Congrats, You’ve Been Waitlisted
“I didn’t really want to go there anyway.”
“Do you think I’ll get off the waitlist?”
These are the two reactions I annually get from my students who were waitlisted from their dream schools.
The first thing I implore them to understand is that they are a perfect match for that school.
The college likely denied the majority of their applicants. They then filled their limited spots with their institutional needs (ask me later). They then identified perfectly strong students whom would be admitted, but there wasn’t space, so they need to wait to see how many students commit and deposit.
If too many commit, they won’t need their waitlist. If not enough do, they will! It’s simple economics and no one - not even their V.P. of Enrollment - has any idea until after May 1st.
Let me repeat: some colleges have admitted 100% of their waitlist, some have admitted 0%, and no one knows what will happen until after May 1st.
It also bears repeating that waitlisted students are strong, ideal fits for the college, but were just not admitted due to numbers.
Students are applying to more colleges than ever due to a confluence of increased panic about increased selectivity, and the advent of streamlined and user-friendly online applications. Moreover, because of waitlists, some students might “melt” and forego their deposit once they are admitted from a waitlist elsewhere. Ergo, colleges are less able to predict their yield than they were a few decades ago, and what with increased selectivity, they are presented with exponentially more applicants than every who are perfectly admissible. (See my article “Banish the Term Rejected.”)
The National Candidate Reply Date is May 1st, a legal mandate to control against, well, a lot (that’s another blog post). So before they hear about waitlists, students must decide on, get excited about, and actually deposit at another college. And so it goes: the waitlist phenomenon perpetuates itself as students deposit at once school, get admitted from a waitlist at a preferred one, the initial school replaces that student from their waitlist, that replacement student “melts” from another college, which then goes to their waitlist…
Essentially, the waitlist sitch is bananas! After having just explained the reasons why, I hope it’s evident that it actually doesn’t matter why. It’s completely futile to guess at one’s chances of being admitted off of a waitlist, and perhaps more importantly, it’s nonsensical to feel sour grapes and discount the possibility of being admitted. I’ve had some students attend the college of their dreams by enduring the waitlist purgatory, all the way up until August! So here are the action items that I espouse:
Immediately reply that you’re interested in remaining on the waitlist. Don’t overthink your response with a bragging litany of your recent escapades (yet), but don’t delay in “opting-in.” If you’re admitted to a college that trumps your waitlist school(s), you can opt-out, but otherwise, why not ride it out?
Decide upon, get excited about, visit or revisit, and deposit at another college by May 1st. Non-negotiable.
Avoid sour grapes about your waitlist school. Don’t forget that you’re entirely admissible to that institution, and would obvi make great contributions. Due to circumstances endemic of our time there wasn’t room for you just yet, but don’t blame the system.
Wait until May, then send them a “keep warm” missive about your abiding interest. Refer to your maintained success at school, any new achievements, and state clearly that you will enroll if you’re admitted off the waitlist.
Don’t waste a nanosecond guessing about your chances. Don’t ask me to read the tea leaves, and for the love of the gods, don’t ask them. Channel your energy into your deposited school of choice, join all the soc media groups, and consider yourself lucky.
So, I say “Congratulations, you’re on the waitlist!” Seriously, the gesture means you are awesome. You are so awesome that the college would love to have you, but they simply don’t have enough beds for everyone. But they might in late May, June, July…