Most friends of my son have moved on and embraced the colleges they enrolled at but some are still hanging by the thread of waitlists. Why do colleges do that to kids?
I agree. Unless colleges rank their wl’s and are clear about approximately how many they’re going to take, I just see them as false hope…
The schools use the WL to fill their class as last minute changes occur. I know a kid who got off the WL at Stanford in August (and went.). It’s not ranked because they are literally filling specific holes.
I feel like there is a huge lack of understanding on the part of lots of kids on lists based on c c threads. If the drama is too much, they can drop off.
It’s not a deferral. There is not a single release date. They will not be rejected as some seem to expect. The advice to pay your deposit aND plan to enroll elsewhere is great advice. If you are lucky and get that call, that will be the time for a decision. And maybe some drama! :)>-
Let’s say a college wants a freshman class of 1500. They have an average yield of 50% (enrollees to admittees), so they admiet 3000…but they may put 1000 on the waitlist.
- If they are off on their yield this year, they have other students to pull from the WL so they can get that 1500…but they don’ twant 1500 biology majors…they want a variety so they have a large waitlist.
- It is a soft reject…you aren’t outright denied but WL makes you feel as though you could have gotten in.
It’s amazing how some think that universities have a philanthropist concept in their admissions policies. They do it because it is in the BEST interest of the university, and therefore not the applicant in this case.
Well, its not a matter of what some think. Its a matter of institutional accountability. Their waitlisting practices are not divine writings, there is room for improvement to make it more efficient for their young consumers.
The main purpose of a wait list is to fill institutional needs. As demonstrated by the number of people willing to participate in the wait list - who accept the offer of being wait listed - there is no need for the institutions to change this process. If enough prospective students begin declining the offer, then perhaps colleges will change the process. Until then, the market is speaking and it’s speaking loudly telling the colleges that consumers are just fine with the process.
If you dislike it, don’t participate. Decline the offer of the wait list. That’s a reasonable response.
You do have a point but its hard for teens to process. One of the kids i’m talking about, has a full ride (need based) to another ivy and but not embracing it just because he hasn’t heard a no from Penn yet.
It’s not the job of any institution to hold the hand of irrational people. This is an issue for the parents to address, not the college.
So what? The student will get on board and deal with it.
^^^Agree with @brantly . That would be the student’s issue, not the college’s issue. Both the college and the student have the right to do what is best for them. If a particular student can’t move forward in a positive manner while being on a waitlist where he/she must understand that there is only a very slight chance of admission then he/she would be best off not accepting a spot.
Waitlist is a tool colleges use to manage uncertainty in yield. As yields become less certain with kids applying to more and more colleges for colleges other than the few most desirable, colleges will become more dependent on this tool. Some need-blind colleges may also use this tool to manage their FA budget, as need-blind policies generally don’t apply to applicants on waitlists.
“Well, its not a matter of what some think. Its a matter of institutional accountability. Their waitlisting practices are not divine writings, there is room for improvement to make it more efficient for their young consumers.”
Well, I am waiting many of the brand names to lower their unreasonable high prices for me. They definitely not give enough consideration to us poor consumers.
Well, it’s a simple supply and demand question. Both the brand name companies and ivies are having the upper hands here due to they got endless demand for the limited spots/products they can/want to offer, so they can do anything with their consumers. Walk away is a solution though.