What's the deal with Waitlists?

<p>Found out this morning through the WebAdvisor site that I had been Waitlisted at Whitman. I would like to know from any of you who have also been waitlisted or have gone through the process before to let me know what the deal is.</p>

<p>Is it worth holding out? As much as I want to go to Whitman I don't want to lose out on the opportunity to go to another college which has already accepted me. </p>

<p>Is there anything I should send or do that could maybe rush along the process? I'm not sure if they got my AP Test scores as they were not displayed on the site, I could send those. I could get a third recommendation letter from a teacher I've gotten to know this past year. I also plan on visiting in two weeks during spring break. Is there anything I could do while I'm up there? (I live in Nor Cal)</p>

<p>I greatly appreciate any advice or tips I can get. Feel a little blind here.</p>

<p>I’m wait listed too… and still haven’t been given any other information other than what was up on the WebAdvisor. I figure they’ll have to send us a letter eventually.</p>

<p>Generally, you wouldn’t hear if you got off the waitlist until after May 1, so you’d go ahead and pay the deposit at another school just in case. Whitman’s common data set for fall 2008 says that they offered 582 applicants waitlist slots, 188 took those slots, and 25 ended up being admitted. Of course, this year is a complete unknown with the economy and more of those waitlisted might get accepted.</p>

<p>I don’t know about Whitman, but at other schools the waitlist isn’t ranked and it’s not a bad idea to try and improve your application. My S has a friend who sent in another recommendation and updates on his EC’s to a school he was waitlisted for.</p>

<p>Forgot to mention – if you pay your deposit at another school, then Whitman calls, you need to decide to say yes to Whitman and forfeit the deposit at the other school, or to say no thanks to Whitman. Again, I’m not sure about Whitman, but at some schools you have just a day or two to decide since they want to go to the next person on the list if you’re going to say no.</p>

<p>Thanks. I’ve gotten in contact with the same admissions officer who conducted my interview to let him know that I was still very interested in Whitman. I read else where about sending a letter and a recommendation and the admission officer said it was a good idea as well. </p>

<p>I received the letter telling me I had been waitlisted today with the little postcard that you send back to tell them to put you on the list and for how long.</p>

<p>With any luck, and with this economy, I won’t have to wait too long to get a hopefully affirmative answer. </p>

<p>I hope this thread has been helpful for anyone else who was waitlisted and I hope to see everyone on campus in the fall! :D</p>

<p>yea i’ve been waitlisted too, and Im getting really worried because I wasnt offered Spring 2010 admissions which would probably mean im not at the top of the list…
oh well, i sent them a letter telling them that Whitman is still my top choice.</p>

<p>well…i got in second semester waitlisted for the first semester…
is that good?</p>

<p>i dont know if its necessarily good, but it just makes sense to me that they would take the poeple who were accepted in january off the waitlist for the fall first</p>

<p>I’m a current student at Whitman writing a newspaper article on waitlisted students. If you want to, post your thoughts here (or PM them to me) on being waitlisted. Answering the following questions would help:

  1. Is Whitman your first choice?
  2. Where would you go to if you don’t go to Whitman?
  3. What are your thoughts on being waitlisted? Be detailed.</p>

<p>You can also include your name and location, although that’s optional. If you do, it may be published in the Whitman Pioneer (which is read by admissions officers, among other people, but that doesn’t mean your odds of being taken off the waitlist will change). You’ll be able to see the article online when it’s published.</p>

<p>Separately, I was a January-admit student, so I can answer anybody’s questions on that. Last year, the Admissions Office said that January-admits who accept the offer of admission would be at the top of the fall waitlist. This is generally a small number, though, so it doesn’t at all mean that people who are on the waitlist who weren’t offered January admission can’t get in. They wouldn’t have offered anyone a waitlist spot if there wasn’t a chance that they’d go to it. (To same0, I’d say it’s a good thing. You’re in!)</p>

<p>Thanks to everybody who takes the time to answer the questions I have. And I’m more than happy to answer anybody’s questions about waitlists or the Jan-Start option, or to share the information that I learn from admissions officers about this year’s waitlist.</p>

<p>Zoo,

  1. Whitman is most definitely my first choice. Even though I haven’t been out to visit, the campus and area looks amazing. I love the idea of being able to get a top education in a more laid-back atmosphere. (I also secretly love the idea of being 3,000 miles away from home!)
  2. If not Whitman, I may end up at the University of Vermont. UVM has a great Environmental Studies program and I have a house in VT.
  3. All i have to say is…oh…the waitlist woes… For me, being on the waitlist is emotional torture. I want to try so badly to move on to a different school because I know my chances of admission are slim, but at the same time I can’t give up the prospect of attending my number one school. I’m doing everything that I can to get myself off without being annoying or obnoxious but I know that everyone else is doing the same things. It’s also hard to accept the fact that you were ALMOST good enough, but not quite because you are always wondering what you could have done differently to sway the decision in your favor. </p>

<p>Emily, New Jersey</p>

<p>Thanks for the response Emily! Out of curiosity, what kinds of things are you doing to try to get yourself off the waitlist (letter to the college, additional letter of recommendation, etc.)?</p>

<p>yea, i wrote a letter stating my continued interest and that i would one hundred percent attend Whitman if admitted. That was last week, and this week one of my teachers offered to write me a reccomendation. I guess im just trying to make contact every week. Next week I’m planning on making a short personal call to the admissions officer for New jersey. Who knows if any of this will help, but I have to try! O yea and Ill send my updated third marking period grades also.</p>

<p><a href=“http://whitmanpioneer.com/news/2009/04/16/record-waitlist-leaves-applicants-in-flux/[/url]”>http://whitmanpioneer.com/news/2009/04/16/record-waitlist-leaves-applicants-in-flux/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here’s the article. (It looks like part of the last sentance was cut off in the online version, though.)</p>