Boost Your Chances of Getting In
Colleges may put you on a waiting list if you meet the admissions requirements, but they've already accepted the maximum number of applicants. You'll be offered a place only if space becomes available.
If you get a waiting-list notice, decide whether you really want to attend the school before you agree to remain on the list. If you're eventually accepted, you often get only a few days to decide. Also investigate the conditions attached to being wait-listed; you may lose priority housing or financial aid options.
Take Control
It's not just a passive waiting game. There are things you can do to boost your chances of being accepted.
- Get a better sense of your chances of admission.
Colleges sometimes rank waiting lists. The higher you rank on the list the better your chances of being accepted. Contact the admissions office to find out if it ranks wait-listed students or if it has a priority list. Most admissions officers are willing to tell you your status.
- Write a letter to the admissions office.
Being wait-listed means the school has already determined you have the academic credentials; so nonacademic factors are more likely to sway admissions officials. Offer achievements that you may not have mentioned in your application and send new supplemental information. For example, maybe a terrific recommendation just came in. Emphasize your strong desire to attend the college and make a case for why you're a good fit. You can indicate that if accepted you'll enroll, but such a promise should be made only if you're absolutely certain. You can also enlist the help of an alumnus and your high school counselor.
- Study hard.
This is no time to slack off. If you're wait-listed, you may be reevaluated based on your third- and fourth-quarter grades.
- Stay involved.
Show admissions officers you're committed to sports, clubs, and other activities.
- Request another (or a first) interview.
An interview can give you a personal contact—someone who can check on the status of your application.
- Realize that you've already achieved something.
You were wait-listed, not turned away. Many students were not as successful.
- Reconsider the colleges that accepted you.
If you'll be just as happy at one of your second choices, send in that deposit and plan to attend there. You'll be surprised how much better you feel after the decision has been made.
Colleges don't decide who will be admitted off the waiting list until the May 1st decision deadline has passed. Prepare to attend another school by filling out the paperwork and sending in a deposit. If you're accepted off the waiting list, you will forfeit your deposit at the first school and be required to submit a deposit to the second.
