The meaning of being WL

[Anonymous]

If you are WL at multiple reaches and super-reaches in RD, does that mean you were actually a competitive candidate, but the pool was too saturated by the time you applied (usually for your major and/or region), leaving no room to admit you?

And that if you'd applied in ED you would have been successful and been admitted?

Saw the kid in the other thread (how many colleges did you apply to) and realized they only applied to 4 reaches but ended up deferred/WL or straight WL at all. The candidate was competitive, right? Probably should have had a different app strategy. Or was it bc of the major?

[Anonymous]

It means the school didn't like you as much as the students they admitted but they think you could still be qualified. You'll never know why they liked someone else better. You can look on the CDS to see how often the school accepts from the waiting list.

Most highly rejective schools don't admit by major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It means the school didn't like you as much as the students they admitted but they think you could still be qualified. You'll never know why they liked someone else better. You can look on the CDS to see how often the school accepts from the waiting list.

Most highly rejective schools don't admit by major.

Agree with this.
However, while they don't admit by major, in RD they are shaping the class. So if you are a CS major and someone else is a Comparative Lit major, and well they've only seen a handful of those kids so far, the other kid will absolutely get a leg up. This is the secret sauce of private college counseling by the way. They "strategically position" your candidacy - omit a bunch of ECs and add new ones, to show "authentic alignment" with major.

There was a great longer thread on strategic positioning a while ago. It absolutely works at our private school and our CCO talks to families about it warning folks not to list CS or engineering if aiming for a top private.

[Anonymous]

It's a softer NO.

[Anonymous]

A WL in RD does not mean you’d have gotten in ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a softer NO.

Not this year at many schools! The WL moved a ton. I guess it's school-dependent.

[Anonymous]

Deferred means qualified but no and no you won’t get in during RD.

Waitlist means qualified and slim
Chance they miscalculated how many spots they offered will be taken so maybe but you won’t find out until the summer once you have moved on.

[Anonymous]

Pps are both so wrong.

They had institutional priorities they had to meet which didn’t leave enough room for the unhooked kids they really liked- those kids get WL’d. It does not mean they like someone better. They might have fought hard for these kids in committee.

We were told time and time again it’s an accomplishment to get WL at an Ivy, a T10, etc. It means you had everything there just wasn’t enough space at the Inn.

They don’t have large WLs. They might have an entering class of 1,500-1,700 only with 50-60k Applicants and put only 800–1k on the WL.

My kid was called May 2nd for an Ivy WL and then 2 days later off another and a T10.

He chose the first Ivy and his Freshmen year won a departmental award.

You also need to remember by RD for unhooked kids the admittance rate is closer to 3-4% vs the 15-25% in ED. So these can be more highly competitive kids than those in the early round and much much fewer space.

[Anonymous]

It all depends on the school, but generally a waitlist in RD does not mean an acceptance in ED.

My ‘24 was deferred from Yale (20%), and rejected in regular. Yale themselves say they have slightly better odds in regular, but not by much. It was a strategic move to see how competitive application was as they don’t defer as many and didn’t want to ED anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deferred means qualified but no and no you won’t get in during RD.

Waitlist means qualified and slim
Chance they miscalculated how many spots they offered will be taken so maybe but you won’t find out until the summer once you have moved on.

Wrong again! My kid was deferred EA and accepted RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pps are both so wrong.

They had institutional priorities they had to meet which didn’t leave enough room for the unhooked kids they really liked- those kids get WL’d. It does not mean they like someone better. They might have fought hard for these kids in committee.

We were told time and time again it’s an accomplishment to get WL at an Ivy, a T10, etc. It means you had everything there just wasn’t enough space at the Inn.

They don’t have large WLs. They might have an entering class of 1,500-1,700 only with 50-60k Applicants and put only 800–1k on the WL.

My kid was called May 2nd for an Ivy WL and then 2 days later off another and a T10.

He chose the first Ivy and his Freshmen year won a departmental award.

You also need to remember by RD for unhooked kids the admittance rate is closer to 3-4% vs the 15-25% in ED. So these can be more highly competitive kids than those in the early round and much much fewer space.

+1 this is true. Friends with former Ivy AO

That’s why I shake my head when people use the “choose the school that loves you” and advise to turn up your nose at a WL offer if they come calling. That’s so stupid. You go for the best opportunity and the best fit no matter how you get there. You don’t go through college with an asterisk next to your name and nobody knows you were on the WL. Like the pp who won a departmental award his first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pps are both so wrong.

They had institutional priorities they had to meet which didn’t leave enough room for the unhooked kids they really liked- those kids get WL’d. It does not mean they like someone better. They might have fought hard for these kids in committee.

We were told time and time again it’s an accomplishment to get WL at an Ivy, a T10, etc. It means you had everything there just wasn’t enough space at the Inn.

They don’t have large WLs. They might have an entering class of 1,500-1,700 only with 50-60k Applicants and put only 800–1k on the WL.

My kid was called May 2nd for an Ivy WL and then 2 days later off another and a T10.

He chose the first Ivy and his Freshmen year won a departmental award.

You also need to remember by RD for unhooked kids the admittance rate is closer to 3-4% vs the 15-25% in ED. So these can be more highly competitive kids than those in the early round and much much fewer space.

OP here. Thank you this makes sense.

It also (kind of?) matches what a national private college counseling firm said about these kids being competitive, but for something in their profile (geography, major) which was already saturated and didn't fit a "bucket" in RD. They also mentioned major playing a big role in WL - meaning they will WL a lot of STEM, business, math, etc, kids in RD because they apply by a larger factor than humanities kids to T20 now?

They pointed out that a strong kid that doesn't have that something "special" (national awards/recognition, something really unusual or novel) will often be in this situation with multiple (4-6) RD WL after a rejection or deferral from REA, and an ED choice to a Brown, Northwestern, Cornell, or Dartmouth (or similar) can significantly improve the same kid's T20 chances. But it's often major dependent. So, in the early rounds, aim lower if a STEM or business major and aim higher if not? It's not clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pps are both so wrong.

They had institutional priorities they had to meet which didn’t leave enough room for the unhooked kids they really liked- those kids get WL’d. It does not mean they like someone better. They might have fought hard for these kids in committee.

We were told time and time again it’s an accomplishment to get WL at an Ivy, a T10, etc. It means you had everything there just wasn’t enough space at the Inn.

They don’t have large WLs. They might have an entering class of 1,500-1,700 only with 50-60k Applicants and put only 800–1k on the WL.

My kid was called May 2nd for an Ivy WL and then 2 days later off another and a T10.

He chose the first Ivy and his Freshmen year won a departmental award.

You also need to remember by RD for unhooked kids the admittance rate is closer to 3-4% vs the 15-25% in ED. So these can be more highly competitive kids than those in the early round and much much fewer space.

This is so true, I wish I had saved a great quote by our boarding school CC. Sentiment was none of this is personal, zero, they are filling a class and have institutional priorities we’ll never know year to year. That’s why I’ll never agree with the love the school that loves you back. Again, it’s not personal. One of mine got off a waitlist at an Ivy a few years back. They are crushing it there in every way and a major value add for the school overall. There are others that were admitted that struggle. It’s not a meritocratic system as we all know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pps are both so wrong.

They had institutional priorities they had to meet which didn’t leave enough room for the unhooked kids they really liked- those kids get WL’d. It does not mean they like someone better. They might have fought hard for these kids in committee.

We were told time and time again it’s an accomplishment to get WL at an Ivy, a T10, etc. It means you had everything there just wasn’t enough space at the Inn.

They don’t have large WLs. They might have an entering class of 1,500-1,700 only with 50-60k Applicants and put only 800–1k on the WL.

My kid was called May 2nd for an Ivy WL and then 2 days later off another and a T10.

He chose the first Ivy and his Freshmen year won a departmental award.

You also need to remember by RD for unhooked kids the admittance rate is closer to 3-4% vs the 15-25% in ED. So these can be more highly competitive kids than those in the early round and much much fewer space.

This is so true, I wish I had saved a great quote by our boarding school CC. Sentiment was none of this is personal, zero, they are filling a class and have institutional priorities we’ll never know year to year. That’s why I’ll never agree with the love the school that loves you back. Again, it’s not personal. One of mine got off a waitlist at an Ivy a few years back. They are crushing it there in every way and a major value add for the school overall. There are others that were admitted that struggle. It’s not a meritocratic system as we all know.

I’m the op you quoted- yes!

I told my kids “this isn’t personal, it’s business” “It’s a lottery, you earned the ticket (grades, test scores, etc)- but it’s random who gets picked”

It’s a much healthy way to go through it. Also- good neither had a clear favorite.

[Anonymous]

colleges dont admit in order of application. you can get cut on first reading (and a tiny few get admitted then), but most move to a second round. and then to "committee".