My S in on the waiting list at Bowdoin. I am wondering - in the unlikely event that he is going to be accepted from the waiting list (in May/June/July) - how much time would he have to make a final choice between Bowdoin and the school that he will pay deposit to by May 1st?
Even though he really wants to go there, we still haven’t visited the school and I am wondering if we should spend time and money on the visit given the fact that the likelihood of admission from the waiting list is very low. (I believe they offer waiting list to about 1000 people and accept less than 50).
If you have a similar experience of being accepted from the waiting list by one of the top liberal art colleges (not necessarily Bowdoin) - please share your experience as well.
Students normally don’t learn that they are off a waiting list until after May 1, so your son should choose from the affordable acceptances that he has and make a deposit.
If he gets off the waiting list (and this can be very late in the summer), do what you can to fit in a visit to campus so he can see what he thinks before making a definite Yes/No decision.
My older kid was WL at 2 top 20 schools. We had to work it to get her off the WLs. She did get off both of them within a week of each other. The admission off the WL is a bit different than the RD. Your child and/or his GC would most likely get a call from an adcom to ask if he/she would be interested in getting off the WL. They would normally give the applicant only few days to decide if he/she will accept. After the applicant accepts then the acceptance letter would go out. If you need FA, they would provide the info before you need to make a decision.
In D1’s case, her GC was called on the second Fri of May and wanted an immediate answer. Her GC asked for the weekend to let us think it over. The other school emailed D1 late at night a week later to see if she was interested. She declined that one because we had already accepted the first one.
If your kid is very interested in Bowdoin I would have his GC send in another packet with updated information (more LORS, and letter of interest). I let D1’s WL school know we would be full pay and D1’s GC told the school that D1 would attend if admitted off the WL. The GC also called as soon as the school went to its WL (I let the GC know as soon as I found out on CC). I would visit the school if he hasn’t already, and while he was on campus I would stop off at the admission office to meet with an adcom.
What @oldfort said.
Many need blind schools during RD are very much need aware during WL.
Adding to @oldfort there are some colleges that meet full need for all in the RD round… but not for students off the waitlist.
On the other hand, some colleges will say “If we offer you admission plus the normal merit, would you enroll” This way they only accept people who will enroll, thus protecting their “yield”.
I would stay on WL but start buying the sweatshirt from the college that they are accepted to and sign up for classes and get excited about it.
Thank you, this is very helpful!
If you have the wherewithal to do it, you could also call the school and tell them you will accept–today,-- if they offer you admission.
@MarieSh , Both the WL spots my kid got have him 72 hours to make the decision. Remember that they are trying to fill their class as soon as possible because even kids who initially thought that they’d do ANYTHING to go to XYZ school may be feeling a little different about that after they’ve been assigned a roommate, done some course planning with an advisor, etc. In other words, the further into the summer you get, the more committed you are to the place you’d originally enrolled. So there is a flurry of activity during May and if you are lucky enough to get a call, you’ll need to move on it.
DS lost a deposit at a school where he had decided to enroll prior to May 1, btw. That’s just part of the deal!
Honestly, I would not visit a school where I was on the WL – the odds are against getting in and the real energy should be focused on the schools where you have an acceptance. If you got a call in May, you could probably buy a little time and rush out (hopefully before classes were over, but possibly to an empty campus). If it’s later, you’d have to decide if you could make a decision based on the empty campus.
To add to what @oldfort and others said, you can have very little time to decide, my suggestion is to be ready to move on it if it is something you are seriously interested in. Don’t let it take away from the enjoyment of the acceptance you make by May 1st, but if it is a serious player for your student, he really should have a good idea of what he would do before they call. Last minute visit and the pressure of a decision like that is so stressful to make in a 3 day time period (if that is all they give and a lot of time it is).
It is not likely that you will have time to plan for a trip to visit after they offer the admission from WL before the deadline. The basically going down the list (not necessarily ranked) to fill the freshmen slots and they have to finish the task in a timely manner. Many students would not accept the WL offer at the end (even they have expressed their continue interest). For those that have really high interest at that school over the others, they would accept the offer immediately if it is affordable. Basically, the decision was made before the admission offer.
For most WL, just assume nothing would happen.
If you are going to contact the adcom it is best to wait for few weeks. They are very busy taking calls from angry parents/students right now. I would recommend contacting them and sending them additional info second week of April then follow up with calls between May 7-14 to find out if they are going to their WL.
If the WL is your kid’s top choice and he should get off the WL, don’t let the fact he was WL stop him from going to the school. No one would know he was on the WL and it also doesn’t mean he is less qualified. At the same time, I would also encourage him to fall in love with school(s) he was accepted.
My D was offered a position off a waitlist. She received the offer as a phone call in early June. She had 3 days to make the decision. She had not visited before, and she decided to accept the offer and first stepped foot on campus when we moved her in.
She lost her housing deposit at another school.
She had sent her waitlisted school updated information, and told them she would attend if offered a place with sufficient financial aid. They were a meets full-need school and she had significant financial need, which they met.
My younger daughter was offered a space off the waiting list for a school that was her second choice. She had visited it while spending part of spring break with her older sister. But no overnight visits were offered the month she visited, and she felt she needed the overnight experience to pick the waiting list school over the school whose offer she accepted. Both schools offered excellent financial aid packages; we were a low-EFC, high-need family at that point.
Given the short time frames to decide whether or not to accept an admission from the waitlist, it is best that the student and parents pre-set their financial criterion if that is an issue. I.e. know themselves what their net price threshold $X is so that if the waitlist offer comes with a net price below $X, they can accept, otherwise refuse.