So, my admissions have arrived and I have been put on around 7 wait lists. Unfortunately, I haven’t really got good financial packages from the schools that I did get into.
The schools that I got wait listed were MIT, University of Chicago, Cornell, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins.
What are my chances of getting into at least one of them? Do you think I’m a courtesy wait list? Is there anything that I could do?
1560 SAT Math: 800, Reading/Writing: 760, Essay: 19
800 Math II, 710 Chem, 800 Biology, 770 Physics
Cumulative GPA: 4.4
Ranked 1
Good AP Scores: Around 7 5’s and some 4s and a 3; AP National Scholar.
Pretty good extracurricular and few leadership role, but very involved in each activity.
Recommendations: Really good for the most part, especially the one from a research mentor.
Essays/Supplements: 9/10 common app.
Country: International (Living in the united states)
Income Bracket: less than 60k
School: public, small, rural
Quest bridge
Indian Male
I’m not sure how waitlists at the all these prestigious schools work, but all I could say is to write appeals(if you have good evidence to backup your claim, and the schools let you write them) and to wish for the best. You got onto 7 waitlists so I’m sure you may get into 1 of them, but don’t quote me on it. These are really hard schools to get off of the waitlist from. Best of luck and keep us updated!
Most schools only offer a very, very small number of wait list applicants a spot. If you need aid, that’s even more of a long shot. I would proceed as if it was a no from those schools and try to figure out a way if you can afford the other schools were you were accepted. Good luck to you!
@momofsenior1 As far as I know only Yale, Princeton, and MIT are need-blind for waitlists, but they’re also the only ones need-blind for international, other than Georgetown that have not rejected me. Do you also think its wise to take a gap year and concentrate on apps/scholarships as I rushed through my essays for all my application except Penn and Princeton?
If you have acceptances and can swing the cost, I think you should pick one of the schools already on the table. The schools where you were waitlisted are super competitive and it’s a big risk to put your education on hold for a long shot next year unless you are going to apply to more match/safeties and look for more aid that way. International aid though is very, very hard to come by.
Sorry, kind of unrelated to your question but when you submitted your waitlist form to Cornell did you get a confirmation e-mail? I didn’t for some reason and I’m panicking a little now…
But with regard to your question, waitlist acceptances for Cornell tend to be on the low side. 2017 had around 68 applicants accepted from a little over 3000 waitlists (these 3000 were the ones who chose to stay on the waitlist by the way, the initial no. of waitlisted applicants was around 5000).
My counselor told me that the more you add to your waitlist file the better your chances, so in addition to a letter of continued interest you could also have a counselor send a letter to the college to confirm that you’re committed to attending if you’re accepted.
@confusedstudent21 I submitted my updates last week, so the confirmation could take time. I will tell my counselor to send in a letter. She’s a bit clueless on what to do. It’s a rare occurrence for students at our school to try for the ivies.
To be honest, I’m not too sure what goes into a counselor’s letter to the admissions officer (I haven’t reached out to my school counselor about the letter yet), but I think what’s most important is that your counselor states very clearly in her letter that you’re definitely committed to attending the college, and will attend if accepted. Besides this, your profile seems pretty good, and it’d be surprising if you didn’t get into at least one of your waitlists. As a fellow Indian, I wish you the best of luck!
Also found a few good sample waitlist letters from students to admissions the other day (unless you haven’t already sent them), you can find them on this link:
https://www.thoughtco.com/sample-letters-of-continued-interest-4040198
FYI, a courtesy waitlist usually means that you aren’t getting in, but they are trying to make you or someone near you (like alumni relatives) feel better. I’d assume you aren’t a courtesy waitlist. That certainly doesn’t mean you will get in, of course.
@confusedstudent21 I’ll be sending in the letters for some of the schools on Wednesday, so your link has helped me some guidelines.
@intparent If I don’t get in this year, do you suggest taking a gap year. I might be able to get more scholarships and apply again to some of my waitlists.
Do you have any acceptances at affordable schools?
@intparent There’s two that are doable, but they are nowhere close to schools that I got waitlisted or didnt get fin aid at.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. No guarantee that you’re going to get off any waitlist, no guarantee as to possible FinAid packages if you do get off WL, as each school defines need their own way. No guarantee that you will have better results after a gap year.
I say accept one of the doable offers. Do everything to maximize your WL possibilities if you wish, but try to put it way in the back of your mind. If you look at each WL school’s CDS, you will most likely see that the chance of getting off the waitlist is probably lower than the already low regular admit rate.
Being on multiple waitlists does not increase your odds of eventually getting accepted. As an example, if a college has an admit rate of 10% and you apply to 10 such schools, does that give you 100% chance of admission? Watch out for posts with fuzzy math.
@alooknac I completely understand what you’re saying; I got waitlisted at several school were the WL percent is less than the chance of being admitted and it the fuzzy math were true, that’s extremely unlikely. I’ll try my best to send in any additional info as they come to my WL schools. Thanks for the input.
You should accept at one of the doable schools. If you get off a waitlist, you will just lose your deposit at the school you accepted. Embrace the schools that accepted you.
I guess that the best option now @intparent