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This was the week students began jumping for joy over their college acceptance letters, or coming to terms with a tough rejection from a top choice. And then there are those who also got wait-listed.
The dreaded wait list: A cause for celebration or for prolonged agony? It’s usually some combination of both, with a dash of realistic resignation and a glimmer of hope thrown in. Similar to buying a lottery ticket, you know the odds are against you, but geez, somebody is going to win. And unlike the Powerball, you just might have some control over whether that winner is you.
But what can you do? What should you do? And most importantly, do you want to subject yourself to the psychological uncertainty of waiting yet another one, two, or three months to settle the question of which school you are going to call home?
The first thing to understand is that the odds really are long here. These are statistics from 2013 released by some top colleges and universities.
Note that “Accepted” means accepted a place on the wait list, not admitted from the wait list. “Enrolled” refers to the number the school took from the wait list.
Wait List Statistics
Georgetown
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
2,026 1,163 82
Stanford
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
814 576 0
MIT
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
708 658 0
Pomona
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
602 253 73
Middlebury
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
1,679 611 78
Dartmouth
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
1,691 970 87
Princeton
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
1,395 906 33
Illinois
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
1,535 1,066 0
Michigan
Wait list Statistics
Offered Place Accepted Enrolled
13,615 4,010 74
What do these stats tell you? As with all statistics, only so much. But for one thing, colleges are putting way too many kids on wait lists. While Dartmouth, Middlebury and Pomona, among others, offered wait-list spots to more kids than they have room for in their entire freshman classes, Michigan’s may be even more egregious: 74 got in out of 13,615 offered a spot on the wait list? A whopping .5 percent rate of return.
The reason behind these bloated wait lists is often attributed to school’s wishing to let students know “We really liked you; you were close…” The soft landing, if you will. But to a teenager obsessive enough about a first choice narrowly missed, this may not be the message that gets through. They only see the 74, or other corresponding number—which overall averages out to roughly 10 percent of eventual wait list admissions off of all wait lists of all schools that maintain one.
And the next natural thought is, how can I become part of that 10 percent? Would I drop my next-best choice in a nanosecond if I got off the wait list at Dream U in July? Would I? Ask yourself that question and answer honestly. If your reply is really, truly yes, then proceed as follows. Parents, remember that patience is not the strong suit of the 18-year-old, and exercise some restraint where necessary over both your offspring and yourselves.
• Accept your place on the wait list immediately. One school, if you got wait-listed at more than one, Make a decision. You will have to sooner or later; learn to do this.
• Do not delay in placing a deposit and acceptance to your next top choice. Visit and do an overnight for accepted students if you possibly can. You need to believe in #2 and start getting used to the idea that you will probably go here.
• Send a thoughtful and concise letter to the admissions rep for your wait list school that serves your high school. Let them know how very much you want to attend their school; include some new information as to why—something specific pertaining to your intended field of study, perhaps, rather than your desire to be part of the upcoming football season. Update them—briefly—on anything new in your profile, awards, etc., and of your summer plans.
• Have your high school counselor follow up. Not your mom. Not your private counselor (unless one or both has the ear of said admissions rep). True story: An admissions officer from one of the country’s top schools called a large suburban high school last year after one, just one, of the high school’s students had been wait-listed at this university. The officer wanted to know why they had heard nothing from the counseling office. Was there something off about this kid? Was she not worth taking a chance on? In fact, the kid was all that, but the counseling office, for whatever reason, hadn’t done the follow up work. (The student ended up being invited from the wait list.) The student should meet with the high school counselor to consult about this follow up—see if they can find out where this student stands on a wait-list, and what if anything the student can/should do to enhance the chance of being invited off of the list.
• A month after you’ve send your initial letter, send a brief follow-up email to the admissions rep reminding them that their school is still your number one choice and that you will enroll if admitted. Let them know you are happy to send any additional materials or are available for an interview, if they need anything else. This helps them to know that now that the dust has settled you are still committed. But then, leave it at that.
Things NOT to do:
• Do not show up for another visit and ask for another interview.
• Do not make phone calls.
• Do not send supplementary materials, videos, essays, etc., unless you’ve been asked or have some extremely compelling reason to do so.
• Do not send more letters of recommendation.
• Do not attempt to bribe the admissions people.
• Do not leave your wait list school hanging. If you decide on another school, call and have your name removed from the list.
Try and maintain a sense of proportion about the process. To be offered a spot from the wait list should be considered a happy bonus. Understand that you’ve done all you can to put your best profile forward, and that the rest is out of your hands.