A few years ago DD got off three WL. All of them required a commitment with 2 or 3 days. So most likely you’ll need to act fast.

Anonymous wrote:The time to respond to a waitlist offer can be as short as 2 days. If a kid is on a waitlist at this point in May, they should know without a doubt that they would take the spot.

The advice to treat waitlist offers as rejections establishes an unrealistic standard. This approach might work if your acceptance is strictly based on school ranking, as many candidates on multiple waitlists do seem to be doing. However, the real issue comes down to your willingness to risk a deposit.
Waitlists and short commitment windows are designed to benefit schools, not students. I see no problem with accepting a waitlist offer and paying a deposit while keeping options open. Schools have every incentive to leverage their position when students are eager for admission. Should you remain committed to two schools until August? No. Is there anything wrong with paying a deposit to extend your decision timeline by a week? Not at all. You aren't taking someone else's spot—you're simply requiring the school to maintain their waitlist longer.

My child recently received a waitlist offer, and fortunately, we were given adequate time to visit and make what we hope is a thoughtful decision. Since this school rarely uses its waitlist, the offer came as a surprise. Even with the extra time, we're still disadvantaged by missing admitted students' day and campus visits while students were present. Some might suggest we should have visited during the application process, but our time and resources were limited.

If you accept the wait-list offer by depositing, then notify the original school ASAP in order to avoid being responsible for full payment of a semester's tuition at the original school.

Anonymous wrote:New poster. Are there penalties relating to having accepted the first school? I don't even know how wait-list works when one has already committed to one school by a certain date.

You will most likely loose the deposit you paid at first school. Don't worry, they are used to this. Kids do get off WL and then decline their original acceptances. Don't do anything until you decide 100% about the 2nd school

Anonymous wrote:You could always accept the waitlist offer and then withdraw and lose your deposit. They don't know if you got off a different waitlist, decided to stay at your kid's first college deposit, etc. I would just encourage you to try to have your kid decide as quickly as they can as a courtesy to other kids waiting.

Assuming not cost prohibitive, this is the way.

You could always accept the waitlist offer and then withdraw and lose your deposit. They don't know if you got off a different waitlist, decided to stay at your kid's first college deposit, etc. I would just encourage you to try to have your kid decide as quickly as they can as a courtesy to other kids waiting.

The time to respond to a waitlist offer can be as short as 2 days. If a kid is on a waitlist at this point in May, they should know without a doubt that they would take the spot.

^DOES need to decide by the WL offer date. Goodness, that typo changed the meaning for sure. Sorry.

He does not need to decline the first school until he has committed to the WL school - he doesn’t need to let them know he is considering another offer, which I think was the gist of your question. But as others noted, he doesn’t need to decide by the reply date given with the WL offer. If he accepts the new school, THEN he notifies with first school and withdraws (and loses the deposit).

As others have said waitlist offers are time limited. If you accept the waitlist offer contact the other school and withdraw. You may or may not get any deposit paid back.

The WL school should have given him a “reply by”‘ date. Some are within a few days, some a few weeks. Get in the car or on a plane today and go visit if he is unsure.

New poster. Are there penalties relating to having accepted the first school? I don't even know how wait-list works when one has already committed to one school by a certain date.

He unfortunately needs to decide within the time frame given by the second school. Once he accepts the second school, he needs to withdraw from the first school.

DC got off the WL a couple of days ago but he committed to another school just before May 1st.... Now DC is considering the school he got off the waitlist but not 100% sure... he wants to accept the invitation and visit the school again.... if he accepts it does he need to let the other school know immediately or can he wait a couple of weeks until he visits this school and makes a final decision? No idea how it works for waitlist students...pls help.