<p>" I’d just like to mention that the Carter Bays described in “The Gatekeepers” is the same Carter Bays who created/writes “How I Met Your Mother”. Definitely a waitlist success story! "</p>
<p>WOW!!!</p>
<p>Perhaps showcasing a talent is an idea?</p>
<p>My friend was waitlisted at Oberlin & put together a portfolio of her photography to send to the school.
Lo and behold off the waitlist!</p>
<p>wow. I love his show.</p>
<p>Not much of a gimmick but I made sure to hand in me extra papers and things by driving down to the college and doing it in person.</p>
<p>Do you think staging a hunger strike in the admissions office would work? :)</p>
<p>I did turn in my waitlist response in person- and I live on the opposite side of the country.</p>
<p>What??? Omg I love How I Met Your Mother! Best show on TV in since Friends went off the air, tied with Scrubs 
Omg definitely a waitlist success story! I’m so glad he made it… 
who knows what the world would have looked like without HIMYM ? 
seriously, there is NO show that has as many good quotes that you can just use whever, and people always think theyre funny cuz they watch the show too! awesome!</p>
<p>thank god</p>
<p>Yea, HMYM is the best show on air. One gimmick my friend used for Binghamton was to create a pamphlet on why they should accept him. It worked quite well.</p>
<p>^ hehe thats really cool :)</p>
<p>this thread has digressed lol.</p>
<p>^ well, the title of the thread is “waitlist gimmicks that ‘worked???’” after all, so it hasn’t really digressed that much… : )</p>
<p>You didn’t hear this from me, but, a crisp $5 bill can be <em>ahem</em> very persuasive.</p>
<p><em>Nudges with elbow</em></p>
<p>I think gimmicks are more likely to backfire than not: I bet that for every success story there are hundreds of examples of failed gimmicks that hurt the applicants chances: admissions people have seen it all, many times. It’s not a gimmick, but a card that says “you remain my top choice, and if accepted I will attend” is the most important thing.</p>
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<p>Definitely not. Most gimmicks don’t help–but some do–and only those that are truly in poor taste are apt to actually hurt. </p>
<p>Barraging admission officials with phone calls, postcards, emails, etc, (even clever ones) is likely to fall under the “poor taste” rubric. When dealing with admissions folks in general, try to always remember that these people, no matter how friendly they may seem, are busy professionals who deal with thousands of students, so do respect their privacy and personal space.</p>
<p>Sally: “definitely not:” do you know that? The very word “gimmick” implies a sham. Are you pro-gimmick or anti-gimmick, as a professional adviser? Maybe gimmick is not quite the right word, “tasteful gimmick” doesn’t make much sense.</p>
<p>One of the definitions of “gimmick” in my dictionary is, “an ingenious and usually new scheme or angle.” While most of the waitlist gimmicks I’ve seen fall well short of “ingenious,” the best of them are definitely clever.</p>
<p>I tell students to consider a gimmick only when a good idea comes to mind, never when it feels forced or uncomfortable. The best gimmicks tend to be those that are tied to a students interests or talents. For instance, once when I worked at Smith, a student who was an avid photographer put together a calendar made up of a dozen atypical campus photographs. Also see “Ode to Oberlin” and “Swarthmore in Soap” in my original post. </p>
<p>And, yes, over the years I have had many admission officials recall with fondness (and only occasionally with rolled eyes) some of the most memorable gimmicks they’ve encountered.</p>
<p>Again, I stand by my position that a gimmick can sometimes help, especially this late in the game, when it’s go-for-broke time, and far more rarely will hurt (and most students should be smart enough to know which ones might fall into the latter group).</p>
<p>ok, ok, gimmick means “brilliant stratagem.”</p>
<p>What about schools that specifically ask students NOT to call about their applications status or send any additional material, like personal letters/letters of recommendation or news clippings, or ask about their application at all? Would it definitely be a bad thing to use some sort of ‘gimmick’ to get off the waiting list? Because I’ve read several articles that encourage students to do those things to show initiative, and I just think… “But the school I’M waitlisted at said NOT to do that…”</p>
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<p>Following such a college’s instructions = no gimmicks. However, depending on how the “gag order” is worded, it may be appropriate to ask your school counselor to telephone or write on your behalf, especially if you want the college to know that you definitely will attend if admitted. Also, when initially responding to the “Do you want to remain on the waitlist?” query, it’s often possible to add a brief, “This is my first choice” or “I will enroll for sure if accepted,” even for the handful of colleges that have asked for no additional correspondence.</p>
<p>If you have had contact with someone outside the admission office … e.g., a coach, an alum interviewer … then it’s okay to contact him or her. In such cases, the “gimmick” idea is probably off the table, but at least you can emphasize your continued interest in the school which may–or may not–be passed along to the folks who make the final choices.</p>
<p>The underlying question in this process is why kids become obsessed with ONE school? Yes, there are perhaps dream schools, but they are not the only game in town and often kids are overlooking the outstanding attributes of other colleges. Further, one never knows what the Good Lord has in store for you at the schools which did accept you and where you will probably end up going. We never know what is in the future for us. Nothing wrong with trying to get in, but at some point, one has to move along and focus on the real future, the one where you did get in. Obsessing about one particular school is unhealthy and myopic in my view.</p>
<p>True, if my kid had been waitlisted at Harvard we would have made an extra effort. She didnt apply. She was waitlisted along with untold numbers of others at WashU-St. Louis. We tried again with a nice letter. It didnt work. However, they did write her and strongly encouraged her to reapply as a transfer student. Ultimately she decided to stay where she is at and is thriving. In hindsight, would she have been happier at WashU? I dont think so. Its a fine school which we really, really liked. But we have moved on. Perhaps for graduate school.</p>
<p>But obsessed? No.</p>
<p>I agree with you, endlessrecession, that kids (parents, too!) can get obsessed with one college (or with a type of college … e.g., Ivy) in a way that is unhealthy or which puts blinders on them when it comes to considering the other great choices out there.</p>
<p>But I also think that making a big effort to get off of a waitlist isn’t necessarily tantamount to being obsessed with one college. There are many reasons that spur a student to pursue a waitlist school with fervor. For instance, this school may meet certain needs (including, perhaps, financial need) that none of the colleges that did say “YES” can equal. </p>
<p>There are often students who are turned down everywhere except at a safety school and one waitlist college. In such cases, the student is especially eager to go after that waitlist school, though it’s far from an obsession. Sure, in a perfect world, the safety school would be very attractive to the applicant, too. But, realistically, this isn’t usually the case.</p>