Son waitlisted at Bowdoin. Chances of getting an acceptance from history?
Listed as NA on Bowdoin’s Common Data Set so may not be able to get any help here.
The impression I got is that a few hundred were offered it, they don’t know how many will accept it but a lot will, and based on history, they will pull off less than 50 with the number probably closer to zero.
It all depends. They intentionally admit more students than they have room for, knowing that some students will decide to attend other colleges instead. Last year their yield was very high:
So it depends if this year Bowdoin admitted the same number of students as last year, or fewer, or more, and of those admitted, how many end up accepting the offer of admission.
No set guidance – it totally varies from year to year as predicting the yield rate is not fully scientific. The yield rate was very high for the class of 2019 so the wait list was not reached (the class actually ended up being a bit bigger than the target number). But in prior years, the wait list has been reached so there is just no telling . .
Very very low odds – much worse than getting in in the first place. In recent years they have had a waitlist closer t0 1,000 students and in the best year they took 50. Odds on a typical year are about 5%.
Low, although I saw a post where the Dean said that this might finally be the year that they use the waitlist. In my opinion, Bowdoin fills up a large percentage of the class through ED and then––to a higher degree than other LACs––engages in yield protection (probably due to its Maine location), which explains why Bowdoin rarely uses the waitlist.
D was waitlisted at several similar colleges and most fell under the 5% mark for waitlist admittances, so MUCH lower than RD chances. We felt it best to move on and pick a school where she was admitted rather than having to wait that much longer (not to mention having to put/lose a deposit on another school).
Just FYI … this is from Bowdoin’s web site (if you need financial aid, don’t plan on getting off the wait list)
Available resources limit our ability to be need-blind for all admission categories. For international, wait-list, and transfer students, Bowdoin may be “need aware” during the admission process, and a family’s finances may be a factor in the final admission decision. If admitted, students from these groups will have their full-need met based on standard policies assuming the student’s financial aid file is complete by our published deadlines. For more information, please contact the Student Aid Office.
The website also says that in past years as many as 50 were taken off the wl. That amounts to about 10% of the class, so not an insignificant number. But some yrs there were none taken, so you never know.
I also suspect that a fair amount put themselves on the wl initially, then back away from it or don’t pursue it by following up, so those kids are likely not really competing for the spots.
What’s the point of comparing the 50 to the final class size when that bares no relationship to your odds? The relative figure is to compare it to how many people they put on the waitlist, far more than the final class size. If you do that, the odds are more like 5%, which is about 3x worse than your odds of having just been accepted in the first place.
They did go to the waitlist. A friend of my daughter’s got taken off just yesterday.
Did she really??? Did they say if they were taking off a couple or only a few? Congrats to her!
The odds of getting off the waitlist are slim at any school, honestly. If you’d still love to go there, by all means, elect to stay on the active waitlist and give them a thoughtful update, reach out and self-advocate (just don’t overdo it!!) But really try to find the positives at the school you have been admitted to and deposited at, because more likely than not, that’s where you will be spending your next 4 years.
To quote Harry Potter - it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Focus on the options you do have available, rather than those that may not come to pass.
any more news???
I got off the waitlist a little while ago and they said that they hadn’t called many people! Good luck to everyone though and don’t give up hope! I had 100% committed to my previous school but was ecstatic to get the call. They also were generous with aid which which was great.