Experience with College Waitlist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read somewhere that you should probably just say no to the waitlist, it causes too much stress and ultimately false hope.

I'm new to this and not sure I understand this process. At what point do you "say no to waitlist"? Do they actually ask you? What would be the downside of being on a waitlist as opposed to being rejected?

Yes. You opt in or out of it.

Everyone has to submit a deposit by May 1 or they lose their spot. If fewer people than they need in the freshman class deposit, they start going to the waitlist. So, you've already deposited at a school #1 when you hear you're off the waitlist at a school #2. If you want to take the waitlist spot, you'll lose your deposit to school #1.

Some schools might take months to fill all their spots. It can be hard to get excited and plan for school #1 when the idea of school #2 is in the back of your head. This is why lots of students opt out.

Also, at some schools, housing and orientation is moving forward regardless, so the waitlist kid might miss out. Someone wrote about it above. That's not the case at all schools, but it makes sense to look into the housing and orientation calendar to see if it will be an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

what is the down side for staying on the waitlist longer than may 1st?

You lose your deposit and whatever else you paid for the other school you accepted.

And for some kids sitting on a waitlist hoping just delays the process of coming to terms with, and hopefully getting excited about, the school where you were admitted and placed a deposit.

Yes, this happened to my DD. She could not get excited about her May 1 deposit. Actually got off waitlist near the end of May and decided to go for it. Everyone had already picked roommates, housing was selections had been made, got last pick of orientation in addition to last pick of classes because of orientation. And to top it off she kind of got soured on the school because they waitlisted her so even after making the deposit, she really never got excited over the summer.

PP, I hope you're around to answer. So what happened to your DD?

[Anonymous]

DD was waitlisted at several schools and not super excited about her admits. Picked one, paid deposit and was getting excited about it. A few weeks later told us, "not that it matters, but I got into XX. I forgot to remove myself from the waitlist" (she had done so at other schools).

Anyway, she decided to take a second look and to go to the waitlist school. Yes, she was late to housing and had few choices for orientation, but one semester in she is very happy! All has worked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a way to jerk kids around. Mine was waitlisted at Franklin & Marshall. After the deadline for accepting another school, they called and dangled the likelihood of admission, but would not make that definite until he would commit to accepting. That approach helps their stats, but is not exactly scrupulous. I was proud of my child for telling them he was no longer interested.

Mine stayed on and said yes even though he had no attention. Got his acceptance letter and then said NO. Went ahead and messed with the stats. Only down side is that it probably meant some other kid was waiting another two weeks.

[Anonymous]

There are 6,000 right now on UVA's waitlist. 20,000 on UCLA's. These aren't true waitlists - they are soft denials. You should move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 6,000 right now on UVA's waitlist. 20,000 on UCLA's. These aren't true waitlists - they are soft denials. You should move on.

Statistically speaking you are correct. However, you just never know. My DS, after being deferred early action and then waitlisted, was offered a spot off the UVa waitlist last year on May 3rd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 6,000 right now on UVA's waitlist. 20,000 on UCLA's. These aren't true waitlists - they are soft denials. You should move on.

People do get off the waitlists, but the number of kids that they put on the waitlist is just ridiculous. It just isn't fair to the kids, it leaves some with a false hope.

[Anonymous]

Note Dean J's historical data:

http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2019/03/notes-for-uva23-waiting-list.html

How many people got offers to come off the waiting list in the past?

Here's over a decade of data, which should show you how unpredictable this part can be. I don't have a breakdown of where the offers were for these years.

2018 - 13
2017- 117
2016 - 360
2015- 402
2014- 42
2013 - 185
2012 - 284
2011 - 117
2010 - 240
2009 - 288
2008 - 60
2007 - 159
2006 - 145
2005 - 83

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Note Dean J's historical data:

http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2019/03/notes-for-uva23-waiting-list.html

How many people got offers to come off the waiting list in the past?

Here's over a decade of data, which should show you how unpredictable this part can be. I don't have a breakdown of where the offers were for these years.

2018 - 13
2017- 117
2016 - 360
2015- 402
2014- 42
2013 - 185
2012 - 284
2011 - 117
2010 - 240
2009 - 288
2008 - 60
2007 - 159
2006 - 145
2005 - 83

Interesting:

Number of qualified applicants offered a place on the waiting list: 5,972
Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 3,588

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 6,000 right now on UVA's waitlist. 20,000 on UCLA's. These aren't true waitlists - they are soft denials. You should move on.

People do get off the waitlists, but the number of kids that they put on the waitlist is just ridiculous. It just isn't fair to the kids, it leaves some with a false hope.

I completely agree. Princeton does the same (loads up the waitlist with soft denials). It's really not fair to the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Note Dean J's historical data:

http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2019/03/notes-for-uva23-waiting-list.html

How many people got offers to come off the waiting list in the past?

Here's over a decade of data, which should show you how unpredictable this part can be. I don't have a breakdown of where the offers were for these years.

2018 - 13
2017- 117
2016 - 360
2015- 402
2014- 42
2013 - 185
2012 - 284
2011 - 117
2010 - 240
2009 - 288
2008 - 60
2007 - 159
2006 - 145
2005 - 83

Interesting:

Number of qualified applicants offered a place on the waiting list: 5,972
Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 3,588

Still, only 13 off of waitlist from a pool of 3500 or 6000 is a slim chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our private many kids got off the waitlist at places like Northwestern, UVA, Norte Dame....I also know quite a few public school kids that got into UVA off the waitlist. If it’s your kids dream it can’t hurt to try - and get your counselor involved.

Last year, only 13 out of 6,000. UCLA and Berkeley are far worse. There's no reason for schools to have waitlists larger than the incoming class. No reason at all.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend whose kid was on the WM wait list. She got off midsummer, and enrolled there. She was happy.

The kid above who never got over the waitlist clearly needed to be grumpy for a while. No one cares if you were on the waitlist. You don’t wear a scarlet W. And even if she got last pick for something, who cares? I had what was probably the least desireable room on an entire Ivy League campus when I rptransfered. Didn’t ruin my life.

[Anonymous]

What would you do if your DC was WL at a top school but they had not visited it? We know someone who can make a push for DC but feel we'd need to take DC to look at it first to make sure DC would want to go there - if a spot opened up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would you do if your DC was WL at a top school but they had not visited it? We know someone who can make a push for DC but feel we'd need to take DC to look at it first to make sure DC would want to go there - if a spot opened up.

Mine was on a waitlist and we did everything we could to help her. We went to visit the school. She made contact with admissions in person. She followed up by email. She wrote two letters of intent/interest/updates. We had a friend who knew someone make a call. Her school counselor made a call. I would leave no stone unturned if this your DC's top choice. I think the two things that carried the most weight were her personal connection that she made in admissions and her school counselor calling.