What to Do When Waitlisted...Part Two

Fall in love with your second choice! Students move off of waitlists and are admitted, but far more do not. So, you must be able to love your next preference and be willing to accept it as your new dream school.

May 1 is critical. Although, this year it falls on a Saturday, so your focus really should be on Friday, April 30. This is the National Candidates Reply Deadline. Especially if you have applied to selective institutions, you must have made your decision by that date by submitting enrollment and housing deposits. Missing this deadline will likely forfeit your place in the incoming freshman class.

Waitlists are not looked at until after the May 1 decision deadline. And this is where families may become perplexed about how to proceed. Please keep in mind that it is considered unethical to double deposit (depositing at more than one school).

Submit the deposit at the "second choice" school. If you are not admitted off of the waitlist at your first choice, you have a place in the freshman class at this campus and you are all set for fall. Whatever school you choose, you (student, not parent) should contact the admission representative at that school directly. Be honest. Let him/her know that you are submitting your deposit and expect to enroll for fall. But that you are also awaiting word about the waitlist at your first choice school. If I do not get off the waitlist, I will be a happy, contributing student at X school. But if I do get off the waitlist, I will need to make a decision about my attendance.

Deposits are not refundable. And if eventually admitted at the first choice campus, they, too, will require an enrollment and a housing deposit.

You are not jeopardizing anything by being candid. You already have your admission, your position in the incoming freshman class, your financial aid package, and have paid your deposits. The admission representatives appreciate the honesty.

It does happen that a student gets off the waitlist and decides not to go to that school. They have become so invested in their second choice, told everyone they were attending their second choice, put it in the graduation edition of the school paper, etc. Waitlist decisions do not come out until well into the summer, usually, so it is tough for some students to change everything then.

What to Do When Waitlisted...Part One

Have you been waitlisted at your top choice college or university? Here are suggestions on how to handle the situation…

Contact the admission representative responsible for recruitment of students in Kansas City. This information, if not already known, is usually readily available on the college/university’s admission website. Contact should be made in writing (email is fine, but a “read receipt” is suggested) alerting their office of your interest in pursuing the waitlist. In addition, if the school sent a form that you have to submit to tell them of your interest, do that, too. The email to the admission representative is an extra and is to create a more personal alert, about a student in his/her recruitment territory.

If there is anything significant that has changed for you since submitting your application, the admission representative needs to be updated (new test score, higher GPA after seventh semester, a school award, etc.).

Who wrote letters of recommendation on your behalf already? Ask another teacher to write an additional letter on your behalf. It needs to be specific to your waitlist status, not general in any terms. It must address exactly why you are a strong candidate for that particular campus. It needs to be a teacher who has not already written for you, someone you have for a core subject class this year, someone that teaches a challenging course, and someone who will have new information to offer to the review committee. The letter should be sent directly to the admission representative's attention by postal mail (not email in this case).

You, the student, also need to submit a letter to the committee, making sure to avoid begging for acceptance. Rather, it needs to, just as the new letter of recommendation, be specific and direct about why you are the best candidate to admit if that admission office moves to their waitlist. This is an opportunity to show how well you have researched the campus, why you are a good fit, and what you will contribute to the campus community (both inside and outside of the classroom). It should not, however, simply reiterate what was already submitted in your original application.