Waitlist advice... what should DS do?
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Anonymous
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DS is waitlisted at an ivy... its his top choice and he would go if admitted.
Has anyone else been through this? what did you and your kids do to get off the waitlist? Should DS contact profs in his areas of interest? What should he say? What other methods could be used to separate him from the rest of the pack and get him off of this waitlist? |
Anonymous
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There are at many students on the wait list. Fewer than 30 (if that many) will be called. The best thing to do is to let it go in his mind and embrace one of the schools he got into.
Don’t have him contact a professor, unless your kid has a legitimate working relationship with said professor. He should contact his admission officer. Let them know that it is still his too choice school. Has anything materially changed since the app was submitted? Pursued an independent project he can describe and have validated? Played a key role in securing a championship? If anything like that applies he should ask their college counselor Sometimes a college counselor will call and provide this info and make a case. |
Anonymous
| I think he should assume he’s not going there and figure out next choice. |
Anonymous
Yup. And if it works out, you will probably have already made a housing deposit at the other place, which you will lose. |
Anonymous
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Have you looked at the Common Data Set for this school to see how many got off the wait list in previous years? That fact can be sobering. Your DS can ask his GC to contact the admission office with updated grades and/or accomplishments. Your student could also email the admission office with your continued interest in this school.
As a parent, I would keep highlighting the accepted school choice. Wait list is a total long shot. |
Anonymous
| Don't hold anything back -- Contact admissions. Have your high school counselor contact admissions. Re-visit the school. Write a letter saying you will go if admitted, talk about your interest, update on everything that you have done since you applied, and tell them how you will add to the school community. Do you know someone on the board or an affluent alumni, have them contact the school on your behalf. Still a long shot, but everything will help. |
Anonymous
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While wait list is a long shot, you still need to show that you will 100% matriculate if you get off the list. Send recent scores and awards. Even send another recommendation. Have your GC update with this is your top school. Keep in touch with your regional rep.
That all said, move onto the second favorite. Dive into it. Put the deposit down on April 30th and be happy that is the school they are going to. If (and it is a huge if) the Ivy calls, you will cancel the other school, forfeit your deposit, and have 48hrs to put a deposit on the ivy. I have known a few kids who received calls as late as July. Most of them end up not going to their initial top school because they already mentally invested in the second school and realize how great it is. I only know of one who moved and she transferred the following year. So go all in, but have your heart set on a place that WANTS your child now. |
Anonymous
| Not the OP, but is it typical to have only a 48-hour response period if a student gets off a waitlist? |
Anonymous
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My kid is waitlisted at Harvard.
Our advice from counselors has been to write a well written letter of continued interest with any academic updates. Additional rec letters could be uploaded as well. As for “going all out”, I think you need to be careful to not annoy or turn off the admissions office. They are just people too. This is not the case where the noisiest applicant gets in. They have their strategic interests and will fill those spots according to their needs. No one except for them know what those needs are. My kid is excited about the alternative college. So upload your letters and move on mentally. |
Anonymous
| I think the best thing that we did was to go on a visit and meet the rep one on one. |
Anonymous
This. No need to contact the school if they historically take 3 out of 5000. |
Anonymous
I wonder if that's the right thing to do given the Varsity Blues scandal. I know it's a traditional back door approach but perhaps will be less welcome now and maybe even seen as a negative. |
Anonymous
| How do colleges usually contact an applicant to give them an offer of admission off the waitlist? By phone? By email? Do they contact the student directly or the parents? |
Anonymous
They want to reach you as soon as possible to confirm your interest because if you say NO they want to move down the list and contact the next person on the list. It usually goes like this -- the call you (they will try all numbers given on the application). They ask you if you are still interested and if you say yes, they tell you that you have made it off the waitlist and then they give you 1-2 weeks to make your deposit. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don't hold anything back -- Contact admissions. Have your high school counselor contact admissions. Re-visit the school. Write a letter saying you will go if admitted, talk about your interest, update on everything that you have done since you applied, and tell them how you will add to the school community.[b] Do you know someone on the board or an affluent alumni, have them contact the school on your behalf. [/b]Still a long shot, but everything will help.[/quote]
I wonder if that's the right thing to do given the Varsity Blues scandal. I know it's a traditional back door approach but perhaps will be less welcome now and maybe even seen as a negative.[/quote] No... i feel like a board member rec/ advocacy is totally different from bribing athletics coaches |