<p>Yep, I was waitlisted at my top three choices (all liked about equally, but liked significantly more than any other schools on my list)-- MIT, Harvard, Pton -- but got in everywhere else. Right now, of the places I'm in, I'm deciding between Columbia and Uchicago. I think I will be happy at either of these schools, but I do think I would be even happier at one of the other three. So far I haven't done anything besides send in the waitlist acceptances at all three. I wanted to consider my definite options and forget about those three schools for a little while, after wanting to get in for so long and then being told to wait some more.</p>
<p>For some reason, I started thinking about getting into them a little more now. I know it's pretty unlikely that I'll get into one of them, but what do you guys suggest doing. I still have time to show some interest right? I'll at least send in letters saying how much I'd like to attend still, but I don't know what else to do. Any advice/comments are welcome.</p>
<p>Go to Columbia, its an amazing, gorgeous school. The wait lists for your top picks are going to be huge this year, and there is an extremely low chance of those schools going to their wait lists, and even less of a chance of you being chosen out of the other 600 hundred or so people, especially if those lists are ranked. Its more of a probability thing than anything else.
However, if your heart is set on those schools, visit them, talk to an admissions person, and let them know how enthusiastic you are.</p>
<p>make lots of noise, maybe get an extra rec short thing or two, let them know you're interested. call, ask, send in artwork if you are an artist, maybe an AMC you might have done and did well on, no clue. either way, make lots of noise, let them know you're there and not going to another school instead.</p>
<p>those 3 schools have some of the highest yield rates in the country, so chances of coming off the waitlist are minimal. the schools are very similar, columbia and chicago, with famous professors and great urban locations. i would go to columbia. (nyc>chicago imo)</p>
<p>It's not this clear-cut, of course, but you usually wouldn't want to go to a school that waitlists you, even if you are later accepted. Being taken off the waitlist would mean that you are basically, in the eyes of the admissions committee, at the "bottom of the class" if you enroll.</p>
<p>Obviously there are more factors involved in admission decisions than that, so it would be your choice on whether to pursue a waitlist reversal (complete with award updates, new grades, etc.)</p>
<p>"It's not this clear-cut, of course, but you usually wouldn't want to go to a school that waitlists you, even if you are later accepted. Being taken off the waitlist would mean that you are basically, in the eyes of the admissions committee, at the "bottom of the class" if you enroll."</p>
<p>Not true at all. When it comes to the types of schools that the OP is waitlisted at, many excellent students are waitlisted and even rejected from such schools. Some actually have higher grades and scores than accepted students. That's because the schools that the OP is waitlisted at have an overabundance of well qualified applicants, so admit students to create well rounded classes in all meanings of the word. Consequently, a 2400 straight A valedictorian with 10 APs from a family of New Jersey surgeons may be rejected or waitlisted in favor of a 2200 3.8 gpa tuba playing first generation college student from Idaho who has taken 3 AP classes (which may be all that his or her school offers).</p>
<p>Yeah, I was not clear about "bottom of the class," by which I did not mean academically incapable; rather, I used it to mean as if (quotation marks and all) you are not one of the school's "top choices" as a student. If you are at the total opposite of the forefront (a.k.a. the back, a.k.a. a waitlistee) in that you are not one of the school's "top choices" (to contribute to a well-rounded class), I don't see why you should keep that particular school a "top choice" yourself and attend even after having your waitlisting reversed. It's as if there is some suggestion that you are not, compared to a majority of normal admitted students, as well-matched for the school and had best explore the other college options where this is definitely not the case.</p>
<p>I sort of agree with both what Northstarmom and kryptonsa36 are saying. Maybe I'm in the middle, but more towards Northstarmom. If I got in off the waitlist, I would feel a little weird or upset about not getting to know I'm in as normal RD student, missing preview weekends, etc. But, of course, I think I would be happy and surprised enough to forget about that.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the topic: Northstarmom, I've seen your posts before and am pretty certain you graduated from Harvard. Maybe you don't know any more about the admissions process just because of that, but do you have any specific advice for me?</p>
<p>When it comes to Harvard, I read recently that a top admission officer said that he or she always hoped to have to go to the waitlist because doing so would allow the admissions staff to tweak the class so it was as well rounded as possible.</p>
<p>Arp, all I know is that demonstrated interest doesn't matter to Harvard, so it wouldn't help to send a letter saying they are your first choice. Harvard knows that it's most of its applicants' first choice.</p>
<p>However, do let the admissions office know about any significant achievements you've made since you finished applying. It also could be good to have your counselor call just in case he or she can add some info that you may not have thought of adding.</p>
<p>I'm not saying I don't think it's a bad idea, Chedva, but... wouldn't it be more like "look columbia really wants me and i got this prestigious thing, but I'd rather go to your school" than "yo b1tch3s they let me in now you should too" ?</p>
<p>I agree with chedva. Schools like Harvard and Princeton wouldn't really care where else you got in. And Columbia's a really good school. If I were the admissions officer, I'd think you should be happy you even got into such a great school because many applicants weren't so lucky.</p>
<p>yeah, but my point is that i would only say something because of the rabi scholar, not because it's columbia. If i didn't get the rabi scholar, i definitely wouldn't even consider putting it in the letter</p>
<p>Let me repeat. Do not mention anything about what another school has given you; the admissions committee will not care. They have their own way of doing things and their own criteria. All you need to tell them is that they are still your first choice. No qualification, no "Look what another college thinks of me", no nothing. Any honors you got from non-college sources - that's great, that just updates your record. What Columbia gave you - forget about it when talking to another school.</p>