<p>A lot of kids truly do move on and when they clear the waitlist, they say “no thanks” even when that was once a first choice school.</p>
<p>skier, you might be surprised who you know if you really try to look. Are you or a spouse/partner on either FB or LinkedIn? Member of any professional groups? It’s sort of the “6 degrees of Kevin Bacon” game. Not that you’re looking for someone to write a letter sight unseen, but with Skype, etc., no reason your son can’t “meet” that contact first. </p>
<p>5boys, I concur about that axe…the schools for which he is the best fit are the ones that gave him the most merit $. Even some of the less selective schools that didn’t fit him as well didn’t give him as much $. When he wrote/submitted his essays, I was worried b/c they really <em>were</em> him (as I’ve detailed on the '12 board). Maybe that was the “axe cue,” I don’t know.</p>
<p>Re Wait List… I agree with Kathie, do what you can but don’t break him just to shoot for something that you/he might be making bigger than it really is just because he didn’t get it off the bat. You know? But the truth is, while not much better, it’s not exactly as dire as the 14/2914 proposition. They OFFER wait-list to 2914, but the number accepting a place on the waiting list is actually less than half that at 1206. </p>
<p>I got a note from our GC today about the wait-lists in general and the school D was wait-listed at specifically. About the common data set, schools usually take their largest number of those INITIALLY accepting a place on the wait-list. But rarely does that number stay that large. It’s not like your odds are necessarily better exactly, but of those 1206, there were probably about half of that number that stayed on much past the mid april point and even less than that a week or so past the May 1 deadline. And really… if they’re only taking 14 or so, the school’s still have a good selection from their viewpoint.</p>
<p>But GC was clear to tell me to not let the CDS number scare me. She is going to meet with D about her own wait list possibility because it’s clear D has wanted this to all be her gig and wouldn’t let me help even if I could or were willing, which is actually fine by me. Why get involved now? I just didn’t want to even encourage if it’s a non-starter. Why waste airfare AND precious ego on the exchange? But she’ll talk with D and then we’ll see. And truthfully, I want to stay out of the majority of the entire decision because I’ve learned the more the students are in charge of making the choice (given they have one), the more they are willing to live with them (vs somehow blaming me for the hiccups of life). </p>
<p>Thankfully, this is our last round of this cause I am not touching grad/med school applications except to maybe proof read and say good luck!</p>
<p>From the college Board for LEHIGH
(dont know if these are older or newer but still hopeless)
Wait list Statistics
Offered place on wait list 3,684
Number accepting place Students can accept or reject a college’s wait list offer.1,514
Accepted from list **1 **</p>
<p>These numbers seem unnecessarily cruel. Why string out the hopes of soooo many poor students who have already been disappointed?</p>
<p>update:
we are starting to move on.
Planning trip to SUNY admit day. He is excited about getting to tour Brookhaven Nat’l Lab. Also got a little more love in that they included a voucher for a free hotel room! We need aid for private but can handle SUNY - this was just pure love, not need. Nice!</p>
<p>I still dont think SUNY is the right place for him but we will look closer. I do think he fits better at a smaller school.</p>
<p>Also very proud of him that he is independently considering the finances! If he gets the corporate scholarship (crossed fingers) SUNY would be practically free. F&M gave him quite decent aid but we would still have a sizeable, yet do-able out of pocket expense.</p>
<p>Next big question to tackle in my household may be similar to the kenyon/osu debate of fellow '12er. And so it continues.</p>
<p>skier29, your S didn’t apply to Geneseo? Or do they not have his major?</p>
<p>The quantity of applicants to each school in this Common App era is astounding. DD selected one safety and shot pretty high for the rest, because with these numbers, nothing seemed a match. DD got into safety earlier with merit aid. That did a lot for her. This month she got into a few very good schools that were strongly encouraged by parents. Now, she is relaxed awaiting the high reaches. We encouraged her to apply to a lot more colleges than either of us did back in the day - because of the Common App era.</p>
<p>How many students school takes off WL fluctuates every year. D1’s year, Cornell took over 100 off their WL, and since then it has been 0 because they over admitted. I think last year, schools like HYM took quite a few kids off their WL.</p>
<p>skier - when you called, Lehigh told you that they wished they knew who would attend on the RD round. Why don’t you and GC email them, so they could attach it to your son’s record, that your son would absolutely attend if admitted. Have your son send in additional information, then just forget about it.</p>
<p>Just a note - when they decide to offer a spot off the WL, it comes very fast and decisions need to be made quickly. Often they would call the student directly and ask for a decision right then. Most of the time they wouldn’t send out an acceptance letter unless there is a commitment. From what I have seen in the last few years, if a school needs to take a large number off the WL, they would start as early as first week of May. If upper tier schools go into WL, then it’ll have a domino effect on next tier schools.</p>
<p>Totally agree with oldfort. Send in the information and then forget about it. I do think that finding an alum to write a letter is worth looking for. I don’t think it would be too hard and Lehigh loves if you love them and making a big effort may be worth your time. </p>
<p>I do think your S should write them, tell them that it is his first choice and that he will attend if chosen off the waitlist. I think he needs to contact admissions himself.</p>
<p>Also Lehigh does offer Financial Aid to transfers so even if he does not make it off the waitlist he can transfer and receive FA since it is need based. </p>
<p>I am also surprised by the waitlist. I can only imagine that it is a “Tufts syndrome”. They didn’t think that he would attend if admitted. I am thinking that he did visit and did show interest. So big for Lehigh is interest.</p>
<p>skier- last year D was turned down ED from her first choice and WL at her second choice. So we went to visit three of her admits that she considered her top picks even though she not visited yet (for the most part visiting a campus was the kiss of death to keeping it on her application list). She decided to eliminate a few admit colleges or at least drop to the “no visit unless she hates everyplace else” list.<br>
Going into admitted student days in April, her top 3 were in a certain order. That order reversed after visits. She ended up at a place we never ever thought was a serious contender, but it really resonated with her. She loves it now and now cannot imagine herself anyplace else (and she really is NOT one of those bloom where you are planted types- she can really hold a grudge for a long time. 
)
So hang in there, and know the tremendous difference visits can make.</p>
<p>Yes, send in the info, and let it go. But I have seen historical data on waitlists of a number of schools similar to Lehigh and they do fluctuate widely on how many are accepted, from zero, when the school over accepts to a sizable number when more kids than expected decline their offer. With all the applications these schools are getting these days, it’s become increasingly difficult for admission to pick the kids that are going to accept their offer. If they pick too many who just threw their school on their lists as an extra or as a “safety”, they may end up with far fewer than what they need for a full class.</p>