The Waiting Game
An LJCDS College Counselor answers questions about waitlists.
April is an exciting time in the College Counseling Office: ninth graders are gearing up for their first time in course selection, sophomores are planning future testing dates and thinking about summer plans, juniors are visiting colleges and starting to shape their college lists, and seniors have learned their college admissions decisions.
For seniors, there are three possible college application outcomes: admission, denial, or waitlisted. While the first two are straightforward, the third is full of mystery (and, usually, induces some stress). Inevitably, with a waitlist decision comes questions. We’re here to help with that.
For seniors, there are three possible college application outcomes: admission, denial, or waitlisted. While the first two are straightforward, the third is full of mystery (and, usually, induces some stress). Inevitably, with a waitlist decision comes questions. We’re here to help with that.
Here are some of the questions that we see most often:
What is a waitlist?
The biggest misconception about the waitlist is that it’s a list. It is not a list at all, but rather a separate applicant pool of students who are qualified for admission but don’t have a spot in the class simply due to limited space. The waitlist isn’t ranked, numbered, or tiered in any way.
Why did I get waitlisted?
Colleges use the waitlist as an enrollment management tool. Let’s say College X has 1,000 regular decision spots in this year’s class. Now, let’s say College X typically yields 75% of its admits, meaning it can expect 750 admits to say “yes”, with 250 to decline the offer. The college now has 250 spots to fill, and they will go to the waitlist to fill those spots. As noted above, colleges will not run down a “list” of students from number 1 to 250 because there is no such list. Instead, they take a look at who decided to enroll. No one from California? Looks like the California students on the waitlist just got lucky. Not enough humanities majors? They’ll try to fill the rest of the class with those applicants. Was it a disproportionately high number of girls? They’ll go to the waitlist of boys.
As you can see, a lot of it is out of your control. Depending on how a college yields, they may not even go to their waitlist at all, or, if their modeling is sound, there may be very limited spaces for students off the waitlist.
So what should I do now?
First, breathe. There’s nothing you need to do during the first 24 hours of being waitlisted besides reflect. Ask yourself: How much would you like to attend the institution that waitlisted you? Is this college your top choice, or maybe within your top two? Try to take the first day or two to figure out whether you even want to remain on the waitlist. More often than not, the answer is no, and students decline the waitlist offer, making room for others. If the answer is yes, write a SHORT statement of interest to the college’s admission representative for LJCDS. The statement of interest should simply state what you have been up to since you submitted your application and that the college is high on your list (in some cases, you’d even say you would enroll if admitted to the institution off the waitlist, but only if you’re 100% sure that’s true). Make sure to share this with your college counselor so we can ensure the note has an appropriate tone and reaches the right person.
When will college let me know if I am off the waitlist?
That depends on the institution, but most colleges will start adding to their waitlists from May 1 through June 30.
Should I deposit at another college while I’m waiting to see if I get off the waitlist?
YES! The deadline for depositing to all colleges is May 1, and colleges usually won’t go to their waitlists until after that day. Definitely make sure you spend time looking at other colleges and universities that have already accepted you, and get excited about going to college in the fall!
