The Waiting Game: What if I'm Wait-Listed?

Getting the Scoop

Different colleges use wait lists differently. To assess your chances of acceptance from the wait list, call the admission office. Ask what your position is on the list (if the list is ranked). Another important piece of information is the percentage of students that have been accepted from the wait list in recent years. If a college hardly ever uses its wait list, or accepted only a few wait-listed applicants last year, that trend is unlikely to change this year. But you can ask if the admission officer knows yet if the college will go to the wait list this year.

Your high school counselor can also help you get a sense of the strength of your application compared to the statistics for accepted students. (Some colleges give these statistics in the wait-list letter. Otherwise, you or your counselor can try asking the admission office for this information.)

The goal in gathering this information is to determine your chances of eventually being accepted. At this point, if you'd be just as happy going to your second-choice college, you may want to forget about the wait list and focus on preparing for college.

Improving Your Chances

If the college that wait-listed you is still your heart's desire, there are some ways to improve your chances.

"If your wait-list school is clearly your first choice, let them know that," McElroy said.

Colleges like a sure thing. If they end up using the wait list, they'd rather offer acceptance to the students who are most likely to enroll.

"If a student has had any significant, positive changes since their application was submitted, I encourage them to send a letter and include any documentation that demonstrates these changes," Amy Thompson, college and career counselor at York Community High School (IL), said. Some students may send additional recommendations, but they don't carry as much weight as stellar senior grades or a prize-winning performance in the regional spring forensics competition.

Although it's important to strengthen your application if you can, bugging the admission office won't win you any points.

"One call or e-mail says you're interested," says McElroy. "Ten says you're a pest."

The best strategy, then, is to work with your counselor to:

• choose and make a deposit at a good second choice;
• get as much information from the wait-list college as you can;
• let the admission office know that the college is your first choice; and
• strengthen your application, if possible.

Then, sit back, cross your fingers, and...wait.