<p>Last year, of the 1500 or so offered a position on the waitlist, only about 330 accepted a spot on the list. So 4 out of 5 simply choose to move on.</p>
<p>Plainsman, I also dislike this very common practice. The key is not to have your hopes falsely raised. Ds was WL’d at one school and decided to stay on the WL, but I told him if he did he had to put any thought of actually getting off the WL out of his mind as the probability was almost non-existent (we needed FA, and I think that’s part of the equation in getting off the WL). He did, and when he received a second WL notice a few weeks ago he opted to not stay on. He’s moved on and is happily looking forward to Carleton!</p>
<p>Also, to thestrokes or anyone else who might look at the high-scoring (and high-GPA and well-rounded) people who were waitlisted and think they don’t have a chance, remember that “fit” plays a huge role, especially at Carleton I’m told. There are probably some really amazing applicants who the admissions people feel might not fit in at Carleton as well as others. If you feel like Carleton is right for you, by all means apply and don’t be intimidated by stats!</p>
<p>I’ll second imbri3’s points.</p>
<p>Adcoms at LACs operate differently than universities. Given the smaller student bodies involved, they tend to be much more careful about selecting a class each year that “fits” with the school’s personality while also promoting diversity vis a vis geographic origins, race, sex, extracurricular interests (think bassonists for the orchestra, DJs for KRLX, editors for The Carletonian or Carl), etc. </p>
<p>I also agree with inbri in believing that “fit” matters more to Carleton adcoms than even other LACs. And while the general stats of any two people may look similar, in admissions decisions the devil may be in the details of how a particular applicant helps round out a class along with issues of fit and perceived interest.</p>
<p>As far as waitlisting goes, I’d also agree with mflevity that the message sent is kinder than an outright rejection, especially given how incredibly well qualified these people are. What I’d love to see are waitlist letters accompanied by historical numbers of acceptance probability off that waitlist to add a dose of reality to expectations. Don’t know if this has ever been done before anywhere (doubt it) or would be considered (doubt it).</p>
<p>thanks everyone. this is kind of unrelated but i’m having a little panic-- is it going to hurt me that i haven’t taken the sat II’s? where i live few people take the sat’s let alone the sat II’s, the act is the only thing stressed. i had never even heard or thought of signing up for them but the more i browse these boards, the more i see how almost everyone looking at high caliber schools has taken them. can ap test scores substitute?</p>
<p>I would try them, just in case. If you’ve taken an AP course, then the SAT II is not bad at all. That being said, I don’t believe they’re mandatory, so they can only help you. Not having them shouldn’t hurt you. Kind of like interviews in that regard.</p>
<p>thestrokes:</p>
<p>My own 2 cents - Colleges sometimes require (more often “suggest”) SAT II’s to help validate GPA’s. This has a lot to do with the rampant grade inflation seen nationwide. The policy primarily targets kids coming from that minority of high schools unfamiliar to college adcom’s (e.g. very small or academically very weak schools). </p>
<p>If you’re now at a HS that’s pretty mainstream with a track record of kids applying to elite schools, SAT II’s are pretty superfluous. I would think twice before knocking yourself out to prep for them, especially if you can already present solid grades and ACT(s).</p>