<p>Hi,
I am new to these forums and found them last night while searching for help with prep-school wait-lists. I was wait-listed at Hotchkiss and rejected from Choate, Exeter. Hotchkiss was my number one choice and I would love to go there. My SSAT's are 86% (not sure where those stand compared to the accepted applicants). I live in Paris but I am American. My grades are solid (no GPA since I am in the MYP IB program but mostly 6's and 7's). I am very athletic and play Lacrosse and Football and I am a Senior Patrol Leader in Boy Scouts. </p>
<p>What are the chances of me actually getting called up from the waitlist? I have never wanted something as bad as I want to attend Hotchkiss and I will do anything I can to improve my chances. Do you guys have any recommendations? Is everyone put to the waitlist if they are not accepted and if not then about what percent are actually put on the wait list and what percent get off the waitlist. Also, If any of you have any success waitlist stories, please share.</p>
<p>For the most part, schools only put people on their waitlists who they know they would like to admit; it isn’t a situation such as you described where everyone who isn’t admitted is put on the waitlist. The schools do send out denials as well. You should also know that prep schools don’t rank their waitlists. In fact, I’ve often heard them described as more of a pool than a list. If Hotchkiss turns to it’s waitlist this year, they will do so looking for that student or students who will round out the make up of next year’s student body. Finally, you should know that, with the U.S. economy in such dire straits, schools may be admitting fewer students outright and retaining bigger waitlists in order to protect their admissions rates, just as may be happening at the college level. I don’t know this to be true, but it seems like a good possibility. And what this would mean for you is that it is possible Hotchkiss may be looking for a larger number than usual from waitlisted applicants (it is otherwise not very easy to predict how many students they will pull from their waitlist - it varies a great deal from year to year). </p>
<p>So, my advice to you is to write a letter to the Head of Admissions and your interviewer (if you had one who works in the admissions office) indicating your strong interest in Hotchkiss. Tell him or her that Hotchkiss is now, and has always been, your first choice and that you will come if they offer you a place. You might also take the opportunity to update the admissions people on whatever you have been doing that didn’t make it into your application. </p>
<p>Waitlists feel like purgatory when you’re placed on one, but it’s certainly better than a denial! :)</p>
<p>Does applying for FA decrease your chances of getting off the waitlist? If you get pulled off the waitlist, is there any chance of getting FA? If they don’t give you FA can you uhm, petition for it something?</p>