<p>Does anybody know how the wait-list process works at most of the top schools (HADES, L'ville, Taft, Loomis)? if you are wait-listed do they tell you "you are #__ on our wait-list" (if so, and you are #2/3/4 should you just assume your in?) do they have a certain number of people that they can waitlist? or do you just have to wait to see? If they did get up to your name on the wait-list when is the latest they can contact you? Could they tell you in August? usually how many people get in off of the waitlist? I would think that a lot of people get in off the wait list because so many people apply to multiple schools, and seeing as they can only go to one they've just opened one waitlist spot at X amount of schools. </p>
<p>So if anyone has been accepted off the waitist, works in an admissions office (<em>cough</em> <em>cough</em> GemmaV) or just happens to know, it would be nice to know (even though I am trying to stay optimistic that I will get in, its nice to know anyway)</p>
<p>i was on the waitlist last year for hotchkiss and andover, from what i've gotten, they don't tell you what rank you are because you have no rank in the list. if a student chooses not to attend, they go back to the waitlist and reevaluate all the students. at least, that's what they told me when i called last year. most of the time, people from the waitlist don't get in, last year, hotchkiss didn't choose any from their waitlist (the lady told me) and I don't know about andover.</p>
<p>I don't know the exact number of the people on the wait lists, but I think it'd depend on the schools. For the top schools, the wait lists would be smaller, for the less competitive schools, bigger waitlists. For the schools you're applying to, I'd get anywhere from 1/2 to 1/4 of the students they accept for each grade. Latest they would contact you would probably be by April or earlier, as that's when you need to have your decisions on where you're going made for most schools. I suppose they could tell you in August, if someone decided to drop out mysteriously and you happened to get lucky.. There's no "average number of people off the waitlist," it all really depends on whether or not the students accepted decline the offer or not. It can range from 1/3 of the students to no one. I agree, and when you think about the waitlisting process and such, the acceptance rates may be misleading. </p>
<p>Yes many people to apply to a lot of schools, but schools also overaccept. Waiting lists really depend on the individual school, generally I don't think they tell you what number spot you are on the list, but I'm not positive on that.</p>
<p>The schools I know of do not provide any information about where on a wait list you might be - largely because they can't. Once the accepted kids have answered, the schools then look at the mix to determine who might come off the wait list. They might need more boys than girls for example.</p>
<p>Last yar SPS accepted 25 students off of the wait list! No Joke! Look at the beginning of the SPS thread. They accidentally under- accepted. It all depends. I would reccomend calling the admissions office and asking if you are accepted. They will look in their file and tell you stuff!</p>
<p>Yeah, I got accepted off the wait-list to SPS in august and decided to go because it meant more to my family (lots of people went there)
BUT
they did under-accept, and i have a LOT of friends that got accepted off the wait list
i don't know if that will happen again this year though....
they don't have wait-lists they have "wait-pools" and they don't rank student's in the pools, at least for the schools i know, but i only got wait-listed at SPS.</p>
<p>What about financial aid? Let's say you go from waiting pool to accepted in July or August. Is there time to negotiate an aid package? Or are only full pays accepted from the waiting pool?</p>
<p>"last year, hotchkiss didn't choose any from their waitlist (the lady told me)"</p>
<p>Doesn't that mean that no offer was turned down? Was that even true?</p>
<p>As to Andover, according to the Peterson's, in 2008 they accepted 457 from 2386 completed applications; and according to Andover website, "Every year, nearly 200 new ninth graders, or juniors, begin their journey at Andover. They are joined by an average of 85 new peers in the tenth grade, or lower year, and 20-25 new eleventh graders, or uppers. A total of 30-35 new seniors and postgraduates round out the graduating class.", so the difference would be the size of the waitlist pool?</p>
<p>No. The difference is admitted students who matriculated elsewhere. I don't think waitlists are counted as admits. So their yield was around 75%.</p>
<p>Neatoburrito's right. They allow for a certain % of admitted students deciding to attend other schools. If they underestimate the number they lose, they may turn to the waitlist. If they overestimate the number, they don't turn to the waitlist, and may even not admit as many students the following year.</p>
<p>I suspect that many of the kids that Andover loses attend Exeter, or Hotchkiss, etc., and vice versa. That is, I think there may be a group of students whom everyone wants. Thus, it's very important, in my opinion, for students who have a first choice to let other schools know their decision as soon as possible. One student's decision could affect the yield at 4 schools.</p>
<p>It's anyone's guess what they'll do this year. How many applicants' families will get cold feet, even in May?</p>
<p>Not knowing what will happen doesn't mean that an applicant should get his hopes up. Even this year, if my child's accepted at one school, and waitlisted at the others, I'll be pushing to accept the school which wanted our family from the first. Even if the waitlist schools are more prestigious. We selected schools our child likes for this reason. Hanging out on a waitlist is a mug's game. </p>
<p>The only case in which it makes sense is if you've been accepted to Exeter, Andover, Hotchkiss, etc., etc, and you've been waitlisted at a less prestigious school. Then, it might make sense to call, if it's your first choice, to ask if there is any hope, because you might have run into the "Tufts Effect."</p>
<p>I am parent facing "waitlist dilema". My daughter is waitlisted at Choate,Deerfield and Taft; accepted no FA at NMH. My older daughter attended Choate (class 2008) was accepted for 10th grade off wl, but we did not find out until May. Anyone have any idea how deep the waitlits are thios year?</p>
<p>Depends, if you can pay... If you do not really need FA I would say you are likely to get off of the waitlist for the mentioned schools. </p>
<p>Finance, along with the Tuft Syndrome*, are the number one reasons that they would put you on the waitlist. </p>
<p>*Yield protection, they want to make sure they get you...</p>
<p>For schools like Andover, both those reasons will yield fewer students onto the list. These schools have the money, finance is a HUGE issue (not close to as much as other schools, though) and they do not need to worry about yield all too much. </p>
<p>Getting off the waitlist requires constant work, without badgering your "correspondence". </p>
<p>The reason finance becomes an issue is that they are ready to offer you a spot, but schools that promise full need met (do not confuse with need blind, schools like Exeter still promise all accepted students AT LEAST the efc worth in aid...) if the school is not able to "afford" you they will put you on a list.</p>
<p>Beware, they also do not want you to just cancel your FA to help admission... The officers are not idiots of the first order, it will be surprising when you call eight AM on the thirteenth with a "I no longer need FA" rant. Tell them (be truthful) that in this economy we feel it even more important to get a top order education or something and it is worth every cent. </p>
<p>Good luck with the waitlist. Remember, it was a long shot for us to get in... Just another longshot here; hopefully more fruitful, though.</p>