left by admittees who choose not to matriculate. How many will come off a WL in any given year only someone from admissions at the given school could tell you, but even the school wonât have any idea until after all decisions are in on A10 and up to the start of the school year. In any case, the number will be very low and, some years, schools finds themselves over-enrolled and donât use their WLs at all. Also, as Iâve posted before, one person choosing not to matriculate does not necessarily equal one person coming off the WL. For example, based on historic yield, if a school sends out 250 admit letters to fill its 200 spots, only after the 51st applicant chooses not to attend will the school find itself under-enrolled and need to go its WL. And, if a school finds itself over-enrolled (more admittees said âyesâ than expected), the school will scramble for beds and will not use its WL even if the WL only has five applicants on it.
Even if you knew the exact number of people who came off a schoolâs WL every single year, that still would tell you nothing because you canât know which profiles the school was trying to backfill. For example, if you are a domestic female applicant looking to board, and the school needs two more male day students and an international female, you would have zero chance for any of those three spots even though three applicants will come off the WL that year. See how this works? So, as we continue to pound the drum here, love the school that loves you and let the WLs go as chances of anyone coming off (at any school) are very slim.
I donât post this to be harsh, but to clarify how the WL works and to remind everyone that all of these questions have been answered over and over and over again on this thread. I am sorry for all those who are disappointed right now, and I hope you have other choices which include a good local school option, but itâs time to move on. You can leave yourself on a WL if you wish, but you need to re-read post #1363 on page 91 while you make other plans.
Good luck, hugs, and best wishes to everyone wherever you land.
I wasnât accepted into the independent schools I applied to (8), but I was wait listed at all of them. Should I be happy that I got no rejections and 8 wait lists, or sad I wasnât fully accepted into any schools? I donât want to get my hopes too high for coming off the wait list, but I also donât want to turn my back on it just yet, as itâs only March 11th.
@ChoatieMom thatâs a very concise and well presented summary of the situation. Kids who got WLd at the school they thought they really wanted but got into anotherâconcentrate on the school that decided they just HAD to have you. Be thankful you have a school that saw the special in you. For those that only have WL hopesâŠgo back to the Plan B post that was mentioned a few weeks agoâŠand formulate your plan B. If you get off of a WL, youâve won the lottery. Hugs to all who are in that position. Itâs not pleasant, to say the least.
@cardhastle I think thereâs always the healthy amount of hope.
Typically you have to send back a form stating that you are interested in being placed on / remaining on the waitlist.
Hello all!
I hope your are doing Ok after rollercoaster of emotions from yesterday :)))
My daughter got accepted into one of her lower choice schools and waitlisted at other schools. Does anybody know how it works? If she gets accepted - will they call? write? update Ravenna website?
What are the chances? Does it usually happens after April 10th? And what do we do if we sign the documents from other school??
Ughhhhh
thank you. did that.
We got a nice FA from the school she got accepted to so I doubt other schools would be able to beat it. Itâs just hard to see your kid so disappointed after all the hard work.
If you are willing to share the names of the schools concerned, then maybe some additional insight can be offered.
Hi, I applied to Choate and reapplied (I applied last year too) to Andover as a 10th grader. Last year, I applied to six schools and got waitlisted by four (including Andover) and rejected to two. This year, I got waitlisted to both Choate and Andover and I would be ecstatic to go to either of them, but I prefer Choate because itâs closer to home. Does anyone know how many new 10th graders matriculate for both schools and how many 10th grade applicants they accept? Thanks!
Good luck to everyone else on this thread. I know it sucks to be on the waitlist, seeing as this is my second time around, but just know that making the waitlist is already an achievement! Donât give up hope 
got accepted into CSW and waitlisted at Rivers and Beaver ( I realize those are not top-prep schools but still )
She really liked Rivers and seemed like her interview went extremely well so she was VERY surprised and disappointed.
Also got waitlisted at BBNS but not counting on that
CSW = California School of Woodworking ???
Oh my God no
Cambridge School of Weston
sorry :))))
I just read about the Cambridge School of Weston on Wikipediaâso I am not a good resource. Seems interesting. Only 25% get financial aid. Mod system of 5 weeks each seems appealing.
Rivers & BBNS are great schools. Hopefully others with more knowledge than I will contribute their advice.
anyone whoâs gotten off a wait list, please PM me
Hereâs the Waitlist Drill:
If you receive a WL decision from your first choice school and an acceptance from another school- the steps are pretty simple:
-
Accept a place on the WL via email with Delivery and Read Receipts.
-
Schedule a Revisit Day and put the WL school OUT OF YOUR MIND for now. Go to Revisit Day and have a great time.
Youâll have one month for the WL to shakeout and to make a decision about the other school . If you want to go the distance with the WL school ( WITHOUT jeopardizing the other school ) youâll have until A9. On A8 have your PARENT call the WL school and ask to speak to the DOA. Tell WL school that you have to act on an acceptance from another school before the deadline but youâd like to check WL status ( one last time ) before you do. If they tell you that theyâre NOT going to the WL or they donât expect much movement- thank them and have them remove your name from the WL.
Itâs time to MOVE ON unless you choose to stay on the WL. If WL school miraculously does come through ( after A10 ) youâll have to break your commitment with the other school and forfeit your deposit (which is NOT a mere bag of shells, by the way ) . Personally, I could never take this route because Iâm way too frugal and like closure .
Iâm also big on keeping commitments- but thatâs just me. So- now weâre one or two days away from the deadlineâŠ
- Now that youâve given the WL time to play out ( and you can walkaway and never wonder because youâve seen it through to the end⊠) : Have your parent call the school ( youâll be attending ) and tell them the deposit check is on itâs way via FedEx.
The End.
Now- if youâre handed all Waitlists without any acceptances - hereâs basically what you need to know:
Unfortunately, all you can do is remain calm, guarded and optimistic. Out of the gate, I highly recommend that a WL student sends an email to the school(s) just as I outlined in Step One above. Then the waiting truly begins because the AOs are solely focused on accepted students and revisit days until A10. Yes, a waitlist parent can call an AO M10-A10 to echo what was said in their childâs WL email, or to get a WL status update, but just remember where the AO focus is ( as cruel as that sounds- sorry ), and remember that all interaction between you and the AO matters. IMHO- itâs better to be cool, upbeat and patient. Persistence ( aka stalking ) has worked out well according for some persistent parents, but it has also backfired miserably on many parents , too. Everyone operates differently and Iâm not here to tell anyone what to do⊠just do what feels best and works well for your family.
If I had to pick two days for a WL parent to call ( after the M10 student email accepting a place on the WL ) , I would pick the day after the last scheduled revisit day and A11- the day after contracts/ deposits are due⊠but thatâs just me. I think itâs perfectly fine to call anytime before or on A9, too. Just not A10⊠because itâs absolutely nuts in all BS AO offices that day.
*** THIS IS IMPORTANT *** Before and after A10, youâll hear about some WL movement here on CC. Youâll also see discouraging posts saying that your school has closed their WL. Please disregard those posts unless youâve received the same letter, email, or you were told the same information over the phone by the AO.
Most schools send out some sort of notification to all families when they officially close their WL⊠while some ( forgive me ) will leave you languishing in the desert foreverâŠ
Also⊠even though itâs pretty rare, some Waitlist movement will occur before school begins in late August/ early September. Itâs also not uncommon for movement to happen in July, too ⊠because thatâs when the big money is due.
Life intervenes, plans change and spots at BSs do open up, but sadly itâs infrequent. Thatâs just the way it is.
The best WL advice Iâve heard during M10-A10 and beyond is to keep an open heart, keep doing all the things that make you happy, and keep moving. If you need to pause and vent there are plenty of veterans ( parents and students ) that are here for you⊠many who have experienced exactly what youâre going though and could give much better WL advice than I can. So reach out if you need to - even if itâs for a lousy cyber hug.
I wish there was some upbeat way to end this post but there you have it.
All the best and good luck!
Congratulations to all of you who had the drive and passion to endure the rigors of applying to BS. You will succeed in life no matter what high school setting you reside in.
Itâs been said many times on CC, but below Iâll put some numbers to it for those who just went through M10 and have WL offers. There is no harm in accepting a WL spot. But donât dwell on it. Consider accepting the WL spot, then forget about the chances of getting in and if you win the proverbial lottery in April/May, super. You can contact the school and let them know how keen you are, especially if you have a particular talent that letâs you stand out (for example, you are a hockey goalie and you want the coach to know that if his/her goalie recruit doesnât accept, you would like that spot), but otherwise, start making alternate plans.
The chances of getting off one particular WL is VERY low. Schools will draw between 0% and 5% off their waitlist. If a schoolâs anticipated vs. actual yield is low by 1%, they will draw 1% from their Waitlist. If it is low by as much as 5%, which is unlikely, they will draw 5% from the WL. In general we are talking about 0-25 kids coming off a Waitlist that likely numbers in the many hundreds. Your odds may be higher if a school needs to fill a very specific slot (athletic team, music, etc.) and you can fill that particular slot, otherwise the chances are very remote. Do not put your life on hold hoping for a lottery ticket in April/May.
Lawrenceville placed over 450 people on their Waitlist in 2016, from an applicant pool size of about 1,900. They offered 450 Waitlist spots and rejected 1100 applicants. One has to assume that most select schools have comparable sized Waitlists, adjusting for size of school and number of applications that school normally receives.
(Schools do not go to the Waitlist every time an admitted student declines to attend. The school has already factored these âdeclinesâ in their yield estimate, hence they offer acceptances to 25%-100% more students than they target to enrol in the Fall. Hotchkiss typically has a yield of around 50%, so they will offer double the spots they actually wish to fill ((100-50)/50). Andover has a yield of around 80% most years, so they will offer admission to around 25% more students than spots they have to fill ((100-80)/80)).
@PhotographerMom @ChoatieMom Your Wait List posts, and I reference in particular posts 1363 and 1365 on Page 91 of âThe Wait Listâ, are among the best I have ever read on CC Prep. They arenât just relevant to WLers but any family beginning the BS application process. Every family needs a backup plan. Thank you for your contributions.
@MtnTrailX . Thank you.
@PhotographerMom Cheers.