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The Waitlist...and how to navigate it!
Posted by Shannon Meairs on Monday, March 29, 2010 at 12:00 AM (PST)
“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dream, and how you handle disappointment along the way.” --Robert Kiyosaki
So you’ve spent months waiting for the BIG envelope from your dream school and suddenly you discover you haven’t been admitted or denied. You’ve been waitlisted. Needless to say, this is not what you expected and you are disappointed. Before you freak out and withdraw to a cave for the next 3 months, you must know you there are several things you can do to help yourself get off the waitlist.
A little about the waitlist…
Universities use the waitlist as a safety net to ensure they are able to fill their class. Schools usually only place anywhere from 200-500 on the waitlist, but many colleges and universities are as worried about filling their class as you are about attending your dream school. This means schools have padded their waitlist with more students than ever this year and are uncertain what the class will look like in the Fall. Colleges can typically predict, give or take 2 students, the number of students who will enroll based on a complicated mathematical equation. This year, however, all bets are off. Many families are foregoing the 4-year school and choosing a 2-year school (and then transferring) in an effort to save money.
Basically, what all of this means is….that if there ever were a year where the past can’t predict the future, bets are off, stats will be destroyed and admission directors are stressing out, it’s this year….so there is hope. BUT, you must follow the five steps below!
Step 1 – Accept the offer to remain on the waitlist
As soon as you receive your waitlist letter, decide whether or not you want to remain on the waitlist. If you have zero desire to attend that school, remove yourself and open that spot for another student who feels that school is their dream school. If you decide to remain on the waitlist, accept the offer immediately and begin to strategize your waitlist campaign. The waitlist campaign is your strategy to help get yourself off the waitlist. You must be intentional about your waitlist campaign. The school will not accept you from the waitlist if they don’t know you are interested, so it’s important you continue to show interest. If you’ve been waitlisted at several schools, there’s no harm in accepting several waitlist offers. You will not find out if you’ve been accepted from the waitlist until after May 1st, the National Intent to Enroll Deadline…more on that later.
Step 2 – Find out what your chances are
Some schools rank their waitlists and some schools do not. Call each school and find out if they rank their waitlist and if they do, see if they’ll tell you where you stand and what your chances are. If they don’t rank, ask them how many students are on the waitlist and if they went to their waitlist the previous year. Applicants have the right to find out how many students were admitted from waitlists in previous years, so it’s important to ask. All of this information can help you find out what your chances are of coming off the waitlist and ultimately being offered admission. According to a NACAC report (National Association for College Admission Counseling), 27 percent of waitlisted students were ultimately granted admission to their waitlisted school, but like I said earlier….no one knows what will happens this year.
Step 3 – Choose a school to attend and send in your deposit
This is very important. Many students have tunnel vision when it comes to college admission and refuse to give up on their dream of being admitted to their first choice/dream school. This is particularly difficult when you’ve been waitlisted because it prolongs the process of waiting and feels somewhat like you’re being led on by your dream school…they dangle the carrot of hope by waving a waitlist letter in front of you. What you MUST do is make a decision about where you will attend in the Fall should you not come off the waitlist at any of your waitlist schools. Take a careful look at the schools to which you’ve been admitted and choose the school that best suits you. It may not be your first choice, it may not even be your second, but they admitted you, want you and have a lot to offer you….so make a decision, send in your deposit and do this BEFORE MAY 1st. May 1st is the National Intent to Enroll deadline and this a FIRM DEADLINE. DO NOT miss this deadline because you will not get your spot back if you miss this deadline. I’ve seen this tragedy too many times and there is NO reason you can’t make a decision and send in your deposit by mid-April.
Step 4 – Continue to show the waitlist school what a rock star you are
Wow them. Wow them. Wow them. Continue to brag about yourself, show the school that you are still interested in admission, and update on any new information or achievements since you sent in your application. If you do not have any new information to send, don’t repeat yourself, simply send in a letter stating how much you love the school and why you are such a good fit. If you do have updates, such as singing the National Anthem at the Staples Center, raising thousands of dollars for the charity you founded, launching an entrepreneurial venture, achieving the highest number of varsity letters at your high school, etc., let them know! It’s also important to email your admission counselor about every other week with updates or questions about your place on the waitlist. This will keep your name floating around the office and in your admission counselor’s head, which is where it needs to be should they need to go to the waitlist. Contact your admission interviewer and speak with them about your place on the waitlist and see if there is anyone they can contact. I would also suggest contacting anyone you know who has connections at the university to make phone calls or write letters on your behalf. And an additional letter of recommendation can’t hurt; ask someone who didn’t write a letter for you to write a letter to the school addressing your place on the waitlist and recommending you for admission. The more personal stories the better. ?
Step 5 – Life goes on…
After you have done all of the above steps, it’s time to move on and let the process unfold. You should have sent in your letter stating your desire to remain on the waitlist, found out where you stand on the waitlist, chosen a school and sent in your deposit, sent in any updates about achievements/honors, had someone write an additional letter of recommendation and emailed your admission counselor expressing your interest. Schools pull students off their waitlist well into August, so its important to balance the hope of attending your dream school with the reality that it may not happen. There is always the possibility of transferring to your dream school at some point in the future (as early as the spring semester of your freshman year). There is also the very likely possibility you will love the school you choose to attend and the waitlist school will be a distant memory.
Good luck….and happy waiting!
Shannon
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