Distinctive

By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D.

For many students, landing on a college waitlist hurts. Some even (wrongly) perceive it as a failure (trust me, it’s not). They might even question what they didn’t do right or what they could have done better, and they may even blame the system that is drenched in secrecy, and in general, lacks accountability to the public. 

Because the use of waitlists seems to have exponentiated since the start of the pandemic, getting waitlisted is now incredibly common, while getting off the waitlist is harder than ever. Let’s first discuss why waitlists exist.

Why Waitlists Exist

While they can feel cruel to those of you who have already waited months for a definitive answer, colleges use waitlists to hedge their bets. While they have a good sense of how many admitted students will accept their offers of admission based on previous years’ yields, colleges are also constantly tweaking their admissions practices to obtain higher yields, thus increasing stability in their offices. Part of doing that is increasing the school’s prestige. This means that admissions representatives work hard to increase application numbers, so that they can deny or waitlist an ever-larger number of applicants, thus decreasing their admissions rates and increasing the public’s sense of how good their school is. Northeastern University and Washington University in St. Louis have been particularly adept at this game in the last decade. As a result, they tend to waitlist a lot of students. 

Plus, colleges, in general, are seeing increases in applications. According to the Common Application, there was a 30% increase in unique applications submitted in the 2022-2023 cycle. Think about that! While the number of students enrolled in college has been declining over the last several years, application numbers are up, meaning that students are applying to too many schools, making it harder for admissions teams to figure out who is serious about attending.

It’s also important to note that colleges use waitlists to send you a message (whether or not you understand precisely what that college meant is another matter). In some cases, your academic profile is too strong for the institution and they (probably correctly) believe that you are just using them as a safety school. In other cases, you likely didn’t demonstrate enough interest. While you’re the type of student they would otherwise accept, they aren’t convinced that you’re serious about attending. In even other instances still, you have the potential of being pulled off of the waitlist, because they genuinely think you would be a great fit. You just didn’t fulfill any of their institutional priorities in the initial round this year. 

Can you get off of a waitlist?

Five to ten years ago, waitlists were a lot shorter than some of today’s, which are thousands of students deep. In those times, getting off of a waitlist was more likely and favored those who were proactive and earnest. These days, it’s a lot harder to say whether or not your efforts will pay off, but you should always try! 

Whether or not you get pulled from a waitlist depends on several factors, some of which are in your control, some of which are not. The first and most important factor is whether or not a college has met its enrollment goals. If it aimed to entice 1,000 students to come next year, and 1,100 submitted deposits, you can safely assume that it will not be pulling students from the waitlist. In fact, that school has now over-enrolled, and it may admit fewer students in the next class to compensate for the strain on resources (sorry next year’s seniors).

Another factor that influences whether or not you get off of a waitlist is institutional priorities. In some instances, that can mean admitting more boys, or girls, or Latinx, or international students. You pick. The college will only rarely disclose to you what these specific needs are at any given time, so you just have to hope you fulfill whatever need it is they seek.

A third factor is financial need. At colleges that are “need-aware,” meaning they take your family’s ability to pay into consideration when making an admissions decision, you will be more likely to get off of the waitlist if your family can pay the full tuition than a student with financial need. This is the unfortunate business reality of colleges. Tuition dollars fund operations, and the admissions office is basically the sales team that brings in a large portion of the school’s annual income. This doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to get off of a waitlist if you need financial aid. It just means that it is less likely (and do expect your financial aid package to that school to be comparatively weak to those offered to the students initially admitted, due to waning funds).

A fourth factor is whether or not you even try. If you take the term “waitlist” literally, and sit around a wait, you’re not going to get off it. If you are willing to try, then keep reading!

Steps to Getting off the Waitlist

Now that I’ve set some realistic expectations and explained why waitlists exist and how they work, let’s talk about what you can do to increase your chances of getting off of one. It won’t be easy, but it’s definitely worth trying!

First and foremost, evaluate your options. If the school that waitlisted you has lost some of its luster throughout the process, or even in the way it waitlisted you (some letters are admittedly off-putting), you may decide that you are much happier with the choices that you already have. If that’s the case, decline your spot on the waitlist. 

Second, accept your position on the waitlist. If you’ve determined, however, that the school that waitlisted you remains a top choice, accept the spot quickly, since your speed will indicate your interest. Clicking that button is really important, and you’d be surprised by how many students miss that step! You are also welcome to accept your spot on as many waitlists offered to you as you wish. There is definitely no cap. 

Third, follow the college’s directions. It is becoming increasingly common for colleges to express exactly what they do and do not want from you at this point. Before you take any action, read your waitlist letter carefully. If you don’t see anything there, check the college’s website for details. If nothing is prohibited there either, jump into action and read below!

Fourth, ask your school counselor to call your admissions rep. He or she can advocate for you and ask if there was anything in your original application that can be improved upon. This serves the double benefit of showing that you really care and getting information that you can use to act upon.

Fifth, arrange for another letter of recommendation to be sent on your behalf. Hopefully you haven’t run out of recommenders during the original application and deferral processes. Sending a letter from someone who can speak to your character, like a senior-year teacher, a club advisor, the school principal, or even the janitor, can help. You must, however, pick someone who knows you well and who can add a different, positive dimension to your original application. You should not contact your congressperson or a senator or other high powered official to write a letter on your behalf, unless they know you, the applicant, really well.

Sixth, visit again, especially your top choice. You don’t need to show up with a boombox playing a love song à la Heath Ledger in Ten Things I Hate about You,  but you should contact your rep in advance to let him or her know that you will be on campus and you would welcome an opportunity to show your sincere enthusiasm for the school. If your rep won’t be available, still turn up and speak with the rep on duty that day. Self-advocating in a positive way, without begging or bribing (yes, students have sent cakes with their faces printed on them and other strange paraphernalia) is an effective strategy. You can then add details of your conversation and visit to your waitlist letter (see below)!

Seventh, continue to achieve. Waitlists can last through the end of the summer. If you find yourself on one of these really long waitlists, keep seeking opportunities to get involved, like internships, volunteer opportunities, sports leagues – whatever matches your interests – and don’t let your grades go down! Colleges are much more interested in go-getters than students who check out. So please do everything you can to fight your senioritis and stand out from the crowd!

Eighth, write a waitlist letter. Just like when you get deferred, you should write a thoughtful waitlist letter that emphasizes your love for the school as well as your most recent achievements. You can even open the opportunity for an (additional) interview! Here’s an example to help you envision how to construct yours:

​​Dear Ms. Adichie, 

My name is Monica Sani (name changed), and I am a senior at North Pond High School in Millersville, V.A.  We met in early March and discussed what made William and Mary unique as well as why you loved it so much. After our conversation and learning about all the unique opportunities offered by William and Mary, I knew that it was the perfect school for me. It was a shame that at that point, it was too late for me to apply Early Decision. I love that it is full of creative and intelligent innovators.

While I was saddened to find out that I was wait-listed at William and Mary, I want you to know that I still very much wish to attend your school, since it is my top choice. Should you take me off the waitlist, I intend to make my deposit and enroll the same day.

Since I have applied, I have submitted all internal assessments to be scored for my I.B. Diploma, and have begun preparing for my I.B. exams.  Since I am a full I.B. candidate, I have also submitted my Theory of Knowledge Prescribed Title and Extended Essay.  My Prescribed Title addresses the idea that the phrase, “Without application in the world, the value of knowledge is greatly diminished.” Through my research, I was able to sustain that it is an idea that is almost impossible to uphold in the natural and human sciences.  My Extended Essay, on the other hand, explores the question, “To what extent were the countries of the Triple Entente, namely the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom, correct in claiming Germany was at fault for causing World War I?”

Outside of the classroom, I have also continued to achieve. My project for D.E.C.A. placed first at the Virginia State Competition, and I am currently working to place at Internationals in Nashville in April. I am also Head of my Relay for Life team and we have been raising money to meet our goal of $1,000 by May 22nd.  Finally, I have secured an internship with a social media marketing firm, Social Driver, in Washington, D.C. this summer.

William and Mary’s liberal arts education will allow me to explore a variety of fields, while I major in Economics and minor in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies.  My ultimate goal is to achieve equality for women in India, my family’s home country.  By researching with Professor Gul Ozyegin who specializes in gender and sexuality, the sociology of work occupations and globalization, combined with my economics degree, I know I will be able to make strides in the fight for women’s equal rights through William and Mary’s support and resources.

With my involvement in D.E.C.A. for the last three years as an award winning competitor and as an Executive Council Member for the last two, I plan to make significant contributions to William and Mary’s D.E.C.A. while on campus.  The skills I have learned in D.E.C.A. have proven invaluable in my success in obtaining important internships, like the one I held last summer at Perfetti Van Melle, and I want to share these experiences with my peers at William and Mary.

If it would help, I would be more than happy to schedule another interview or come speak with you again, so that I may express in person my genuine excitement about the school.  As I mentioned before, William and Mary is my top choice, and should you decide to admit me, I will come.  I hope you will consider me to be a part of the William and Mary class of 2020.

Sincerely,

Monica Sani

Ninth, accept your spot at a school by May 1st. Just because you’re trying to get off of a waitlist, doesn’t mean that you should decline all of your other offers. That would be foolish! Instead, carefully consider your options and select one to commit to by May 1st, the national deposit deadline. If you do get offered a spot at another school that you’d rather attend sometime after that, you can always politely contact the admissions office of the school you initially committed to and let them know that you are very sorry, but choosing to enroll elsewhere. You will lose your deposit, but definitely not a semester’s worth of tuition!

While waitlists are becoming an increasingly common aspect of the college admissions process, and at many schools they are growing longer and longer every year, you don’t have to sit around and wait for a decision. The more you take control of your situation, and feel happy about the choices you currently have, the more you’ll appreciate the amazing experiences that await you no matter where you go!