Things to do to get accepted after being waitlisted

Applying to College
1

<p>So I ended up getting waitlisted at several places where I would love to attend.</p>

<p>What things can I do to increase the likelihood that I get accepted?</p>

<p>Some things that I have found/not sure about:</p>

<p>-Send Letter of Continued Interest
-Write letters, send e-mails, and call (would this be too obnoxious?)
-Give up FA (with my EFC this is something I cannot afford to do...) (Do schools even give students they take off of waiting lists FA?)
-Send additional letters of rec (lots of schools actually specifically say don't do this though...)
-Send updated achievements, grades
-Send "Why X?" essay to schools that didn't ask for such an essay in their supplement? Would this be a good idea?</p>

<p>Anyone have some good tips to add?</p>

2

<p>Bump!!!</p>

3

<p>If you get waitlisted at any ivy, good luck. It ain’t happening, trust me. Just pick your choices and move on. Let it play out by itself, don’t waste your time.</p>

4

<p>Please go to the “deferred applicants thread” - there’s some advice there.</p>

<p>Don’t send more than two updates, or else it’ll be a bit too much.</p>

<p>I was deferred ED for Duke. I got my employer to send a rec, and I sent an update about my improved grades. Don’t give up, it’s still worth a shot. Even if it doesn’t work, you can still say you tried.</p>

5

<p>Bump this thread. I was wait listed at two schools and I’m a bit confused about the continued interest letter I should send in. Can anyone give me some advice as to things to include/not include, the length of the letter, who it should be addressed to, etc?</p>

<p>Thanks for the help :)</p>

6

<p>Address it to the regional officer in charge of your area.</p>

<p>Dear …</p>

<p>Thank you very much for considering my application, I am still interested in X University as it is my first choice.</p>

<p>New academic accomplishments? Better grades? One paragraph.</p>

<p>New ECAs? Another paragraph.</p>

<p>Rec letters? Mention attaching them, briefly talk about relationship… teacher… Family member? …employer?</p>

<p>Talk about how going there would help you attain your long term goals…</p>

<p>Thank them again…</p>

<p>Hope this helps!!! good luck.</p>

7

<p>The other thing to do is find out if they think they will be taking anyone off the waiting list this year (which they won’t know until a week or so after May 1) and how many they took last year. Some schools can probably say pretty quickly that the answer is ‘no.’ Also, find out how many are on the waiting list after May 1. If the list is in the thousands and they took no one last year, it’s time to move on.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, the best thing to do is look at the schools to which you have been accepted and decide which one you can learn to love. Sometimes marriages of convenience turn into wonderful situations!</p>

9

<p>Thanks for the information everyone!
I’m definitely not expecting anything from the letter. I just thought that it wouldn’t hurt to send one in :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Does anyone know how I can find out the information about my regional officer? I’m from Vancouver, BC. Thanks!</p>