Gonzaga waitlist movement?
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Anonymous
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My son was waitlisted at Gonzaga (and accepted at SJC which we are certainly very happy about). For various reasons we had hoped for Gonzaga for him and are still holding out hope that there may be a chance for admission (the message I assume all waitlisted boys received said something along the lines of "we are confident you can do the work but we don't have room for you right now").
Wondering how much movement there has been on the Gonzaga waitlist in recent years? Or does it vary from year to year? For what it's worth.....we are a practicing Catholic family and moved him from DCPS elementary to Catholic school for middle school. The school he is in/parish where I am a member is one of what's been referred to here as the traditional "feeder schools" for Gonzaga and I know there are a number of legacy kids and siblings who would have taken precedence over him (and I get that part, that's just the way the system works). 97 HSPT, decent but not fabulous grades, and application/essays that were thoughtful and well-written. |
Anonymous
| 97% on the HSPT and wait-listed? From a feeder school? I agree that it doesn’t add up. |
Anonymous
My son was on the waitlist last year and never got in. The school did send us a couple of communications saying that they had the largest ever number of applicants, the highest yield, etc, etc. So they kind of set the stage that there would be no movement which I thought was helpful as we looked at his other options. Having said that, with the latest Gonzaga scandal maybe the waitlist will move more this year... 
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Anonymous
It happens all the time. The k-8 will advocate for other students because they know your son got a spot in a different school. |
Anonymous
Well by “all the time” I hope you mean when the k-8 knows your son prefers a spot in a different school. |
Anonymous
| There is some movement after deposits are due. |
Anonymous
| If Gonzaga is your son's first choice, I would have him send an email to admissions stating Gonzaga is his first choice (email needs to come from your son.) A couple of years ago, my DS was waitlisted and he sent an email saying Gonzaga was his first choice. He got off the waitlist about a week later. I think it helped. When the Dean of Admissions contacted my DS about getting off the wait list, he specifically mentioned the email he wrote as a factor. |
Anonymous
No, sometimes they decide what is "the best fit" for your son. |
Anonymous
Ok. Does that happen “all the time” or “sometimes” as you’ve indicted both? |
Anonymous
| We were 97% HSPT from a feeder school and got rejected from Gonzaga with coaches pulling for us... |
Anonymous
It depends of: - how competitive is that year; - how many hard-to-sell kids the k-8 have that year; - FA; learning disabilities and more. |
Anonymous
So what’s really going on here? |
Anonymous
Seems obvious that there is a ton of legacy this year. |
Anonymous
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Teacher recommendations are important in Gonzaga’s admissions process as well. We know a legacy kid that was waitlisted (read: rejected) because he started to get into trouble in 8th grade. The teacher recs for this kid just weren’t there and no K-8 feeder school is going to risk its future applicant pool for a kid like that. So parents whose kids who are wondering what happened, maybe consider that.
As for getting off the waitlist, no boy is going to just get off the waitlist unless he’s expressed an intense desire to do so. I would have him handwrite a letter and deliver it in person to the Director of Admissions. Then have the principal of the school reach out to Gonzaga and have a teacher write another recommendation for him. In other words, gently pull out all the stops - but only if Gonzaga is really and truly your son’s first choice. |
Anonymous
I posted above about my DS getting off the waitlist a couple of years ago. I would second getting another recommendation. One of his teachers wrote a letter without us asking. She felt he was a great candidate and saw how upset he was that he didn't get in. |