Waitlisted

[Anonymous]

I think it's weird to get into an endless debate about if a waitlist = soft rejection, missed the lotto, etc. The outcome is the same. The student do not have an acceptance to school. They are going to need to accept somewhere else or they risk not having a school to attend in the fall.
Now, from school to school, you can look at the stats and see if it's a school with LOTS of movement and people being pulled from the waitlist, or very little movement.
Bottom line, it's time to get pragmatic, and quit speculating on what led to the waitlist status.

[Anonymous]

To go back to OP's question – you seemed a little unsure about the timing of waitlists and how that works with making commitments to a school. You should make a deposit before May 1 with your favorite school that DID accept you ... and then, if another school takes you off the waitlist later in May or June or July, you can let the first school know that you're giving up your spot. (And then they'll contact somebody on their waitlist with news that a spot has opened...)

This does mean you lose the deposit at the first school, but you get into the (presumably more desirable) waitlisting school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To go back to OP's question – you seemed a little unsure about the timing of waitlists and how that works with making commitments to a school. You should make a deposit before May 1 with your favorite school that DID accept you ... and then, if another school takes you off the waitlist later in May or June or July, you can let the first school know that you're giving up your spot. (And then they'll contact somebody on their waitlist with news that a spot has opened...)

This does mean you lose the deposit at the first school, but you get into the (presumably more desirable) waitlisting school.

And also: Make peace with the fact that, at most high-ranked schools, getting off a waitlist is super-unlikely. Best to concentrate on the great aspects of the top school that did choose you, and get excited about being there. Pining over an unlikely option isn't a fun way to spend your summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's weird to get into an endless debate about if a waitlist = soft rejection, missed the lotto, etc. The outcome is the same. The student do not have an acceptance to school. They are going to need to accept somewhere else or they risk not having a school to attend in the fall.
Now, from school to school, you can look at the stats and see if it's a school with LOTS of movement and people being pulled from the waitlist, or very little movement.
Bottom line, it's time to get pragmatic, and quit speculating on what led to the waitlist status.

+100

my 18 yrs old kid managed to handle it this way on their own. Wonder if some the angst around here is just the parents or truly the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are several students waitlisted. Any idea when they will clear as May 1 is the deadline for enrolling.

How DYK that several students are WLed? FWIW, WLs operate fairly similarly regardless if they are for preschool or college: the more competitive/desired the school, the less likely the list will move. Most professionals I know advise to fall in love with the place that loves you. Your DC may end up being surprised with an admit, but the odds are that it will not happen.

GL to your DC(s)!

Well duh. Tons of kids being put on waitlists these days, due to everyone applying to more schools than before, often test optional - it means they punched above their weight and it didn’t work out.

Getting on WL doesn’t mean they punched above their weight, it means they were qualified but didn’t win the admissions lottery. Punched above weight would have just been flat-out denied.

Sorry, no. They would have been accepted if the college had really wanted them. I understand you're trying to rationalize a waitlist situation, but being waitlisted means the student was not quite interesting enough, and in 99% (sometimes 99.99%) of cases, it's a rejection.

My senior has been deferred and rejected from his reach schools, so I know that feels like. But he was also offered merit aid at lower tier colleges. Those are the colleges who really want him. Best to focus on the colleges who want your kid.

Thanks. I'm the PP who was the recipient of the "well duh" response. The OP didn't seem particularly informed given their statement, so I was simply trying to offer insight based on insights gleaned over the years (not my own DCs, but others' DCs who've had this happen from preschool through college). Folks rarely get off WLs and applicants don't move in numerical order on the list. If a full pay turns down admission for another school, then the AOs will probably go to another full pay student, who may not be next on the list. Yes, best to focus on the colleges who want your kid.

GL to your senior for the rest of the spring as well as for next school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To go back to OP's question – you seemed a little unsure about the timing of waitlists and how that works with making commitments to a school. You should make a deposit before May 1 with your favorite school that DID accept you ... and then, if another school takes you off the waitlist later in May or June or July, you can let the first school know that you're giving up your spot. (And then they'll contact somebody on their waitlist with news that a spot has opened...)

This does mean you lose the deposit at the first school, but you get into the (presumably more desirable) waitlisting school.

And also: Make peace with the fact that, at most high-ranked schools, getting off a waitlist is super-unlikely. Best to concentrate on the great aspects of the top school that did choose you, and get excited about being there. Pining over an unlikely option isn't a fun way to spend your summer.

+1 DC just got waitlisted at Rice and was talking about staying on the WL. I looked up last year's stats and of over 2000 kids on WL, 2 students got off.

[Anonymous]

Number of wait-listed students admitted in the latest data available:

86 (UVA), 44 (Berkeley), 35 (CMU), 0 (UMD), 0 (Caltech), 25 (MIT), 302 (GMU), 77 (U Michigan), 2458 (Virginia Tech)

[Anonymous]

Do your child a favor and consider waitlists a nice pat on the back (or soft rejection if you will). Move on to the schools that accepted your child and start to fall in like/love with one of them. There are not too many who get pulled off the waitlist, so it is a recipe for angst to "hang on" too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Number of wait-listed students admitted in the latest data available:

86 (UVA), 44 (Berkeley), 35 (CMU), 0 (UMD), 0 (Caltech), 25 (MIT), 302 (GMU), 77 (U Michigan), 2458 (Virginia Tech)

0 more or less means they actually accepted too many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Number of wait-listed students admitted in the latest data available:

86 (UVA), 44 (Berkeley), 35 (CMU), 0 (UMD), 0 (Caltech), 25 (MIT), 302 (GMU), 77 (U Michigan), 2458 (Virginia Tech)

this can't be accurate b/c I know someone in class of 2026 who got into Caltech from waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Number of wait-listed students admitted in the latest data available:

86 (UVA), 44 (Berkeley), 35 (CMU), 0 (UMD), 0 (Caltech), 25 (MIT), 302 (GMU), 77 (U Michigan), 2458 (Virginia Tech)

Link for these numbers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Number of wait-listed students admitted in the latest data available:

86 (UVA), 44 (Berkeley), 35 (CMU), 0 (UMD), 0 (Caltech), 25 (MIT), 302 (GMU), 77 (U Michigan), 2458 (Virginia Tech)

this can't be accurate b/c I know someone in class of 2026 who got into Caltech from waitlist.

It's probably from 2025. Some schools have common data set available from last year and some only have the year before. I think this is from class of 2025 for MIT too because MIT let 0 off waitlist last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Number of wait-listed students admitted in the latest data available:

86 (UVA), 44 (Berkeley), 35 (CMU), 0 (UMD), 0 (Caltech), 25 (MIT), 302 (GMU), 77 (U Michigan), 2458 (Virginia Tech)

Link for these numbers?

I'm not the PP, but I'm sure s/he got it from the common data set for each of these schools. Unfortunately, not all schools (e.g., UChicago) release this data.