Reply to The Annual Waitlist / Waiting Pool Reality Check Thread

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[quote=Anonymous]As we approach decisions, it seems like a good time to revive the annual discussion about waitlists and pools. A few bullets:

•	These are pools, not lists. There is not a rank of students. The schools use the pools to fill an under-yielded segment of their desired class. For example, a first chair violin or a starting quarterback will be tapped if they have a need for such a profile. 
o	You do not have a # on a waiting list, because there is no ranked list.
•	Schools are very good at managing yield. They know from years of experience that for every 100 kids that they admit, XX% will enroll.  They will also accept more kids than they have slots, knowing that no one has 100% yield.  If a spot opens for a student in the waiting pool, it is only because of an anomaly in their predictive analytics and it is rare.
•	Per above, someone saying  “my kid is turning down a slot, so there is a slot open” is simply an incorrect assumption and provides false hope to those in the pool. 
•	A great many schools use the “waiting pool” as a soft rejection.  Many do not reject anyone and simply offers a slot on the waiting pool to anyone who chooses.
•	A very very very very very small percentage of students get off of the list. There are, of course, anecdotal circumstances of kids getting the call, but they are few and far between.
•	The timing of a possible waiting pool admit is generally in two buckets: the initial commitment date (2-3 weeks after the acceptances go out) and on the contract binding date, typically June 1.  Occasionally, a surprise move happens or someone getting laid off could trigger an opening (maybe more so this year). Again, any movement is rare. 
•	You should definitely not make plans with the assumption that there is a decent chance that your child will get out of the pool. They almost certainly will not.
•	Writing a letter saying “if you let them in, they’ll definitely go” won’t hurt, but will also not really help.

In summary, it’s important to be realistic and not cling to false hope. The schools are guilty of dragging parents along because they feel better dangling the possibility of a waiting pool than doing the right thing, rejecting those who are not admitted.  Hope for the best and keep your fingers crossed. People win lotteries and families get off of waiting pools. But, much like a lottery win is not a good retirement strategy, plan on schooling with the assumption that your kid will not get off the list and move on the plan B. 
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