<p>Other than because you were accepted to a school you know will be better for you?</p>
<p>Perhaps some people want a sense of closure and stop waiting. Or maybe because some don’t want to take up a place knowing that they already got into their school of choice – possibly hoping that it’ll give their friend whose also on the waitlist a bigger chance of getting in.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted at Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, and Swarthmore, and declined all of them (this was two years ago; I feel so old). I did have some concerns about whether a smaller liberal arts college might be more suitable for my personality than Dartmouth, which I’d already been accepted to, but I didn’t want to prolong the process any more, and I thought somebody else could better use my spot.</p>
<p>So, essentially, what Polarize said.</p>
<p>It’s really only necessary to accept a spot if the school is your first choice. For many who accept the offer, this will be the case, and these students will be the ones who demonstrate the most continued interest and are ultimately accepted.</p>
<ol>
<li>To be waitlisted means that there was something the college saw(or didn’t see) that didn’t make you the best candidate for the school. So why force it when it wasn’t meant to be. </li>
<li>Financial aid= zero.</li>
<li>If you’re not a priority to the school, why make them a priority?</li>
</ol>
<p>Well there are only a few reasons why I would decline a spot on a waitlist. One would be that the financial aid package is horrible compared to other schools. The college was simply applied to for fun and you are not serious about attending in the following academic year. Personal tastes or something changed and for sure I realized I didn’t want to attend the college.</p>
<p>well…then does that mean those stick to the list will have a better shot?</p>
<p>You might reject a spot on the waitlist if you have been accepted to another college and plan to go there. </p>
<p>I makes the waitlist shorter, so improves chances for those choosing to remain on it.</p>