<p>I just got my letter and was really glad that I wasn't flat out rejected. :D Does anyone know how many waitlisted students end up enrolling? Also, what criterion do the admission officers use to select the students on the waiting list after space has become available? </p>
<p>And, if anyone else has also been wait listed, I am interested in your stats.</p>
<p>From the Common Data Set for 2009-2010
551 Students offered place on waitlist
212 Students accepted place on waitlist
10 Students offered admission</p>
<p>Don’t know how they decide who gets admitted from the waitlist</p>
<p>Hope this helps</p>
<p>This does not come from personal experience but would be my observation of how wait lists often work in small liberal arts colleges: Show them your love. Make it clear how much you want to be a Whittie. Don’t be obnoxious, but don’t hesitate to make the case for how they would never regret having you be one of the 10. I’m reasonably sure that the 10 that come off the wait list have made an effort to show they would be a great fit. Because they know the majority of waitlist folks will decide to “move on”, it is really a much smaller pool of those actively interested from which they select the 10 who are admitted. You could even offer to do a January start, which they offer to some candidates who decide against that or take up a fall position that become open.</p>
<p>My son was wait listed last year and we decided to go ahead and visit in April and speak to an admissions officer. He made it clear that he was still very interested in attending Whitman. </p>
<p>I’ve heard of people sending cookies, muffins etc to the admissions office and I’ve heard mixed responses from admissions officers about that practice. I guess some love it and some - not so much. I thought it would be fun to send a box of oranges (since we’re from California) with the message “I hope you can squeeze me in!” written on one. Whitman always sends a box of Walla Walla Onions to new admits so I thought it would be a nice tie-in. My son was not thrilled with the idea so he took a different approach and sent in his mid-semester progress report (which was awesome) and a letter from his AP Physics teacher.</p>
<p>In May, they offered him a January start and he happily jumped on it. He’s enjoying Whitman so it’s worth waiting for!</p>
<p>Waitlisted. SAT 1970 (Math 650, Reading 680, Writing 640) GPA 3.79 </p>
<p>Accepted offer at Willamette.</p>
<p>Waitlisted.<br>
Environmental Studies major
31 ACT
4.3 W GPA 3.97 UW GPA
Extensive volunteer work, internships, varsity sports, etc.</p>
<p>Probably headed to UC Berkeley for Forestry.</p>
<p>D was waitlisted. I had an extended conversation with the dean of admissions (who btw was great to talk with). The takeaways: (1) if there is additional information to give them that goes to your qualifications, then send it in; (2) the cookies/oranges/etc. do not work; (3) they want to know that you in fact will accept if and when they have a spot. The last point was the most important to me, and made sense – they call with an offer only if they have a spot to fill, and they want to know that they will in fact fill it by making the call. So letting them know that’s where you are coming from is useful to float to the top of the pool. </p>
<p>D was offered Jan Start, told them she really wanted to start in the fall, and was almost immediately offered a fall spot instead. She accepted and she loves Whitman.</p>
<p>Now I’m really surprised I was waitlisted with such low stats. I expected a rejection letter. Forgot to send in mid-year report form, so maybe that’s why?</p>
<p>SAT 1840 (CR 560, M 630, W 650)
GPA 3.75
Major- Biology
ECs- Numerous but mediocre
Essays- Worked very hard</p>
<p>Accepted UW but still want to be a part of Whitman.</p>
<p>[Admissions</a> up, applicants down for the Class of 2014 » The Pioneer | Whitman news, delivered.](<a href=“http://whitmanpioneer.com/news/2010/04/08/admissions-up-applicants-down-for-the-class-of-2014/]Admissions”>http://whitmanpioneer.com/news/2010/04/08/admissions-up-applicants-down-for-the-class-of-2014/)</p>
<p>Here’s an article I wrote for Whitman’s newspaper this past week. 565 students were waitlisted. I might add that in my discussions with the Director of Admission, he said I’d be astounded by the high quality of the applicants of people on the waitlist who didn’t get in simply because there isn’t enough space. Generally, people on the waitlist are fully capable of being successful students at Whitman, but they may lack something that really makes them stand out in their application. You’d have to ask Admissions for a more official explanation, though.</p>
<p>Last year, 10 people got off the waitlist. The year before that zero. In years before that it’s been a bit higher. If Whitman’s your top choice, let them know that it’s your top choice and that you’d absolutely attend if admitted; it may also help to get an additional teacher recommendation.</p>
<p>My understanding for the waitlist is that students offered spring admission who accept that offer get first dibs on fall waitlist positions. Other than that, there’s no ranking system.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that out of the 565 people offered waitlist positions, a very large percentage will not ultimately accept the waitlist position. So your odds are a little better than they may initially sound. Good luck!</p>
<p>Very interesting article. But Wow! 565 students! haha</p>