What would you do if waitlisted at your top choice but accepted at another school?

[Anonymous]

first time applicant here and need your advice. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Several options. You can let the first school know but you can also go to the Accepted Students event and take another look at the other school. Many have found they like the second school equally.

[Anonymous]

We are in exactly this position and would also appreciate input. The other school is a VERY good choice, but DC is down on it and hoping for a miracle.

[Anonymous]

Also now. I've been assuming that you have to accept at the second choice school and then lose a deposit of some sort if later admitted off the waitlist to the top choice. But that's only an assumption. Real information would be great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:first time applicant here and need your advice. Thank you!

We went through this in the past. Truly. most of the top schools here are pretty good. Unless you are aiming for a certain crowd or want to be associated with a certain school, if the two schools are on equal footing, you cannot go wrong. Go where your DC will be happiest. We stressed over many schools for my DC a few years back. DC got into several. In looking back at it now, DC landed at the right fit school, but some of the others would have worked out as well and DC would have been just as happy. But the adjustment to other schools would have been a little different to make the fit better.

So I would say do not stress. Either school will be fine. Take a few days to revisit your thoughts on this once all of the noise has died down with everyone else's results. I would say be as objective as you can be (is it really the best fit for DC based on all factors?).

[Anonymous]

A deposit will be due at the school where you've been accepted before you have a chance of hearing from the school where you are waitlisted. If you don't pay the deposit, you will forfeit your spot. Is that a gamble you want to take?

[Anonymous]

This was us. We attended the accepted student events at the other schools, and DC let the WL school know it was first choice.

Then we told DC to assume the WL was a no, make a choice between the other four options (one of which was the neighborhood public - we always included that in the mix), and if anything changed, we'd revisit the decision. DC requested another shadow day at one of the schools, and that sealed the deal. We sent decline notices to the other accepted schools, paid the deposit on time, and waited to hear from the WL school until the last day when the contract was due. We didn't hear and so sent in the contract (on the final day). DC is very happy, and is clearly in the right place.

Never got off the WL, btw, though we heard that someone else did.

Congratulations on having choices.

[Anonymous]

The sanest path is to learn to love the school that admitted you. But you can stay on the other school’s waitlist and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The sanest path is to learn to love the school that admitted you. But you can stay on the other school’s waitlist and see what happens.

There is something to this advice. Having gone through this process, I really believe the schools are typically on target with which students will be right for their mix. It's not personal, but there is a certain fit per school. So I think that you have to trust the schools a bit that they are making solid choices out of many applicants, about who would be the best fit based on their offering because it's a two way street. They want the student to succeed as well.

That being said, if a school chooses your student and it was one of your top choices, then be flattered. I would take the bird in the hand and begin looking closely at what's great about that school and why they think I am so great a fit for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sanest path is to learn to love the school that admitted you. But you can stay on the other school’s waitlist and see what happens.

There is something to this advice. Having gone through this process, I really believe the schools are typically on target with which students will be right for their mix. It's not personal, but there is a certain fit per school. So I think that you have to trust the schools a bit that they are making solid choices out of many applicants, about who would be the best fit based on their offering because it's a two way street. They want the student to succeed as well.

That being said, if a school chooses your student and it was one of your top choices, then be flattered. I would take the bird in the hand and begin looking closely at what's great about that school and why they think I am so great a fit for them.

Wow, all the posts in this thread are so helpful! We are new to this area and don't know much about the private schools here. We simply picked the "top five" from some online lists for DC to apply to. DC was accepted at two and wled at the "big 3." Now I am thinking the two that accepted DC might be a better fit for DC as we are just a normal family with no connection to any of these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was us. We attended the accepted student events at the other schools, and DC let the WL school know it was first choice.

Then we told DC to assume the WL was a no, make a choice between the other four options (one of which was the neighborhood public - we always included that in the mix), and if anything changed, we'd revisit the decision. DC requested another shadow day at one of the schools, and that sealed the deal. We sent decline notices to the other accepted schools, paid the deposit on time, and waited to hear from the WL school until the last day when the contract was due. We didn't hear and so sent in the contract (on the final day). DC is very happy, and is clearly in the right place.

Never got off the WL, btw, though we heard that someone else did.

Congratulations on having choices.

OP here. Thank you all for your inputs! Now I really don't know if we should write to our top choice to show our continued interest (I heard this sometimes helps) or just stay on the wl quietly...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was us. We attended the accepted student events at the other schools, and DC let the WL school know it was first choice.

Then we told DC to assume the WL was a no, make a choice between the other four options (one of which was the neighborhood public - we always included that in the mix), and if anything changed, we'd revisit the decision. DC requested another shadow day at one of the schools, and that sealed the deal. We sent decline notices to the other accepted schools, paid the deposit on time, and waited to hear from the WL school until the last day when the contract was due. We didn't hear and so sent in the contract (on the final day). DC is very happy, and is clearly in the right place.

Never got off the WL, btw, though we heard that someone else did.

Congratulations on having choices.

OP here. Thank you all for your inputs! Now I really don't know if we should write to our top choice to show our continued interest (I heard this sometimes helps) or just stay on the wl quietly...

Think you should express your continued interest. But it might not make any difference in terms of a spot for your child. It’s not a one to one thing – depending on students that don’t accept, they’ll be looking to round out the class with kids with specific attributes.

[Anonymous]

This was us a few years ago, though I would qualify it by saying we only applied to schools that we really liked for DC - so the second choice was still a great one for us. Fast forward, DC just soared at this school and the other school is now having lots of faculty turnover and angst. We feel very fortunate that things ended up as they did because we are incredibly happy and love seeing our child thrive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was us. We attended the accepted student events at the other schools, and DC let the WL school know it was first choice.

Then we told DC to assume the WL was a no, make a choice between the other four options (one of which was the neighborhood public - we always included that in the mix), and if anything changed, we'd revisit the decision. DC requested another shadow day at one of the schools, and that sealed the deal. We sent decline notices to the other accepted schools, paid the deposit on time, and waited to hear from the WL school until the last day when the contract was due. We didn't hear and so sent in the contract (on the final day). DC is very happy, and is clearly in the right place.

Never got off the WL, btw, though we heard that someone else did.

Congratulations on having choices.

OP here. Thank you all for your inputs! Now I really don't know if we should write to our top choice to show our continued interest (I heard this sometimes helps) or just stay on the wl quietly...

Think you should express your continued interest. But it might not make any difference in terms of a spot for your child. It’s not a one to one thing – depending on students that don’t accept, they’ll be looking to round out the class with kids with specific attributes.

I agree with this poster. We were w/l at one of our top choices but the admissions officer was clear on letting us know that even if one of the admits decline the offer of acceptance, that our chances were not that great due to our request for fa. In other words, enough fa had to be freed up from declines to even make our DC's admission possible from the w/l. And there are other factors after that which they had to navigate. We quietly waited on the w/l while making another top choice (that we actually ended up at and absolutely love for our DC. DC loves it too). Our niece just went through this also. Was wait listed at a college. But they had a nice savings fund to take care of the first two years and demonstrated little need. Niece moved off the w/l shortly thereafter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was us. We attended the accepted student events at the other schools, and DC let the WL school know it was first choice.

Then we told DC to assume the WL was a no, make a choice between the other four options (one of which was the neighborhood public - we always included that in the mix), and if anything changed, we'd revisit the decision. DC requested another shadow day at one of the schools, and that sealed the deal. We sent decline notices to the other accepted schools, paid the deposit on time, and waited to hear from the WL school until the last day when the contract was due. We didn't hear and so sent in the contract (on the final day). DC is very happy, and is clearly in the right place.

Never got off the WL, btw, though we heard that someone else did.

Congratulations on having choices.

OP here. Thank you all for your inputs! Now I really don't know if we should write to our top choice to show our continued interest (I heard this sometimes helps) or just stay on the wl quietly...

Think you should express your continued interest. But it might not make any difference in terms of a spot for your child. It’s not a one to one thing – depending on students that don’t accept, they’ll be looking to round out the class with kids with specific attributes.

I agree with this poster. We were w/l at one of our top choices but the admissions officer was clear on letting us know that even if one of the admits decline the offer of acceptance, that our chances were not that great due to our request for fa. In other words, enough fa had to be freed up from declines to even make our DC's admission possible from the w/l. And there are other factors after that which they had to navigate. We quietly waited on the w/l while making another top choice (that we actually ended up at and absolutely love for our DC. DC loves it too). Our niece just went through this also. Was wait listed at a college. But they had a nice savings fund to take care of the first two years and demonstrated little need. Niece moved off the w/l shortly thereafter.

We were full pay and didn't get off the WL either.