

The size of a wait list depends on the school, and, in some cases, they can be quite large - even, occasionally, exceeding the target class size. “Colleges may choose applicants based on a lack of students in different programs or some other discrepancy.” “Just because a student is wait-listed does not mean they were ill-suited for the university,” says Pam Andrews, CEO of The Scholarship Shark. Schools put students on wait lists after they have reviewed all of those students' information.īeing put on a wait list means that someone is not a good fit for the school. When a student is deferred, the school usually needs more information to make a decision. Generally, waiting lists are not ranked, but, in some cases, the school does rank students.Ī wait list and a deferral are the same thing. There is a way to get to the top of the wait list.
WAITLIST VS WAITINGLIST UPDATE
When students are placed on wait lists, all they have to do is wait to hear back from the schools.Ĭolleges expect students offered spots on waiting lists to send wait list letters expressing their continued interest in attending those schools.Ĭolleges only use information that was already submitted in the application to choose whom to admit from the wait list.Ī student should update the college on what activities he or she has been involved in since submitting the application. Students should be able to relay this information and not depend on others to do so.” “Colleges need the space to accept you, and they need to believe that you want it more than others on the wait list. “I have seen all of these attempted, and usually they don't work because colleges don't need more third-party advice on your credentials,” says Meister. Sending a recommendation from the school principal or additional teachers will get a student off a waiting list. Source: Inside Higher Ed Waiting List Myths Debunked MYTH Most colleges don't publicize how many students they put on waiting lists. Who were wait-listed chose to remain on the waiting lists. In the Fall 2016 admissions cycle, 48 percent of students Who decided to remain on waiting lists were admitted by the schools. Source: National Association for College Admission Counselingĭuring the Fall 2016 admissions cycle, about 23 percent of students Private colleges are more likely to use waiting lists than public ones. Generally, waiting lists are kept by highly selective schools or those that have low rates of students who enroll after acceptance. “Therefore, many college admissions offices like to have some extra kids to choose from off a wait list if more students than the college admissions office was expecting choose to decline the college's offer of admission.”

“A college admissions office is never sure how many students will accept its offer of regular admission,” says Craig Meister, founder of Admissions Intel, a website providing undergraduate admissions guidance. “Everything from no students getting off the wait list to hundreds getting off the wait list.”

“In many ways, colleges' wait lists are the Wild West of the college admissions process, meaning anything is possible during the wait list process,” Meister says. Although students who are wait-listed don't have to completely give up on the possibility of attending their first-choice college, but they also shouldn't put all their eggs in that school's basket. Those who decide to remain on a waiting list may be chosen for admission when the school determines how many spots are available, but this is not a guarantee. What this means for students is that after a college has reached its enrollment capacity, the college may offer the opportunity to be placed on its waiting list and have their candidacy revisited after the school receives answers from accepted students. However, although a wait list may seem like an outright rejection, schools actually have an important, practical reason for using them, which doesn't have anything to do with a specific group of applicants themselves. To students, being put on a school's waiting list may feel like a terrible turn of events in their journey to attend college.
