Tag Archives: college wait list

admissions, college guidance, college planning, mom approved tips

Mom-Approved Tips: Skip the Wait List

 

It’s college decision time and there will be disappointed teens receiving those words from the college, “You have been placed on the wait list.” You might think it somewhat softens the blow of the rejection, but does it? What are the odds that your student will be taken off the wait list and offered admission?

My advice: skip the wait list. Why? Getting off the wait list is like playing the lottery. Here’s are three examples of wait list statistics taken from the College Board’s website:

University of Texas

wait list

Stanford University

wait list

University of Michigan

wait list

 

(Note: To see any college wait list statistics, click here, type the college name, and select “applying” for the specific college)

As you can see, the odds are NOT in your student’s favor. And for highly selective colleges like Notre Dame and Dartmouth, the number is zero. Students who place all their cards on the table for their wait list schools are often disappointed. They reject offers of admission from perfectly good colleges hoping against hope that they will be taken off the wait list.

Instead of playing the wait list odds, take a second look at your second choice colleges. Read my list of 5 Good Reasons to take a look at your 2nd Choice College.

Colleges who offer admission want your student. They see potential and have offered them a spot in their freshman class. And if a college backs that up with an excellent financial aid package, all the more reason to reconsider your options.

Why do colleges use the wait list?

Lynn O’Shaughnessy on The College Solution blog, explains the college’s rationale when using wait lists:

Schools use their wait lists as a way to manage their admission yield. They’d rather put more students on a wait list and pluck teens off as needed than accept more students and then see too many of these teenagers spurn their admission invitation.

Schools want to be in control of saying, “No.” And when they say no to more students, they look more selective which appeals to families looking for elite schools.  And U.S. News & World Report’s also rewards schools that reject more applicants.

One major reason why highly ranked schools are placing more students on wait lists because admission administrators are stressing out that ambitious applicants are applying to a very large number of elite schools and they can’t get a handle on which teens would accept an invitation to their school.

With help from the Common Application that makes it easy to apply to many schools, some high-achieving, affluent students are treating college admission to elite schools like a high-stakes lottery. The application mania also explains why prestigious private schools are accepting more early-decision candidates whom they can lock up early.

Using a wait list is also a way to reject students without completely demoralizing them. It can be a helpful tool, for instance, to turn away students of alumni, who are not desirable candidates. Some students see an invitation to a wait list as something to even brag about. I’m not joking.

The wait list also allows some schools to generate more revenue by not offering financial aid to anyone rescued from their lists.

Don’t fall prey to these tactics. Encourage your student to consider the colleges who have offered admission. In the long run, it will probably be the best decision you ever make.

admissions, college guidance, college planning

Top 5 Ways to get OFF the Waiting List

In the life of a high school senior, it doesn’t get much more nerve wracking than the month of April. This is the time of year when high school seniors finally receive the news on which colleges have accepted or rejected them and they only have less than a month until May 1st, National Candidates Reply Date. Fat envelopes are good, thin ones are bad, but there are also the half-good/half-bad envelopes saying you are in the admissions purgatory known as the waiting list.

by Lars Leetaru-WSJ Online
Photo by Lars Leetaru-WSJ Online

Edward B. Fiske, author of the #1 bestselling Fiske Guide to Colleges states, “Colleges use waitlists because they are not sure how many of the applicants receiving fat envelopes will actually enroll. Waitlists are their safety valves.”

Fiske advises high school seniors who find themselves on the waitlist of the school of their choice to send a deposit to your first choice among colleges that did accept you to ensure you have a place to go. If you prefer to go to a school where you are on the waitlist, go on the offensive:

Top 5 Ways to Get Off the Wait List and Get Accepted to the College of Your Choice:

  1. Send a letter ASAP to the admissions director emphasizing your unyielding desire to attend. State specifically why you think the match is a good one and highlight new information.
  2. Call to see if you can arrange a campus interview. “Students who have been offered regular admission waitlist status are well advised to pay a visit by mid-April, perhaps with a set of recent grades in hand,” says Peter Van Buskirk, former Dean of Admissions at Franklin and Marshall.
  3. Send examples of impressive work. This is particularly relevant if you have an area of special talent or if you have produced new work of which you are especially proud.
  4. Ask a current teacher to write a recommendation highlighting your recent achievements. Ask teachers who wrote letters for you previously to send updates.
  5. Ask your guidance counselor to write or call and see that the admissions office is kept up to date with your grades and other achievements.

These are great tips for any college-bound teen who finds themselves on the wait list. My motto for this: it ain’t over till it’s over! In the future, I will be reviewing the Fiske Guide to Getting Into College.