This is starting to feel like a fresh circle of Hell … I realize that the answer to my question above may be it depends on the school and it depends on the year. If the school guesstimated its yield correctly, the chances that it needs to turn to its wait list is low. If it guessed wrong, it has more spots to fill and offers spots from the wait list. Is that about it?
My daughter was admitted to a number of schools and has many choices. There is one place that waitlisted her, which if accepted, she would have mailed the check in within 5 minutes. So she will pick from the places she was admitted and wait and see what happens. Not the worst position to be in, I’m just ready for the whole college application process to be over and we get to move on to the next level: saving coupons for Bed, Bath and Beyond.
It really varies a lot. I prefer to think of them as waiting pools, because list has an order implication, and I don’t think many colleges treat them like an ordered list.
Click on the tab on the left labeled “applying” – and you’ll see that last year, CMC offered 919 wait list positions, had 453 students take them up on that wait list offer, and admitted 75 of those students – a pretty good result.
On the other hand, Boston College offered 7,072!!! students wait list positions. 3,897 students accepted that offer, and eventually BC offered 351 of those students positions.
Stanford offered 958 wait list slots. 695 students accepted the wait list offer. They admitted 7.
Not all schools share this data.
The reason I think of them a pools is that when the yield is lower than their models predicted, they are more likely to pick students from the waitlist pool who have the characteristics they’re missing. Fewer men enroll than projected? A male applicant is more likely to be plucked from the pool. Fewer engineers --let’s find a student who wants engineering. And financial aid also plays a big part. Students who need a lot of FA support may never make it out of the waitlist pool.
@Dolcegirl, I don’t know how often this really happens, but I’ve heard of some waitlisted students successfully getting off by having their guidance counselor pick up the phone and call the school to let them know the student is ready to commit on the spot, full pay. Aside from that, I think @arabrab has it about right: Waiting pool is really a much better way to think about it.
My D was admitted off a waitlist. She sent in updated information (new honors received, latest grades) and said if admitted she would attend. They called in early June and offered her a spot. She’s since graduated from the institution. This school met 100% demonstrated need and she received a ton of need-based aid.
You can look at the Common Data Set for a school and see their waitlist statistics. That year for her school 900 students were offered a spot on the waitlist, 543 accepted a place on the waitlist, and 30 wait-listed students were admitted.
Totally agree with the posters above. I also tend to think that a lot of this is about marketing. It signals to a GC that while this applicant wasn’t admitted, they shouldn’t hesitate to recommend one with an application of similar strength next year. It also keeps a college from getting the reputation of being one that rejects everyone. While there are kids who end up on the WL who would send in a deposit in a heartbeat, there are also quite a few who are more than happy to let it go because of the other options available to them. In that way, it protects the school from that negative publicity; the kid gets to look like they rejected the school rather than the opposite.
Of course, we all know that at the end of the day, it’s either an acceptance or it’s not.
Most schools hope to come in slightly under their planned enrollment on May 1, then fill in with a few students from their WL. That give them more precise control, which is especially important in housing planning. But they don’t always guess right on how the May 1 responses will play out.
My kid got in off a WL in late June*, and we were financially-needy. Sent in a LOCI, with a clear note that she would matriculate if accepted, additional senior honors/awards, and kept in contact with the admissions officer, who mostly responded, “thanks for the additional information, we’ll add it to your file.”
In the meantime, ‘love the one you are with.’ Pick a school for those available and get engaged. Buy a sweatshirt.
*But that doesn’t work if you are not ready to hang in for the WL game; some just prefer to get on with their lives and go shopping at BB&B.
So what if the waitlisted student is already significantly above the 75th percentile in terms of scores/GPA/rank. I don’t see any point in sending in more academic info. I’m thinking that the only thing that might help is ‘I will attend if accepted’ letter?
The college may have turned the student down because for some reason they thought they would not attend (yield protection). Who knows why they think that? Maybe an offhand comment from a GC, past history with acceptances from your zip code, etc. Definitely tell them they are still interested, if it is true that they will attend if accepted say so, and send any additional accomplishments in case they are on the cusp between you and another applicant.
"Totally agree with the posters above. I also tend to think that a lot of this is about marketing. It signals to a GC that while this applicant wasn’t admitted, they shouldn’t hesitate to recommend one with an application of similar strength next year. "
Ha ha ha. At your typical public school, it doesn’t signal anything to a GC because the GC has little role in the process beyond rubber stamping transcripts, and they’ll recommend anyone for anything as long as the student gets the right papers in front of their face at the right time. They serve the function of ATM for transcripts, not shopping consultant.
@Pizzagirl , fair cop! At a private school, though, part of what the CCs bring to the process is the color that Naviance can’t provide. So maybe they’re the audience…
My D got wait listed at Middlebury and Bowdoin but in Colorado College, Colby and Bates. All great choices but her heart is set on Bowdoin. Anyone know wait list admission stats for Bowdoin? And will they meet Demonstrated need ?
You can see the waitlist stats for any college by Googling “Common Data Set” and the college name together. One of the pieces of info in it is wait list stats (how many offered, how many accepted spots, how many got offers of admission). If they are a meets need school, they likely WILL meet need for students off the waitlist unless they specifically say they won’t on the WL offer.
Waitlist stats aren’t available in the past three years of Bowdoin’s common data set. The link below indicates that in the past few years, they have admitted as many as 50 and as few as none from the wait list. https://www.bowdoin.edu/admissions/apply/waitlist-info.shtml
This is a useful thread. My daughter is on three waitlists so far and there are five schools yet to be heard from. She has one clear favorite among the schools she’s been admitted to so it’s fine. But there’s no downside to accepting a spot on all the waiting lists, is there?
No downside, @delurk1. At the risk of stating the obvious, she shouldn’t take a WL spot at any school that she would NOT choose over the clear favorite where she’s been admitted (“just to see what happens”).