Waitlisted by the first three schools I hear from?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Well, I was actually rejected by two and waitlisted by three, but I knew I had no realistic shot at the two I was rejected by...so I'm essentially 3/3 waitlisted.</p>

<p>I was rejected by Case Western and Lafayette, and I was waitlisted by Furman, Illinois Wesleyan and Sewanee (U of the S).</p>

<p>I looked up the numbers and only 150 remained on Furman's waitlist last year, 60 remained on IWU's and 35 remained on Sewanee's. </p>

<p>So, really, I BARELY missed getting accepted by all three schools. Furman had 4,500 applicants this year and IWU and Sewanee both had over 3,000, and I was one of the very very few to get waitlisted...by all three schools.</p>

<p>So my question is, have I been extraordinarily unlikely so far, or am I just the sort of applicant you waitlist?</p>

<p>3.00 weighted GPA, 2030 SAT, a few clubs.</p>

<p>(Good test scores and horrible grades, which makes me a 'risky' applicant.)</p>

2

<p>Don’t overanalyze it too much. A lot of college admissions is just chance anyway. Stay optimistic because you still have two more weeks in which to hear from the rest of the schools you applied to.</p>

<p>How many are you still waiting to hear from?</p>

3

<p>I still have the following to hear back from.</p>

<p>DePauw University
Illinois Wesleyan University
Rhodes College
Sewanee
St. Olaf
Wake Forest University</p>

<p>I know Wake Forest is a joke for my stats, but the other 5 I know I have decent chances at given that I was waitlisted by Furman, the most selective school on my list (not counting my ‘super reaches’).</p>

<p>And I know admissions are largely a matter of luck, but how amazingly unlikely was I to barely miss getting accepted by all three? Which begs the question, has my luck really been that bad so far, or am I, a risky applicant, the sort of applicant colleges look to waitlist?</p>

4

<p>You are likely to get into Depauw but if you are thinking about finaid or scholarship, forget abt it. They are tight on money this year.</p>

5

<p>really? thats the primary reason I applied to DePauw: money.</p>

6

<p>Waitlists are going to be interesting this year - colleges are worrying about their yields. Contact the colleges where you are waitlisted, let them know you want to attend, update them on your current academics/activities, maybe send an extra recommendation.</p>

7

<p>St. Olaf is a pretty big reach for you, it is much more selective than Illinois Wesleyan.</p>

8

<p>^ Are you unfamiliar with Furman?</p>

<p>Furman is more selective than St. Olaf. Plus, I don’t add diversity to Furman, whereas I do add diversity to Olaf.</p>

<p>So if I was waitlisted by Furman, surely, excusing the randomness of admissions, I will be at worst waitlisted by Olaf.</p>

<p>edit: scratch that. Olaf is more selective, although only slightly. If you factor in the diversity I would add to Olaf, they’re roughly equal…</p>

9

<p>fireflyscout</p>

<p>do you think colleges are putting more students on their waitlists than in the past due to the economy?</p>

<p>if so, thats obviously a bad sign for me.</p>

10

<p>OP…as with what Firefly said…make sure to contact those schools you are waitlisted with, let them know if you are still interested. Have you visited all these schools? If not, a visit and a brief chat with the admissions counselor can help boost your chances of getting off that waitlist. Do you have any safeties as far as financial costs? A in-state school perhaps? Keep us posted and good luck.</p>

11

<p>Well I don’t have any financial aid safeties, but I was already accepted by Hendrix. I was 99.99% sure I was going to accepted by Hendrix… I thought it would cost less than it will, but I can still go there if I need to.</p>

12

<p>Hi lllklll, did you get a rejection email from lafayette? I haven’t heard from them at all. Just wondering if they only send emails to admitted applicants.</p>

<p>Oh and I applied for St. Olaf too. Got waitlisted… All the best for you!</p>

13

<p>I would not expect the wait list numbers to be anything like last years. Schools in this range are probably wait listing many more this year. They expect that many families will no longer want to pay private school tuition. It will be hard to get off these lists with money this year. Full pay students on the lists will be in demand.</p>

<p>If you applied for aid and are wait listed, if you decide you can afford to go without aid let them know.</p>

14

<p>Hmmm…so I have more competition and the disadvantage of needing aid.</p>

<p>Doesn’t look good…although, since being waitlisted, I emailed them all (and ‘all’, by the way, is now Furman, IWU, Sewanee and Rhodes) about how I’m doing in the two U of Arkansas classes I’m taking. I have the highest grade in my class in an honors philosophy course and a B+ to A- in calculus. That should (at least partly) make up for my 3.00 weighted high school GPA, but I’m not sure how much that will raise my ‘stock’ as an applicant. </p>

<p>@duckieduck</p>

<p>I applied ED to Lafayette…your letter is probably in transit as I write this. Also…I don’t really want to say this but if you were waitlisted by St. Olaf, I would be pretty pessimistic about Lafayette. Just don’t get your hopes up.</p>

15

<p>^^</p>

<p>S was accepted by Furman, but will not be attending…so that will free up a slot after he notifies them next week…maybe for you!</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

16

<p>I was also waitlisted by Case Western. </p>

<p>3.46 GPA/26 ACT/lots of clubs and service. </p>

<p>Good luck! Hope you get in.</p>

17

<p>lol, I was actually rejected by Case, but yeah.</p>

18

<p>Sorry, I must admit I skimmed over that part of your post lol.</p>