<p>[please forgive my poor typing... my wrists are in bad shape at the moment.]</p>
<p>so i'm waitlisted at the school i really wanted to go to, and pretty indifferent about the schools i'm accepted to. i asked my guidance counselor how i can get in and she said to write a letter expressing that they're my first choice and i'm very much interested.</p>
<p>um, how?</p>
<p>a long letter or a short letter?
how do i open it? "dear admissions"? (are they dear to me? haha)
how do i close it?
i don't expect them to write back, and i have questions, so i'm going to call them as well. do i say the same things in the letter as i would over the phone?</p>
<p>will they tell me what i'm allowed to send, or what i should send? i already sent in three letters of recommendation when i applied (two from academic teachers, one from a drama coach who knows me very well), so do i still need to send in another? or is that just inconvenient for them, for the teacher, and for me? i could send in a graded research paper like i did for another college, or scans of some of my artwork. is this too much?</p>
<p>this is such a pain.</p>
<p>thanks in advance. :)</p>
<p>ps - in your experience, who tends to be number one on the waitlist? how do they rank them?</p>
<p>You could check with the college and ask how many people were waitlisted last year, how many people were accepted from the waitlist last year, and how many people were waitlisted this year. It isn't a perfect indicator because that was last year, but if they waitlisted 200 people last year and accepted 0 off of the waitlist, that is an indicator. </p>
<p>Unfortunately colleges do waitlist many more people than they need to. Sometimes more people will be waitlisted than accepted. It is probably better not to dwell too much on the possibilty of being accepted from the waitlist.</p>
<p>In terms of strategy, you should just go for it. You've nothing to lose. Let them know that you will definitely attend if accepted. Get yourself noticed. Don't ask why you weren't accepted, but ask what you can do in order to get accepted.</p>
<p>Make sure you put a deposit down at another school. This can drag out right up to the beginning of the Fall semester.</p>
<p>every school is different but many advisors have good relationships with certain admission offices, like at my school there are a handful of colleges they have historically a good relationship with, as an example one school i was waitlisted at, she told me OFF THE RECORD,that if i made a attempt to go visit, internview and write a letter that they let her know in so many words, that i would be able to get in off the waitlist, if I made it known that it was my first choice. Check out that option, again not the case with all schools but often that advisor can turn out to be a powerful ally. Good luck! Showing how much you want to go to a school and campaigning for yourself is VERY important.</p>
<p>I know of at least one case in my daughter's school where the guidance counselor managed to get a student at the top of a school's waiting list through her relationship with the admissions office. The student was accepted.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that guidance counselors in large public schools cultivate this kind of relationship with colleges, however. Make an appointment with yours ASAP to discuss your options. You may have to suggest that he/she call for you - and use this forum as a source for that idea. </p>
<p>The drawback to this is that you and your GC must agree on the one school you will go to if accepted. Your GC will be sticking his neck out for you, and you'll have to follow through. </p>
<p>Of course, even if you and your GC target one school, you should write letters to all of the colleges that waitlisted you. Be specific in saying why you think you'd make a great addition to their student body. (Yes, another essay.) Have your GC send the newest transcripts.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>