Longtime lurker here - this has been such a great resource for me.
I got waitlisted at Penn, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, and Yale. Rejected at Harvard. Hard not to feel disappointed to be waitlisted by not one…but FIVE Ivies.
Right now, I’m choosing between Northwestern, Wash U, Vanderbilt, and Emory, which I know are great schools. And I’m still waiting on Stanford and Rice! But it’s just so hard not to feel at least a little bit discouraged - I keep wondering what I should have done differently on my application to maybe have pushed myself from waitlist into accept at even one of those places!
Any tips from any waitlist admits on what to do? I wonder if, sadly, given all the unfortunate COVID circumstances things might be a little more up in the air this year.
Hi @Jon234 - yes, I’m definitely planning on doing that! But I meant more that - if people have any tips for those stuck on waitlist purgatory with anything that I could do in order to maybe get pushed off the WL, that would be helpful right now.
Send a letter of continued interest to each of the AOs. If your HS GC is working, they should also call on your behalf…to attest to your continued interest, and get the lay of the land.
Waitlist activity might be greater this year, but no one knows yet. Regardless, those who do get pulled off the waitlist will meet the institution’s need is some way…major, full pay, etc.
Meanwhile you have great options, so focus on the schools that want you.
Those are awesome WLs. I know you wanted an admit, but I imagine you’ll get off at least one WL. If not, or even if so, the other schools are every bit as outstanding and might even be more fun.
Might be a good year to be waitlisted as many international admits may be unable to secure student visas due to embassy closures amid Covid-19 concerns.
Waitlists are one of the dark areas of college admissions. At many schools the waitlist isn’t about holding on to kids they will accept if a space just opens up, it’s primarily marketing to future applicants.
There is no rule that requires only putting enough kids on the waitlist to provide a reasonable buffer for a shortcoming in enrollment. So smart college adcoms realized they could have it two ways. They could use the waitlist for kids for whom they’re hoping space opens, which is what most people think a waitlist does.
And they could use the waitlist to pass out quasi “acceptances” that didn’t require actually enrolling the kid!! HS juniors with similar stats will think “If Julie got in last year then I got a shot too” and apply. Thing is, Julie didn’t get in; she was waitlisted and somehow never made it off the list. Colleges love lots of applicants because the more apps they have the more selective they look.
You can sometimes find numbers in the Common Data Set reports. In 2019 for Northwestern 3,067 offered the waitlist, 55 eventually taken from it. WUSTL, well known for passing out waitlist slots, won’t even say how many are waitlisted!! But in 2018-19 they took 31 from it. In other words they know very few of the waitlist kids will get in but it’s a great move on their part to have thousands of kids spreading the word they were offered a slot on the waitlist.
The OP can check for the schools he/she is on the WL for. I looked at Penn; in 2019-20 they offered 2,932 applicants a slot on the waitlist and ended up taking 101
“I keep wondering what I should have done differently on my application to maybe”
I wouldn’t dwell too much on the past, since you obviously did a lot of right things. Four of the ivies have ED, it’s possible they filled up more of their class ED this year leaving less RD spots. Also there are institutional needs that ivies care more about - legacy, athlete, urm, if you’re not one of them, that could also explain it. Also what was your major, that could also factor in.
So…op here. I may have spoken too soon - I got into Rice and STANFORD (!!!) today! I’m totally shocked. Like completely and utterly shocked and absolutely thrilled. Now I’m wondering what on earth I did to tip the Stanford app over the edge - I took a bit more of a risk with one of the supplemental essays maybe, but I can’t say that my app was truly different from what I put together for other schools. But I guess that’s what the lesson is - that things can definitely be a toss up - and that this whole process, in some ways, is totally a lottery with a lot of luck
Honestly. With every piece of experience I can share with you. Outside of Harvard, Princeton, Yale or Wharton for their established brand. There isn’t an Ivy on your list I would choose over any school on your accepted list. Not kidding.
Edit. To clarify. I would naturally consider them seriously, if accepted. I would do nothing if waitlisted. I wouldn’t waste anytime wondering and worrying. I would gladly choose from your accepted list and buy the hat and sweatshirt on amazon. I would not know how to choose from the list you have already.
Just for the sake of others who want to know more - I just thought I should add that in my initial admitted list, I had gotten the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship at Vandy - and I found out that I had gotten a half-scholarship at Rice today before I got the good news from Stanford.
