Making Your Decision After the Colleges Make Theirs: Steps to Increase Your Chance of Acceptance from the Wait-List

Although airline standby lists are ordered in some kind of priority so passengers can assess their chances of getting a seat, wait-lists are usually unranked. This means that openings are not filled from the list in any prearranged order. There may be some broad tiers with a preferred group at the top, but the college usually won’t tell you which group you are in. The reason they don’t order the wait list is that they don’t know who will stay on it, so ordering it would be a lot of extra work, and they don’t know what the composition of the final class will be. They want to retain the flexibility to add the prospective students they want. So as openings occur, a college may examine its whole freshman class along geographic, gender, racial, and many other dimensions and fill any perceived gaps from the wait-list. The student who came closest to admission during the regular review cycle will not necessarily be chosen from the list when openings occur. Each admissions officer may have the chance to nominate a few students for consideration.

Usually, a wait-list sees little movement until colleges have a clear grasp of their yield from those already accepted, and that generally doesn’t happen until after May 1. Mid-May through early June is the busiest time for wait-list notifications. Wait-listed students who are accepted are usually notified first by phone, followed by written confirmation with a two-week, or sometimes much shorter, deadline for reply. If you tell the caller you are no longer interested, the college will move on to another wait-listed student and repeat the process. Most selective colleges officially close their wait-lists by the end of June and notify those who have not been accepted accordingly. Many have very little activity from the wait-list after Memorial Day.

I tell my wait-listed kids to put their wait-list schools out of their mind and pick one where they have been accepted because chances are pretty good that this is where they will go. If they find out later that they’ve won the lottery, that’s great, and they can deal with it then. But they need to start forming new attachments. I’d also encourage parents to foster that attitude.  - Independent counselor

If you decide to remain on a wait-list, it is wise to discuss your continued interest in the college with your high school counselor. Tell your counselor whether the college is your first choice. Your counselor may be able to help your cause by contacting the college and conveying support for you as well as your enthusiasm for the college. A letter from you expressing your interest as well as any new accomplishments will be necessary. Don’t rely on your counselor to do this for you. But again, movement from the wait-list at a selective college is a long shot at best. Don’t let hope of admission, which could even come well into the summer, spoil your excitement about college. Sometimes closure, even if it means deciding to attend a college lower on your list, is far better than the emotional limbo of staying on a wait-list. You know yourself best—be sure to weigh the wait-list option carefully before deciding what to do.

Colleges are looking for a 100 percent yield from any students they take off the wait-list, so they are going to be looking for commitment. The key is for students to demonstrate as much honest interest as they can and indicate that if offered admission they will definitely enroll. They are the students the admissions office will most likely look at first. - Experienced high school counselor

In any case, remember to send your intent-to-register form, along with your deposit, to your preferred college from among your acceptance options. If you subsequently decide to join a college that accepts you from the wait-list, you will need to send a deposit as well to that college. You will forfeit your deposit at the first school, but it may be worth it if you end up where you really wanted to go. Some deposits are quite large, so be careful.