Wait List Advice (from College Board)

What to Do if You're Wait-Listed

Boost Your Chances of Getting In

You’ve sent in your applications. Now you’re waiting for a letter from each college you applied to, either offering you admission or turning down your application. And there’s another possibility: a college may put you on a waiting list.
This can happen when you meet the admission requirements, but the college has already accepted the number of applicants it has room for. If a spot becomes available later on, you may be offered a place.
The college won’t make you this offer, though, until after the May 1 decision deadline has passed. If you’re on the waiting list, it’s hard to know what your chances of acceptance are.

If you get wait-listed by one of your top choices, let admission officers know why you're a great fit for their college.

Decide Whether to Stay on the List

Your next step is to respond and let the college know whether or not you want to stay on the waiting list. It makes sense to keep your spot on the list only if you’re really interested in going to the college.
Before you decide, find out whether there are any conditions attached to being wait-listed. For example, since you’re notified later than other applicants, you may have fewer housing and financial aid options.
Even if you decide to remain on the waiting list, prepare to attend another college. Choose the best fit from the colleges that accepted you, fill out the paperwork and send a deposit. You’ll forfeit this deposit if the college that wait-listed you offers you a place and you accept. Still, you need to be sure you have a place in an incoming freshman class next fall.

Take Control

If you decide to stay on the waiting list, be proactive. Here’s what you can do to boost your chances of being accepted.
Get a sense of your chances of admission. Contact the admission office to find out if the college ranks wait-listed students or if it has a priority list. Most are willing to let you know your status. The higher you rank on the list the better your chances of being accepted.
Write a letter to the admission office. The college has already decided that you have the academic credentials for admittance. Now’s the time to mention any additional nonacademic factors that might help your case — any new achievements or supplemental information. Emphasize your strong desire to attend the college and make a case for why you're a good fit. You can tell them that you'll enroll if they accept you, but only if you're absolutely certain you will.
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 admission 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. You can also enlist the help of your high school counselor or someone you know who graduated from that college.
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 would be just as happy at one of your other choices, send in a deposit and plan to attend that college. Then turn down the spot on the waiting list. You'll be surprised how much better you feel after your decision has been made.

College Visit Advice

College visits don’t have to be cookie-cutter

By Jenna Johnson, Washington Post Published: March 23 | Updated: Saturday, March 24, 1:15 PM

It was a gorgeous spring day at American University, the quad dotted with students playing Frisbee and studying on blankets, when I tagged along on a campus admissions tour led by an energetic student guide who peppered her listeners with school stats and personal stories.

As we passed three students camped out with their laptops, the guide called out to them: “Do you love AU?”  “Yes!” they all shouted in response, laughing. The guide turned back to us: “See, they love AU!”
A couple of parents laughed out loud, and a dad standing near me rolled his eyes dramatically at the exchange. But most of the prospective students barely reacted. They just stayed in the polite trance they’d maintained throughout the tour, the result, I had no doubt, of visiting too many campuses in too short a time.



It’s that time of year again, when thousands of parents pack their high-schoolers onto a plane or into the SUV and set off on road trips across the nation to a half-dozen colleges or more, hoping to find that one special school that’s the right fit for their student.
These visits are often the deciding factor for many juniors figuring out where to apply and for seniors picking where to enroll. And colleges know this. The admissions tours they offer are nothing more than a sales pitch — their last chance to nab you with a dazzling display of their offerings.

So universities go to great lengths (and lots of expense) to ensure that their campuses, their dorms and their students stand out from all the rest. Often that means locating the admissions center next to the most convenient parking, providing free coffee and casting the friendliest students as tour guides. Even the music you hear in admissions offices as you wait for your tour has probably been carefully selected — maybe even by students — to set the tone for your visit.

But as a higher education reporter for The Washington Post who has taken lots of campus tours with kids trying to make that big decision, I’ve learned that most of this is just window dressing. The only way to get a true feel for the culture of a university and its students is to simply hang out. My best advice? If you’re heading out on a college visit, give yourself enough time to pretend to be a college kid for a day: Lounge in a coffee shop near campus, read the student newspaper, attend a women’s softball game or an a capella concert, go jogging across the campus, have dinner at a bar with sticky floors, or simply ride the campus bus for a different kind of tour.