Ivy Waitlist

[Anonymous]

Waitlist is often a form of "soft rejection" for legacy applicants, children of donors, faculty kids and so on.

My DS is waitlisted at an Ivy, and admissions officer actually called my ex (a ridiculously active alum) to say he has a very good chance of getting in if his end of semester grades are strong. Ex of course called DS to tell him HE MUST GET STRAIGHT A GRADES THIS SPRING.

I told DS (who is happily planning to attend a top 25 college about which he is excited, and has no real interest in the Ivy) to ignore this, relax, and enjoy his spring.

But this is to say: the waitlists are not "fair" either. My DS probably won't get in off the waitlist— he not gonna have straight As this semester, that's for sure— and is unlikely to accept a waitlist offer in the unlikely event it is extended. But I assume many similarly situated kids would.

All this is to say: if it's an Ivy, and you aren't hooked, assume your child's WL acceptance odds are low.

I know, this sucks. It is just one sucky piece of an incredibly arbitrary, unfair and generally sucky process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever accept if a child didn’t submit a LOCI? DC is on the waitlist for Princeton and hasn’t submitted one.

Why didn't they submit? This seems like step one.

Received a full ride to another great college after accepting a spot on Princeton’s waitlist. I just wonder if they can still be accepted for my bragging rights (the child doesn’t care). I also wonder if all the kids (especially the first generation ones) know to submit a LOCI. It doesn’t seem that colleges explicitly instruct the waitlisted kids to submit those.

My kid got waitlisted at an ivy and didn’t get a full ride to another great college. It burns to know that people like you are staying on wait lists just so you (the parent!) can have bragging rights if they call you. Why not let Your kid withdraw from the Princeton waitlist so some kid who might actually go will have a better chance?

I was thinking the same.

Wouldn’t Princeton just move to the next name on the list? It’s not like they’d say “well Jimmy said no and even though we have these couple hundred other kids on the list I think we’re good here”

Their kid got a full ride to another great college. How much bragging rights does one person need?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waitlist is often a form of "soft rejection" for legacy applicants, children of donors, faculty kids and so on.

My DS is none of the above and is waitlisted. So this is not accurate at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever accept if a child didn’t submit a LOCI? DC is on the waitlist for Princeton and hasn’t submitted one.

Why didn't they submit? This seems like step one.

Received a full ride to another great college after accepting a spot on Princeton’s waitlist. I just wonder if they can still be accepted for my bragging rights (the child doesn’t care). I also wonder if all the kids (especially the first generation ones) know to submit a LOCI. It doesn’t seem that colleges explicitly instruct the waitlisted kids to submit those.

My kid got waitlisted at an ivy and didn’t get a full ride to another great college. It burns to know that people like you are staying on wait lists just so you (the parent!) can have bragging rights if they call you. Why not let Your kid withdraw from the Princeton waitlist so some kid who might actually go will have a better chance?

I was thinking the same.

Wouldn’t Princeton just move to the next name on the list? It’s not like they’d say “well Jimmy said no and even though we have these couple hundred other kids on the list I think we’re good here”

Their kid got a full ride to another great college. How much bragging rights does one person need?

That’s a different point. It’s not clear that it has any actual impact so if some kid wants to stroke their ego it might be tasteless but it seems harmless

[Anonymous]

Cornell confirmed they will be removing some kids off their waitlist for acceptance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever accept if a child didn’t submit a LOCI? DC is on the waitlist for Princeton and hasn’t submitted one.

Why didn't they submit? This seems like step one.

Received a full ride to another great college after accepting a spot on Princeton’s waitlist. I just wonder if they can still be accepted for my bragging rights (the child doesn’t care). I also wonder if all the kids (especially the first generation ones) know to submit a LOCI. It doesn’t seem that colleges explicitly instruct the waitlisted kids to submit those.

My kid got waitlisted at an ivy and didn’t get a full ride to another great college. It burns to know that people like you are staying on wait lists just so you (the parent!) can have bragging rights if they call you. Why not let Your kid withdraw from the Princeton waitlist so some kid who might actually go will have a better chance?

I was thinking the same.

Wouldn’t Princeton just move to the next name on the list? It’s not like they’d say “well Jimmy said no and even though we have these couple hundred other kids on the list I think we’re good here”

Their kid got a full ride to another great college. How much bragging rights does one person need?

That’s a different point. It’s not clear that it has any actual impact so if some kid wants to stroke their ego it might be tasteless but it seems harmless

Tasteless PP here. The kid is too busy to care and would be annoyed at me if I brought it up. Would Princeton truly accept without a LOCI, if they have equally qualified students who demonstrated interest? Now that a lot of students updated their social media profiles with the names of colleges they committed to, would a college check their profiles before taking them off the waitlist? For example, if a child announced that they are going to Harvard or MIT, would Princeton still accept them from the waitlist? Just wondering if a child who posted a non-Ivy/non-T10 acceptance will have a higher chance of being accepted by Princeton. Or would they think: "They are going to VA Tech, apparently weren't accepted by any top college, so we don't want them either"?

[Anonymous]

COVID has likely impeded some colleges ability to draw from waitlists. There are a lot of super sophomores and super juniors at Ivys right now - students who took leave or gap years during COVID, which means the overall student class size is unusually bloated with kids who did not or will not graduate with their cohort. That puts a squeeze on housing, class size etc. Until these students work their way through to graduation these schools have to tighten their waitlists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waitlist is often a form of "soft rejection" for legacy applicants, children of donors, faculty kids and so on.

My DS is waitlisted at an Ivy, and admissions officer actually called my ex (a ridiculously active alum) to say he has a very good chance of getting in if his end of semester grades are strong. Ex of course called DS to tell him HE MUST GET STRAIGHT A GRADES THIS SPRING.

I told DS (who is happily planning to attend a top 25 college about which he is excited, and has no real interest in the Ivy) to ignore this, relax, and enjoy his spring.

But this is to say: the waitlists are not "fair" either. My DS probably won't get in off the waitlist— he not gonna have straight As this semester, that's for sure— and is unlikely to accept a waitlist offer in the unlikely event it is extended. But I assume many similarly situated kids would.

All this is to say: if it's an Ivy, and you aren't hooked, assume your child's WL acceptance odds are low.

I know, this sucks. It is just one sucky piece of an incredibly arbitrary, unfair and generally sucky process.

Donald Trump’s son is my age. I remember hearing that he was waitlisted at Penn and Donald Trump had to donate a significant amount and he got off the waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitlist is often a form of "soft rejection" for legacy applicants, children of donors, faculty kids and so on.

My DS is waitlisted at an Ivy, and admissions officer actually called my ex (a ridiculously active alum) to say he has a very good chance of getting in if his end of semester grades are strong. Ex of course called DS to tell him HE MUST GET STRAIGHT A GRADES THIS SPRING.

I told DS (who is happily planning to attend a top 25 college about which he is excited, and has no real interest in the Ivy) to ignore this, relax, and enjoy his spring.

But this is to say: the waitlists are not "fair" either. My DS probably won't get in off the waitlist— he not gonna have straight As this semester, that's for sure— and is unlikely to accept a waitlist offer in the unlikely event it is extended. But I assume many similarly situated kids would.

All this is to say: if it's an Ivy, and you aren't hooked, assume your child's WL acceptance odds are low.

I know, this sucks. It is just one sucky piece of an incredibly arbitrary, unfair and generally sucky process.

Donald Trump’s son is my age. I remember hearing that he was waitlisted at Penn and Donald Trump had to donate a significant amount and he got off the waitlist.

How do you think Trump got in to UPenn in the first place?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wait list is a certificate of merit. You were close, but you didn't win.

''

Not necessarily. It really depends on the school and how well they predicted yield. As PPs have said, I would go to the CC threads for individual colleges and also reference the CDS for the past few years. Last year's CDS will probably be bad because many schools underestimated who would accept admission (of admitted students) and overenrolled. Things could change if they corrected their calculations. Who knows.

But, I don't get why people continually like to weigh in saying WL is just a "you came close." It is what it says it is, a wait list. Some places have likely little movement. Some years calculations have been off. It is fair to say that they clearly WL far more people than they will ever possibly admit.

For the Ivies specially, it’s mostly true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The wait list is a certificate of merit. You were close, but you didn't win.

''

Not necessarily. It really depends on the school and how well they predicted yield. As PPs have said, I would go to the CC threads for individual colleges and also reference the CDS for the past few years. Last year's CDS will probably be bad because many schools underestimated who would accept admission (of admitted students) and overenrolled. Things could change if they corrected their calculations. Who knows.

But, I don't get why people continually like to weigh in saying WL is just a "you came close." It is what it says it is, a wait list. Some places have likely little movement. Some years calculations have been off. It is fair to say that they clearly WL far more people than they will ever possibly admit.

For the Ivies specially, it’s mostly true.

*specifically (Autocorrect)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever accept if a child didn’t submit a LOCI? DC is on the waitlist for Princeton and hasn’t submitted one.

Why didn't they submit? This seems like step one.

Received a full ride to another great college after accepting a spot on Princeton’s waitlist. I just wonder if they can still be accepted for my bragging rights (the child doesn’t care). I also wonder if all the kids (especially the first generation ones) know to submit a LOCI. It doesn’t seem that colleges explicitly instruct the waitlisted kids to submit those.

Ew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever accept if a child didn’t submit a LOCI? DC is on the waitlist for Princeton and hasn’t submitted one.

Why didn't they submit? This seems like step one.

Received a full ride to another great college after accepting a spot on Princeton’s waitlist. I just wonder if they can still be accepted for my bragging rights (the child doesn’t care). I also wonder if all the kids (especially the first generation ones) know to submit a LOCI. It doesn’t seem that colleges explicitly instruct the waitlisted kids to submit those.

My kid got waitlisted at an ivy and didn’t get a full ride to another great college. It burns to know that people like you are staying on wait lists just so you (the parent!) can have bragging rights if they call you. Why not let Your kid withdraw from the Princeton waitlist so some kid who might actually go will have a better chance?

I was thinking the same.

Huh? So you think when PP’s kid declines, the school says “oh well, PP’s kid turned us down. Guess we just won’t fill that spot?”

FFS, people. Think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever accept if a child didn’t submit a LOCI? DC is on the waitlist for Princeton and hasn’t submitted one.

Why didn't they submit? This seems like step one.

Received a full ride to another great college after accepting a spot on Princeton’s waitlist. I just wonder if they can still be accepted for my bragging rights (the child doesn’t care). I also wonder if all the kids (especially the first generation ones) know to submit a LOCI. It doesn’t seem that colleges explicitly instruct the waitlisted kids to submit those.

My kid got waitlisted at an ivy and didn’t get a full ride to another great college. It burns to know that people like you are staying on wait lists just so you (the parent!) can have bragging rights if they call you. Why not let Your kid withdraw from the Princeton waitlist so some kid who might actually go will have a better chance?

I was thinking the same.

Huh? So you think when PP’s kid declines, the school says “oh well, PP’s kid turned us down. Guess we just won’t fill that spot?”

FFS, people. Think.

I don't that that's it. It just prolongs the process for the kids who ultimately want the spot. It sounds like the OP's kid has totally moved on and won't take the spot, but she is keeping this going for her bragging rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitlist is often a form of "soft rejection" for legacy applicants, children of donors, faculty kids and so on.

My DS is waitlisted at an Ivy, and admissions officer actually called my ex (a ridiculously active alum) to say he has a very good chance of getting in if his end of semester grades are strong. Ex of course called DS to tell him HE MUST GET STRAIGHT A GRADES THIS SPRING.

I told DS (who is happily planning to attend a top 25 college about which he is excited, and has no real interest in the Ivy) to ignore this, relax, and enjoy his spring.

But this is to say: the waitlists are not "fair" either. My DS probably won't get in off the waitlist— he not gonna have straight As this semester, that's for sure— and is unlikely to accept a waitlist offer in the unlikely event it is extended. But I assume many similarly situated kids would.

All this is to say: if it's an Ivy, and you aren't hooked, assume your child's WL acceptance odds are low.

I know, this sucks. It is just one sucky piece of an incredibly arbitrary, unfair and generally sucky process.

Donald Trump’s son is my age. I remember hearing that he was waitlisted at Penn and Donald Trump had to donate a significant amount and he got off the waitlist.

How do you think Trump got in to UPenn in the first place?

You made it sound like Penn would prefer most likely a plain nerd over Donald Trump? Like it or not, Trump is much more impactful to the country where half of the population think he is right. Penn would congratulate itself for the right decision that they did not solely rely on his test scores to admit him. If you could get so many people to agree with you, every school would regret they did not have you. If anything, it's a success story for Penn.