The Annual Waitlist / Waiting Pool Reality Check Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does a 5 star athlete need to do to get off the waiting list?

Has there ever been a true 5 star athlete on the waiting list?

By definition a 5 star is an athlete who is clearly one of the best at their sport and would have a tremendous impact on their sport. Sort of like Caleb Williams at Gonzaga or Saddiq Bey at Sidwell.

If they are really a 5 Star, they are going to have multiple offers and won't have to worry about being on a Waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Of course not. If someone is a real five star recruit, there are 22 in the country in football for context purposes, you decide where you go because you will have offers from many places.

[Anonymous]

I’m just guessing, but I suspect the person who posted that has a very good athlete that the school has expressed a lot of interest but has suggested they might not be able to admit them for other reasons (e.g. academics).

So having been told their son or daughter may not be admitted they suspect they might be waitlisted.

I think that’s unlikely. But, when it comes to Admissions, no one really knows or can predict.

[Anonymous]

The school where I coach has waitlisted at least two kids I would call five star athletes during my tenure. And there have been plenty of others who were above average athletes but below average students. The school won’t bend on academic standards and while it’s frustrating from a recruiting perspective, it makes a lot of sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school where I coach has waitlisted at least two kids I would call five star athletes during my tenure. And there have been plenty of others who were above average athletes but below average students. The school won’t bend on academic standards and while it’s frustrating from a recruiting perspective, it makes a lot of sense.

Waitlisting an outstanding athlete (5 Star) wouldn’t seem to make a lot of sense at a school like Potomac.

Wouldn’t there be other privates who would accept them on the first pass? So waitlisting them would be the same thing as rejecting them.

They would be in great demand at schools with lower academic requirements and maybe even lower price tags. They could easily see this as a better situation for them. Starting with them not being the least academically talented in each of their classes.

The WCAC schools are at the top of the pyramid athletically. They have the best athletes, play against the stiffest competition and have the most visibility to the public and to the coaching staffs at colleges.

What magic words could a coach at a smaller, academically more select school be able to say to a 5 Star athlete that would convince them to not commit to ST Johns or Paul VI and instead wait to see if they got off the waitlist?

[Anonymous]

I get the wait pool vs waitlist thing but do some schools still kind of have an idea of kids that might get in vs not (has any parent ever heard from a school that they're right on the edge?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the wait pool vs waitlist thing but do some schools still kind of have an ideaf that might get in vs not (has any parent ever heard from a school that they're right on the edge?)

Given the uncertainty that surrounds the Admissions process, an Admissions person would be crazy to suggest someone is "right on the edge". If it didn't work out the way the Admissions person thought it might, then they are going to have a very unhappy parent. And that has a way of coming back to bite them. It's far better for them to be completely non-committal because they really don't know who is going to accept their offers, what other people on the WL are going to do and what last minute direction they might get from the powers-that-be on specific applications.

You would be better off handicapping your own chances after finding out what has happened to your child's peers. For example, if you are coming from a feeder and they have already offered admission to an unusually large number, you might want to consider that.

Or you might want to have your HOS reach out and get an informal guess from the Admissions Director. The HOS may be willing to do that and the AD may be willing to share with the HIS. But again, there's almost no upside for the AD to do this and lots of downside.

[Anonymous]

If your child is in public school, or you are financially able to accept an admissions offer after the June 1 contract deadline, it’s a good idea to let the school know that.

The pool of applicants able to take a waitlist spot after the June 1 contract deadline is small. Although it’s rare for spots to open up, it can happen, and it’s good to let the school know that you would still be available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child is in public school, or you are financially able to accept an admissions offer after the June 1 contract deadline, it’s a good idea to let the school know that.

The pool of applicants able to take a waitlist spot after the June 1 contract deadline is small. Although it’s rare for spots to open up, it can happen, and it’s good to let the school know that you would still be available.

This is great advice I've never seen before - thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the wait pool vs waitlist thing but do some schools still kind of have an idea of kids that might get in vs not (has any parent ever heard from a school that they're right on the edge?)

No one is “on the edge.” Either they get it or they didn’t. If they are waitlisted, the factors that gauge their probability of acceptance is how closely they resemble the profile and attributes of the kids who exceeded their projections of declining admission. If they projected a 70% yield and ended up at 65% and each of the Asian-American tuba players who live in Virginia chose to go elsewhere, your tuba-playing kid from Alexandria stands a decent chance. If your kid is a trumpet player in Bethesda, their chances are slim.

Is this in exaggeration and caricature? Yes, but the concept is accurate.

[Anonymous]

Can we keep actual students' names off this thread (and generally off DCUM threads)? Even if it's for a good reason, it's not OK sharing names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we keep actual students' names off this thread (and generally off DCUM threads)? Even if it's for a good reason, it's not OK sharing names.

Was there an actual student name on here somewhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I don't have admissions data to back this up, I would venture to say that the top schools likely don't over-admit because there is a higher likelihood for someone to accept.

This is mathematically impossible unless you assume there are literally zero applicants getting admitted to multiple top schools.

This is, of course, totally incorrect. It's akin to saying that Harvard or Yale as 100% yield. They don't. Harvard has like an 80% yield, Yale 70%. Safe to say that St. Albans, GDS, Sidwell, Maret, Holton, NCS, Holton, Potomac all have yields substantially below 80% and probably closer to 50-60%. Again, many families are applying to many of these and getting into more than one.

Can't speak to the others, but as to Potomac this is incorrect. It has a very high yield - well over 80%. (I believe it is approximately 90%, if I recall correctly.)

Last year they had I believe 98% yield or something like that for K, so the K classes are marginally bigger than normal which is now impacting 1st where they normally have more slots when they expand from 16 to 18 kids/class. I may have the numbers off but that’s the idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got off two waiting lists at two big 5 in NW so it’s not impossible….

The OP didn’t say it was impossible. They said it was very unlikely.

I think posters who suggest otherwise based on their own experience are doing anxious people a disservice.

Well some of us are glass half full and some aren’t. You sound pessimistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got off two waiting lists at two big 5 in NW so it’s not impossible….

The OP didn’t say it was impossible. They said it was very unlikely.

I think posters who suggest otherwise based on their own experience are doing anxious people a disservice.

Well some of us are glass half full and some aren’t. You sound pessimistic.

In this case, the glass is only 5% full.

Seems to me that if someone is waitlisted and really don't know what that means, giving them a better sense of just how the long odds are would be helpful.

It's almost certainly time to move on to Plan B. Or you can dawdle about and listen to people who beat the odds