Waitlist Odds and Your Middlebury Career

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

So some frequent CCers know me as one of the “Middlebury Moms”, and I like to post about certain topics which greatly affected my family. My 2 sons are graduates of Midd, 2014 and 2013.5, and as many people know, my oldest was “the boy of the wait-lists”.

Without belaboring the point too much, he was a very high scoring straight A IB diploma newspaper editor with many awards under his belt, but fate sent him 5 wait lists and 2 rejections- Harvard(no ED that year), Dartmouth, Amherst, Tufts(TUFTS), and Midd, with Princeton and Williams rejecting him outright. It was an DREADFUL heart-wrenching week, where he couldn’t even attend school by the end of it he was so upset and depressed. In the second week of May, he got the joyful phone call, and the 24 hours to make his decision, and while it was an awful month for him, it all turned out in the end.

The first thing I want to tell all the wait-listed students is that you are QUALIFIED, just not LUCKY! There are SO many qualified kids, that many deserving and perfectly capable candidates have to be waitlisted. So please DON’T feel less worthy! I hope you all have safeties, or at least not the dreadful luck of my number one son!

Second, if you are on the waitlist and don’t REALLY want to go to Midd, please give up your spot!

Third, if you really want to go to Midd, let them know! Write a new cover letter, send an updated transcript, and any supplement that helps your case. If you know anyone with a connection, reach out to them and see if they can help by calling or writing a letter of recommendation.Ask your guidance counselor to call for you and see what was lacking, and express your deep, sincere, and continued interest.

Recent Stats from the Common Data set:

Class of 2018- 1525 offered waitlist, 663 accepted waitlist, 1 offered acceptance(ugh)
Class of 2017- 1705 offered waitlist, 757 accepted waitlist, 0 offered acceptance(double ugh)
Class of 2016- 1679 offered waitlist, 611 accepted waitlist, 78 offered acceptance(that’s a bit more optimism-inducing)
Class of 2015- 2114 offered waitlist, 1006 accepted waitlist, 20 offered acceptance
Class of 2014- 1958 offered waitlist, 864 accepted waitlist, 134 offered acceptance
and my DS’ year, 1527 offered, 756 accepted waitlist, 42 offered a place in the class

I can’t find the number of waitlist spot offered for 2019 yet, but you can see, the odds vary very widely from year to year.

So please try and realize that anyone as qualified as you, even if you are waitlisted, has a great career ahead of you wherever you attend! Make the best of your college years and don’t let a set back like this define you! I didn’t go to Middlebury, and I turned out just fine! ; )

2

Thanks for posting this, it gives me a bit of hope. Middlebury was one of my top colleges but unfortunately I was waitlisted :frowning:

Do you have any other advice on how to increase my chances of an admission? Was the third step a process that your son did to increase his chances? Thanks!

3

Yes, the third step is what I recommend if you wish to possibly get off the wait list. If you got in RD somewhere else, might be best to make the mental adjustment and attend that school, but if your heart belongs to Midd, give it a try.

4

OldbatesieDoc, your post is so timely for me.

First, my third child is attending Middlebury now (2017) and it’s the best possible fit for him. I could wax on, but let me just say, we shopped hard, he knew, and he got lucky.

However, a dear friend of mine has a son who was recently wait listed at Midd. He has accepted his spot on the list and has other good options, but Midd is his #1. He will follow your advice above, but here is a further question.

He’ll be in the area this weekend and is wondering if it’s acceptable to ask for an on-campus appointment with admissions. We are from thousands of miles away, so this isn’t a drive-by. He’s visiting another nearby school to which he has been admitted, but wishes to convey to Midd just how much he’d love to be there next year.

Would you recommend pursuing this? The candidate will meet with my son and do a walk around campus, but but he needs to know whether to push forward and let them know he’s on the doorstep. Thoughts?

Thanks so much!

5

I’ll be interested to hear Oldbatsiedocs answer, but in the meantime FWIW a good friend of mine’s D graduated last year (2014) and had originally been on the WL before being admitted. She and her dad did just what you are asking about- they too were from many miles away and made a point of visiting Middlebury (stopping by admissions, introducing herself/themselves) and getting the message across (as politely as possible) that Midd was her #1. I can’t see how it would work against your friend’s son to show his face and enthusiasm, seems like nothing to lose as long as it doesn’t come across as “pushy” which I am sure it wouldn’t.

6

@riverrunner Here is the link to Midd’s Waitlist FAQ’s page: http://www.middlebury.edu/admissions/apply/decisions/waitlist/waitlistfaq

Note: “Personal interviews in the Admissions Office are not available.” Clearly, they don’t want waitlisted students to come visit campus (especially when they are busy with the admitted students)

BUT they do say that ALL waitlisted applicants will be considered…the admissions counselors have carefully read all the applications and know the applicants/their credentials. Remember that they put them on the waitlist instead of rejecting them!

They add that you can email any updated info to them, so while you aren’t allowed to visit and interview with them, it would be a good idea to email them with new awards or grades, which will definitely show Admissions that you’re still very interested. Good luck!

7

Thanks for the hopeful post, lr4550, and collegehelpcp, the student has followed the Midd website instructions, and is aware that they discourage wait listed students from visiting the admissions office. It’s just so very tempting when he’s planning to be on campus anyway.

I’m trying to figure out if a drop-in at the office would be a net loss or gain.

8

@riverrunner What did you decide to do? DS sent an update letter to #1 school (also a top NESCAC) and has a recent excellent req to share but doesn’t want to ignore the WL FAQs which say no visits and no additional reqs. My concern that everyone else is sending reqs. So much second-guessing.

9

Hi MaryMac,
The student visited but didn’t drop by admissions :wink: Sent a solid update including a new rec letter, but of course made a deposit at another school. I think he’s got a healthy attitude about the wait. I don’t think I would be as relaxed as he seems to be!

Best wishes to you and your son. Not an easy decision or process, of course.

10

It’s a good time to bring this thread back up. To update the stats, last year 1304 students were offered a spot on the wait list, 530 took a spot, and 33-tah-dah! were accepted per the Common Data Set.
So remember, if you are wait-listed, you are QUALIFIED, just not LUCKY!
Good luck, everyone.

11

Hi
My daughter was wait listed, we never visited. Are you suggesting visiting now to express interest will not make a difference?
Please elaborate

12

@Deedee22, just wanted to add my two cents on this issue. My son never visited, but was admitted as a Feb. However, all his friends (Febs and non Febs) were all very surprised to learn that he was a “cold admit” they call it I guess in that he was admitted having never expressed interest in a formal way. ALL his friends did express interest, either visiting or writing letters to admissions letting them know they were interested, apparently. I was not aware this was a significant factor in being admitted, but all my son’s friends seem to think it was.

13

I am not sure, but I know that expressing sincere, continued interest helps, and never visiting shows “lack of interest” unless you live in California or have some extenuating circumstance. Admissions keeps a list of applicant contacts. If you can go, I suggest you do, and be sure to update your application,

14

Thank you, it appears we need to visit! Thank you!

15

Yes we live out west. Did not plan to visit any campuses in the east until acceptances came out. Son had a friend from HS who attended Middlebury, and Midd’s admission was the last one he received. When he got in, he just said “that’s it, that’s the one!” and never even wanted to visit. I thought he should but he’d heard so many great things about the college that he didn’t want to (even though I really wanted to see it). They were very surprised when we arrived in Feb. that he had not even been to the campus!

16

Has anyone heard anything about the waitlist for this year yet?

17

Waitlisted applicant as well, I have heard nothing yet either.

18

Has anyone gotten off the waitlist for the class of 2020