It's no secret that increasing numbers of applications have
allowed for selective colleges to become more...well...selective. A phenomenon less talked about is that those
same colleges are becoming less certain of their yield. In other words, they admit some great
applicants but are having a harder and harder time predicting who will actually
accept their offer of admission. Students are applying to more colleges and
choosing among more options. It's not
easy to predict the decision-making process of 17-year olds faced with multiple
options (surprise!). And so at many
colleges, the waitlist is an important tool to protect against the uncertainty
of who will actually enroll. This post
is about what you can do if you're hoping to be one of those called from a
waitlist.
You can’t know whether a college will use the waitlist this
year, or when. It’s very rare for a
college to call prior to May 1. Be sure
to deposit at a school you’ve been admitted to, and move forward with every
expectation of being on that campus next fall. Wear the T-shirt. Join the admitted class Facebook group. Go to the local reception for enrolling students. Plan on that place being your home next year.
You can’t control who gets called. You might be a tremendous candidate, but if
the deposits that roll in on May 1 are largely from students who are
demographically just like you, the college could be calling someone else. Most schools use the waitlist to
strategically round out the class. Maybe
they’ll need local males this year. Or
more theater majors. Maybe they’ll need
that one kid from Wyoming. You just
don’t know.
So, what is in your control?
On many waitlists, demonstrated interest matters. Even if you haven’t shown much interest
before (especially if you haven’t), now is the time to be in touch. An admission
office that is worried about its yield and thinks their college is being used
as a back-up will sometimes park a strong but apparently uninterested kid on
the waitlist. If you are genuinely
interested, complete the online form the college asks for and reach out to our
rep.
If you are certain you would enroll if called off the waitlist,
it’s worth communicating that to your admission rep. Generally speaking, once a college goes to
the waitlist they’d prefer not to make too many calls and yield only a few
students. Most places want to call
students they expect will say ‘yes.’
Lastly, don’t go nuts.
Flying to campus to lobby for yourself is not appropriate (even more
true for parents). Most colleges don’t
want you to visit as a waitlisted student and likely won’t meet with you if you
do. On the other hand, email or phone
communication with your admission rep is perfectly acceptable. But not on a daily basis. There’s a line between “enthusiasm” and
“stalking.” Sending elaborate portfolios, platters of food, hand-crafted models
of campus buildings (true story), flowers, puppies, bribes, singing telegrams,
oil paintings of your admission officer, or any other gift you can think up is
neither encouraged nor rewarded – though you might live on in admission infamy
as a cautionary tale in the next year’s info sessions.
