<p>I have been waitlisted and am pretty confused about the whole thing. Is there any point to accepting a spot on the waitlist? I mean..the letter said they inform people in mid May, but all the other schools I applied to require your reply around May 1, so how is that even possible? I mean, you would have to turn down the schools that accepted you in hopes of getting in off the waitlist, and who would do that? (I have been accepted to one, and am still waiting on seven.) The school that waitlisted me accepted 18 from a waitlist of 139 last year, so those are pretty infinitesimal odds. Should I even bother staying on the waitlist?</p>
<p>...you should wait and see if you get into other schools you really want to go to. If you get into your dream school, then there's no reason to take a spot on the waitlist (and possibly prevent someone who really wants to go to the school you've been w-listed at from getting a spot). If it is your dream school and you have been waitlisted, I advise that you keep your spot. But, you will have to pay a deposit on your next choice college that you get into and eventually have to forfeit the money if you do get in off the waitlist and decide to attend. Basically, WUSTL describes paying a deposit on another school like an insurance policy...you know you'll be going somewhere and it can only get better...although you have to spend a bit more money. </p>
<p>Also, waitlists are extremely weird and previous year yields from the waitlists and numbers accepted are completely irrelvant...some years, colleges accept most of the people off the w-list while others, everyone's rejected. But, it's important to remember that there's a reason they w-listed you rather than straightout rejecting you.</p>
<p>Excellent advice, thank you so much. I'm in the odd position of not having a dream school or clear first choice at this point. I did, but I was rejected ED. Now out of the remaining ones (assuming I get into at least one other), it will be a kind of random decision.</p>
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The school that waitlisted me accepted 18 from a waitlist of 139 last year, so those are pretty infinitesimal odds.
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<p>Those odds are actually pretty good for a waitlist.</p>
<p>If you don't mind my asking, what colleges are we dealing with? Some colleges that I know of (such as MIT) rarely accept people off of waitlists. I might be able to help you out a bit more if I know which colleges we're talking about.</p>
<p>A good friend was waitlisted at RISD last year and she received her acceptance letter dated 5/4. So sometimes the wait isn't very long.</p>
<p>being waitlisted sucks =[</p>
<p>im mad =[</p>
<p>Macalester is the one that waitlisted me.
Right now, I'm just hoping that once the rest of the letters come in, the right decision will be clear, because right now I am so confused. I won't know whether I should aggressively (send another rec, etc) pursue my waitlist status at Mac until I know if I got into any of the remaining 7 schools (almost all are top-tier LACS, on par with Mac). If I am rejected from all of them (I have already been accepted to Earlham, but don't really want to go there), then I will definitely do everything I can to help my status with Mac. But I do almost wish I had been flat-out rejected instead of waitlisted--the chances are so tiny, and it's so confusing and depressing, that it seems a rejection would have been easier to deal with.</p>
<p>You can accept a spot on the waitlist but you MUST send in a deposit to one of the schools that accepts you--your favorite of the ones you get into, since you will probably be going there. Waitlists are very iffy. If you do get in off the waitlist you simply notify the first school that you are giving up your spotand they keep the deposit--possibly admitting someone from their waitlist.</p>
<p>Oh, ok. I didn't know that putting down a deposit doesn't necessarily mean you HAVE to go to that school, that you can change your mind and just lose the $. Thanks for your helpful replies.</p>
<p>gloaming, same boat here, even same school. I sent in my card yesterday. Lets just hope lost of people turn Mac down.</p>
<p>the odds are pretty decent, as far as waitlists go. A lot of schools use the waitlist as a tool to help themselves, putting hundreds or even thousands on the waitlist and taking only a dozen or so kids.</p>
<p>You've gotten advice about waitlists, but there is more you can do if Mac is your top choice. You can write a letter promising to enroll if accepted, and also have your counselor call and let them know they're your top choice. When it comes to taking kids off the waitlist they can pick anybody, and they're much more likely to pick someone they know will enroll. Ethics are involved here, though. I wouldn't recommend doing this unless Mac truly IS your top choice and you WILL enroll.</p>
<p>And to continue in that vein,there are reasons to just walk away at this point. On a waitlist you're up in the air, perhaps even until next fall. Its hard to get excited about where you DID enroll if you're hoping something will intervene to save you from that school. And you should check with Mac regarding financial aid if that is a factor. At some schools they've awarded everything to the admits, and there's nothing left to offer kids from the waitlist.</p>
<p>A student from my school got waitlisted at macalister and weslyean last year. He put his desposit in for Whitman. Then he got off the waitlist at macalister (so it's entirely possible) and put in the deposit, then finally got off at Weslyean and went there. All in all I say if you want to go there, put your name on it.</p>
<p>i got waitlisted from mac today too and i was pretty disappointed/slightly surprised. it seems like they waitlist a ridiculous amount of kids compared to other schools. we sound like we're in exactly the same boat with that and our other schools. but i don't know, being waitlisted is lousy, and i predict that this won't be my only one.</p>
<p>On last year's data set, 263 were waitlisted out of a total of 4317 applicants. That's about 6%, actually doesn't seem like that much to me. I just wish I wasn't in that 6%. Of course, it could be totally different this year.</p>