@Steglitz90, the tumbler continued over the last two days with three more acceptances from safety and target schools for both DD’s, a denial from a stretch for one DD and a waitlist from a target for her twin. Its very discouraging to get only waitlists and denials from stretch schools when you profile in the top 25% at everyone and killed yourself to get to the point where you could ring the bell. While they may even choose a match school in the end for all the right reasons, recognition from a stretch would be great!
Soft no for us, only from 2 schools where parents attended.
Apparently legacy means you get WL not rejects.
No other schools gave us WL.
“Apparently legacy means you get WL not rejects.”
We won’t let you go here, but we still want your parent’s money. This sounds familiar.
Is it unethical to go on a waitlist “just to see” if you have no intention of taking the offer?
The waitlist situation is very real. Scores of high achieving students are my school are getting waitlisted and rejected by mid-tier schools. They are left with either their safeties or the slim hope that one of the reaches will come through by next week. What’s going on?
Too many students applying to too few schools is what’s going on. It’s a travesty. We’ve all been duped.
"Is it unethical to go on a waitlist “just to see” if you have no intention of taking the offer? "
Just my opinion: This is legal, will not get you into trouble, and is a lot more ethical than universities bombarding 17 year olds with piles of aggressive marketing.
One issue though: If you know where you want to go, then in some cases there might be advantages in accepting the offer and putting down your deposit (such as being able to lock down a dorm before other students). For many of us there is also a psychological advantage of accepting one offer and being done with the process (and getting on with the process of picking classes for next year).
I think a waitlist is better than a soft rejection in the form of an acceptance without enough financial aid to make it work. I suspect that happens a lot.
I wouldn’t let my child accept a spot on a waitlist at any college you don’t intend to let them attend. If you can afford the school and would let them attend then it doesn’t hurt to keep options open. If not, I’d just turn it down.
Ive been waitlisted from Case Western and Lehigh and it is good to know that other people are in a similar boat. I think that the waitlist is a selfish way out for these more elite schools to protect themselves. I basically decided they were rejections at this point because the chances of being taken off is so low, but deep down there still is this glimmer of hope that the school gives you which isn’t okay
@desperateplea , for some students, that glimmer of hope will actually turn into a place in the class. My son came off 2 wait lists last year in the first week of May. While I realize that this may be unusual, it does happen.
I have been waitlisted at 4 schools so I understand your pain.
My son was waitlisted at three schools two years ago. I told him to regard the WL as a no. Yes, some kids do get in off the WL, but for some schools, it’s really rare. It’s much healthier to focus on choosing a school that has said yes.
@gardenstategal I feel like it is very unusual for that to happen. I am keeping my spot on the waitlist because of the hope, but I know that it is so unlikely that I am not considering them until I here differently.
Now we’re seeing spring admit decisions in addition to wait lists. Better or worse? “You’re good enough to come here and we think you can be successful, but not until second semester”?
spring admits: they’re just managing their class size because they know there will be attrition
nothing wrong with accepting a place on the WL. But be sure to submit your deposit elsewhere and start building excitement for that Uni. If admitted off WL … GREAT! … but don’t count on it. And if you are admitted, you have not committed to accepting that spot, they’ll give you several days to decide when and if that ever happens.
Remember that colleges are like businesses, and the admissions offices are run as such. The student owns very little of the process and should keep as much control as possible … accepting the WL position, sending in their enrollment deposit … that’s about all the control the applicant has when you think about it. The rest of the process is completely owned by the Unis.
This is new for my so I while I understand that applications are way up as are first generation student admits (which) I think is great), I don’t have any frame of reference regarding the use of the WL.
My twin DD’s were both admitted to Bates, Colby, Colgate, Hamilton, Kenyon and Oberlin, both were waitlisted at Middlebury, one was waitlisted at Wesleyan and the other was denied at Amherst (the other didn’t apply in those instances), and both were denied at Bowdoin, Swarthmore and Williams; we still have Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth to go - in all instances they profile at the top-25%.
Has the use as of the WL continued to grow to give future applicants the belief that there’s a chance or is it just about yield management? Unfortunately, I think this only perpetuates the increase in applications.
@eyemgh that is nonsense. There are 4000 colleges, and any student who thinks they are stupendous is applying to a handful of the hardest ones to get into. This is part of a vicious cycle. More and more students apply to more and more colleges, fearful that they won’t get in anywhere. I predict this year there will be many students getting off WL at all kinds of colleges, and later in the summer too, because of summer melt. The best students are all being admitted by the same colleges. Students who are misguided also apply to too many reaches, thinking its a lottery, and they don’t apply to enough match of safety schools.
People are NOT doing their research. Every year stduents who think they have amazing stats are rejected or put on WL because they believe they are exceptional. They are to their loved ones, but not in the eyes of adcoms. I think already linked this post here, but I will link it again: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1878059-truthful-advice-about-getting-into-top-colleges-for-your-average-excellent-student-p1.html
If people would do their research and apply to a realistic range of colleges, that would help put a stop to this craziness.
Correcting post #55: Both DD’s were also accepted to Carleton so they/we know they have great choices, but as expected they each had several stretch schools as their dream school.
Here is a new twist to all this. Last night I was talking to someone who works in admin at a prestigious university and they said that more kids will be picked from the wait list this year, due to many international Admits deciding right before May 1 that they will not be coming to the US. They are already seeing it happen. Just what I heard.
I am going to share an anecdote in the hope that it will help some people who are disappointed with their waitlist status.
Back in the dark ages, I was waitlisted at Swarthmore-- my top choice all along right next to Princeton where I was deferred EA then rejected-- and admitted to a few schools including Williams. I went to three Admitted Students Weekends, and I was leaning towards Williams and starting to get excited about going there. Then I got accepted off Swarthmore’s waitlist before May 1st.
I agonized over where to send my deposit. Should I go to Williams or Swarthmore? I chose Williams above Swarthmore for what I now see was a stupid reason: I thought that I might struggle at Swarthmore because maybe I was a weaker student than those who got accepted right away. I gave the admissions office way too much credit and power! I now know that; some people I knew at Williams who shared with me that they had been admitted off the waitlist did as well or better than most other people at Williams.
But in the end, I am so happy that I went to Williams. I had an absolutely wonderful experience. I recommend Williams so enthusiastically to others.
By the time I was one week into my freshman year, I was so glad that I was at Williams, and I never thought about Swarthmore (or Princeton). When you arrive at college, throw yourself into it whole-heartedly and don’t look back. It does not matter where you could have been… Enjoy where you are!
The rejections and waitlists you have now will sting for a little bit. Then you will forget about them for years, never thinking about them again until your own child asks you about your college admissions process. But you will remember and treasure your college experiences forever, wherever you go.