<p>icy9ff8 -- that is probably true of SPS, but to be honest it was the one school my son was hoping rejected him. He was iffy about applying and after sending in the application, decided the school was really not for him. He left the application active since he had already sent it in. I still think he would have turned down a spot on the waitlist even if he really liked it -- he wants the decision to be made. Plus -- we never got to visit the schools on the east coast, so he would be hoping to get into a school that he has never even visited.</p>
<p>laxtaxi -- thanks for the good words. We definitely approached this process differently from many others, but so far it has worked out very well. I will post more about our strategy and how things went in a few weeks -- things are a bit too chaotic right now. I certainly learned alot from this board over the past year and a half -- things to do and things not to do!</p>
<p>Wait Listed? My D wait listed at Exeter via electronic notifacation this AM. t What does this REALLY mean? Do kids get in from wait list? Is there some type of lobbying that happens,... She wanted Exeter 1st. Would appreciate any imput/experience with this subject. THX</p>
<p>it depend on the situation at the school. In amny instances waitlisted students are wanted but first the admissions comitee must see of their top chopices go there then see if they have room for their second choices (wait list)</p>
<p>First, all schools accept more students than they really have spots for. That's important to remember so we don't think "oh, baseballmom's son is in at both Avon and Salisbury, if I'm on the waitlist at one of them, I might get in if he says no to that one." The schools COUNT on a certain percentage of students declining their offer (the yeild).<br>
When more students decline than they thought, they go to the wait list.<br>
Sounds simple? Well, not really. Because, they MIGHT go sooner if they really need an underwater basoon player and they offered admission to 3 and every one of them decided to go elsewhere. The underwater basoon player on the waitlist might get an offer, even if the "yeild" is accurate.<br>
The waitlist itself is not necessarily prioritized in any certain way - in fact, it is probably several different waitlists - not that you will know what one you are on. Maybe they want to see your winter grades, maybe they know you are an amazing clarinet player but don't need one...or don't think they do...whatever.<br>
As others have said, you usually need to pay a depoist someplace before most waitlist movement occurs, so there is risk involved. If you want to stay on it, you should let them know right away, and then provide them with updated info. If they are your first choice and you will 100% attend if accepted, you should tell them that. However, we have been told that it a moral contract and should not be entered into lightly.<br>
This is all info gathered from our placement counselor at my son's school who has years of expereince doing this, not first hand experience on our part.</p>
<p>hsmom thanks so much for your reply. You are saying that after the April decisions were made last year, a majority of kids stayed online to follow up and report that they did not get in after waiting on the waitlist, and, if they did get in they did not get financial aid? I was told by more than one admissions rep that if they want your kid, and you have demonstrated the need, they will provide, especially for the well endowed schools. Do the schools expect you to commit to attending before getting a financial aid decision? I guess you must need to put money down to save a spot. I am sure there are kids who have said they will attend only to not be able to afford it in the end.</p>
<p>bibdad and others. I will give you our experience with the WL from top tier schools. First, you have to understand one important thing. All schools have a certain yield factor that they use. They know that a certain percentage of kids they accept are going to turn them down. Therefore, just because you see that if you or your child is waitlisted at school A and there are four or five kids on this board who were accepted at school A but turned school A down, it doesn't mean that there are at least four or five openings and the school will be pulling from the waitlist. My D was waitlisted the first year at the only school she applied to, a NE top tier school. As the summer dragged on, there would be an occasional letter asking her to be patient until in late August a letter arrived saying they did not pull anyone off the waitlist that year and so she was not going to be admitted. The next year, she broadened her horizons and applied to several schools. She is at a BS now, but she knows of only one student there who came from the waitlist last year. There is virtually no way a waitlisted person will find out anything until after the deadline for the school for admitted students to say yes or no. Because of our past experiences and also from a couple of years following this board, my personal opinion is that if you were accepted outright at a school you would like to go to and is good for your family, you might not want to hang onto the waitlists too long. It was really nice last year that although she was waitlisted at two of the schools she applied to, she let the WL schools know right away that she wasn't going to wait and then proceeded to fall in love with the school she ended up going to and was accepted to outright.</p>
<p>Localboy2468, as some prominent, well-endowed schools have stated that they will meet all need, I would not expect students accepted to those schools to decline an offer of admission due to financial pressure.</p>
<p>Linda S. Hi...your post is insightful. Just wondering if your comment "our placement counselor at my son's school who has years of expereince doing this," is from one of the boarding schools on the east coast. We have already accepted a spot on a waiting list and "the honor" code wasn't mentioned. My thought is that, yes, be waitlisted right away until you know more facts about financial aid, all of your schools have gotten back to you, etc. Andover isn't even mailing theirs until today so we may not know all of the information we need until the end of the week. In that case, we would have waited too long to respond to the wait list offer don't you think?</p>
<p>localboy2468 - schools that accept you will give you the FA info before you need to commit. </p>
<p>For waitlist schools - I would assue that Andover and Exeter (and possibly St. Paul's) who say they will meet demonstrated need (although be careful they may define it differently than your EFC) might still meet that need. The other schools, you would need to call first. Many of them admit students who have high need and are not able to offer them any FA. It would then be unlikely that they take a student off a waitlist and give them FA. Some schools admit and have a FA wait list.<br>
Before accepting a spot on a wait list, if FA is a dealbreaker, call the school and ask.</p>
<p>I think the "honor code" was in reference not so much to accepting the spot but in telling the school the they are 100% your first choice and if the accepted you will 100% attend. Simply accepting the waitlist spot I don't think says that. We were being advised that if in fact, you will 100% take the spot - tell them - it helps. But beware that it is a moral contract (certainly not legally binding).<br>
I'll pm you other info.</p>
<p>hey everyone on the first page here,
that is exactly what i said when my mom told me after my dad told her.
But on another note, i got admitted to St. Andrews in Delaware! Then... rejected at Groton, but that's not a shocker. I always knew that one was a long shot.</p>
<p>"jenny -- of course we did not get a phone call from SPS. I don't for one minute believe itsren's claim of a phone call, but I suppose it that makes him/her feel better about sharing their results."
hsmomstef, why don't you believe me? i am stating the truth. I couldn't believe it when my dad got the courtesy call, but i still believed her. I didn't think they would do this, because of the ten schools organization, but i didnt not belive my mother. </p>
<p>on another note, i just got hte acceptance letter to St. George's school in NPT, RI :)</p>
<p>I edited my post (in case I confuse anyone). </p>
<p>I suspect that the OP had some personal connection with SPS (board member as a friend of parent, parent had past job working for SPS, parents friends with admission director, etc). That would be a reason that he/she might get a courtesy call.</p>
<p>hsmomstef...remember, though, itsren is the child here. Maybe his parents told him that (about being able to get in) to soften the blow. I suppose a courtesy call could have occurred if the family knew someone at the school, or maybe itsren was a recruited athlete, so the school wanted to conact the family personally.</p>
<p>Keylyme, they are ALL children here. Every single child who was either waitlisted or rejected from SPS is feeling badly today. If your child was waitlisted and then read a post like this....well, I think it is adding salt into the wound. </p>
<p>And, Stef brings up excellent points, particularly, SPS doesn't even call the kids they want. Also, to state "if I want to get in, I just need to tell them" is a ridiculous statement.</p>
<p>If nothing else, on behalf of the many other children who applied to SPS and were either waitlisted or rejected, I think the validity of a post such as this needs to be questioned.</p>
<p>However, many congratulations itsren, on your acceptance to St. Georges!</p>
<p>Yes, and it is a very emotional day. I guess I am just thinking how I might react. My first thought might be to somehow soften the blow for my child if they were waitlisted and say something that might not cause them to lose hope entirely. I am not saying this is necessarily wise, but that I do think it would cross my mind. Also, we are hearing third-hand what this child's father (who got the call) told the mother who then told the child. Distortion is possible. I just felt bad for the poster being labeled a liar.</p>