I know schools such as Brown, UChicago and Cornell have in the past told people they will take them for the following year or spring semester. Although I have heard that if Cornell wants you for Spring Semester, they expect you to attend and not defer the whole year (I need the year). To me going Spring is worse than going in fall 2015. So far I have been straight wait listed at a bunch of non HYP Ivies and near ivies that I am very interested in. I am looking into a specific GAP year program. It is the full year. I am NOT doing this to improve my chances or to reapply next year. I got into some decent schools and I will pick one on May 1 and then probably defer. I will not be reapplying as the point of the year is to do something different.
Given that I am wait listed and want to defer to 2016 anyway, should I or my GC contact the schools and offer to defer? I am afraid that it may backfair as they may just reject me or it could work (assuming they are really interested in the first place). Most of my WLs are not courtesy WLs as far as I can tell. All of my stats are in range and my ECs are good. I am a legacy at one but I know that one is not a courtesy. With two of the schools I was surprised to be WL, expected to get in (PLEASE no discussions about how no one can have those expectations of an Ivy or near Ivy, subject has been beaten up.) Two of the schools I was surprised I got WLed, expected to be rejected.
Unrelated problem, I am writing interest letters but have two first choices and then 2 very close second choices. I would go to any of the 4 over my current choices (which are decent). Therefore, while I can certainly say I would like to attend, I cannot guarantee any one school that I will absolutely attend (whether now or in 2016). Is it worthless to write an interest letter? How do I say it without sounding waffly. I cannot lie (beyond the obvious moral reason that it is wrong) as I will have younger siblings applying in a few years and I go to a small school.
I will be doing a GAP year regardless unless the WL school absolutely refuses to permit it but they all permit it for RD students. If they refuse, I may stick with one of my RD acceptances, depends which WL school (assuming any even admit me.)
I figure it saves a step, this way I do not have to request a GAP year after admission. At Brown it is called a Z-List but it is usually not voluntary.
Valid question, anyone heard of a non HYP Ivy (other than possibly Cornell/Spring Admit) or near Ivy refusing to allow an admitted WL candidate to do a GAP year that they would have allowed their RD to do? I am asking
Since you are already planning the gap year, get your guidance counselors advice about whether or not to tell the places where you are waitlisted.
Do your gap year, and reapply where/if you feel like it. By this time next year, it is entirely possible that none of your current favorites will be interesting to you at all.
Thank you for the response but please do not misunderstand, I am NOT reapplying under any circumstances. That is a non starter. That is not what I am asking AT ALL. I am already WL at several top colleges and accepted at several other good colleges. I just strongly prefer some of the ones I was WL over the ones I was accepted at.
The question is, since Harvard (for example, not actually WL there) has previously taken people from the WL and guaranteed them deferred admission if they take a Gap year, since I plan to take one ANYWAY, could it help me get in if I call Harvard TOMORROW and say, I am still interested and I am willing to take a Gap year and be admitted in Fall 2016 (guaranteed NOW, not reapplying).has Harvard or Brown or wherever then said, fine you are in for 2016?
My GC is not sure as she had a student try to do that with a school and ended up with Spring Admission (that could not be deferred) which I will not accept since my program is a full year. That is why I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with this or has suggestions. My GC and I chat all the time but she is wary after what happened to the other student.
Here are my three separate questions on Wait lists:
SO has anyone called a school or had their GC call, they were WL at, offered to defer in exchange for guaranteed deferred admission to the Class of 2020? Is this a good or bad idea?
In the alternative, if you tried to defer for a year AFTER getting in off the WL for the immediate fall, was there any problem? Were you treated differently than the RD who deferred? All the schools I was WL permit deferrals for RD applicants. One potential problem is assuming I get in, it may not be until after the deferral request period has ended. For example one of my RD schools has a deferral request date of May 15.
Finally, in writing general interest letters, if you would go to any of your WL schools but are not sure which is your first choice, what do you say instead of "if admitted I will come." Saying top schools and I am very interested sounds lame, especially as most people are not on 4 school's lists.
My immediate plan is to figure out which of the schools I was already ACCEPTED at I want, then ask them to defer until Fall 2016. All except one have previously had people from the program I am interested in so I am not worried about the schools I was accepted at letting me defer. The other allowed students from rival programs to defer. Again, I am doing this because I want a Gap year, not because I want to reapply. If I do not get a WL school I will be VERY disappointed but after my Gap year I will go to the chosen one from among my acceptances which are all excellent schools (not safeties I just was hoping and had worked towards more) and I will be done. In all honesty this year has been misery and I want it over with. I never expected my senior year to be this stressful. It almost feels like students at a certain level are being punished for aspiring. It seems like we end up in the same places as people with good but lower stats from our school do, the difference is that we get several at that level, they get one. We do not get that next level except as a WL. Which prolongs the process. This has been a very discouraging culmination to my high school career.
You honestly could not pay me enough to reapply and go through this stress again even if this time I ended up getting into all 8 Ivies, M, S and CalTech, none of which will ever happen. Stick a fork in it I am done. Sorry for the whine
At the schools you mentioned in your first post, you are accepted into that delayed entry program from the start – not waitlisted. The people I know who came off a waitlist (admittedly a small sample) were not allowed to defer and take a gap year as they are accepted you to fill a spot for the upcoming year. I’d focus your attention on choosing a school you are into and getting a deferral from that school.
If you take a step back after some time passes and change your mind you can always throw in a couple of applications during your gap year – there will be less stress since you will 1) be away from the peer pressure in HS and 2) should already have settled on a school you are happy with so you can do it with the idea that any other admissions would just be an unexpected bonus.
I’m actually in a very similar situation! I got waitlisted at my top two choices (Uchicago and Carleton) and plan on takin a gap year. Im fine with going to my safety school (UWisconsin) but prefer my WL schools. I actually called Uchicago about gap year vs acceptance and here’s what I got:
Still show interest! Explain that you are taking a gap year and would need to defer if you were accepted off the WL. I would tell them what you plan on doing during your year off, maybe explaining how it could make you a stronger student for your chosen major. The person I talked at UChi said my decision to take a gap year will not affect my application. Now I have no idea if that’s supposed to mean that they won’t penalize you for taking a gap year or what, but that’s what he said.
Op,
It is EXTREMELY hard to get off the wait list and be accepted at most selective colleges. If you notify any of them that you are interested in deferring before you even have an acceptance in hand…then you will probably not get accepted at all, thus making deferment not an option. I haven’t heard of someone trying to “trade” a deferment for an acceptance. It might help boost their USNWR metrics, but it might be harder to manage from a dorm/beds perspective. I don’t think that the college benefits much from deferment, except by having a slightly more diverse and mature student body.
I think that you should wait until you get accepted off of the wait lists for any of these colleges. After you get accepted, then you can start talking to them about deferring your enrollment for 1 year. Many selective colleges will waive the deferral deadline date. Ah, the niceties of private colleges.
As for verbage, just sell your new accomplishments and what you will bring to the social/EC life of the college. You don’t have to put down that they are your “top choice” or anything if you don’t feel like you can honestly say so.
Waitlist policies for highly- and most-selective institutions widely vary; for some, it means a chance (perhaps 10 percent) of acceptance (dependent upon impending yield results), while for others it principally is a more-polite and -politically correct form of denial (with only one or two percent ever offered admission). The Common Data Set for your universities can provide valuable information that allows you to ascertain the REALISTIC aggregate acceptance opportunity.
I am not at all sure many first-tier universities would feel that waitlist status necessarily confers delayed/deferred admission. Some may, however, MANY others are quite unlikely to guarantee eventual matriculation, because their waitlists are so large (for example, a few years ago at least one top ten school waitlisted nearly 2X the number of applicants as they enrolled in August/September).
Fundamentally, it is often wise to move on, due to the very low probability of being accepted from many/most waitlists, especially at highly-competitive institutions (some suggest it approximates the chances of being struck by lightning).
I have a friend whose daughter is doing exactly what you want to do. She was WL at UChicago last spring, which was her first choice school. Once she and her parents nailed down her gap year plan, she met with her GC who called the AO at UChicago to discuss the plan and inquire about deferring until this coming fall. She was ultimately offered a place in this fall’s incoming class, which she accepted, and is almost finished with an amazing gap year experience. FWIW, her GC said that he needed to make the call to UChicago, not her, so that contact is likely a job for your GC. Good luck!