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Dirty Secrets of College Waitlists
Be persistent
“Write the school, call, follow up, update your grades and send an extra teacher recommendation letter. Let them know it's your first choice and where else you got in. You can't just sit around and wait for a miracle.” — Michele Hernandez, former admissions officer at Dartmouth College and author of A is Admissions: The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges
But don’t pester
“I had one mother last year who called me every single day for two months, sometimes multiple times a day. She couldn’t help herself. I finally had to say, ‘Your son is not getting in and you may wish to seek psychiatric help for yourself.’” — Ivy League admissions officer
Follow the rules
“We tell students: Send additional academic information only. Still, students will send us seven additional recommendations, email us endlessly or have everyone they know call us. It doesn’t help. We know the affluent students from Long Island and California will fly here to tell how much they want to come, but we want a level playing field for the northwestern Indiana students who don’t have the gas money in their pocket to visit.” — Terry Knaus, senior associate director of admissions at Indiana University at Bloomington
Work the system
“Washington University in St. Louis has notoriously huge waitlists— they won’t even tell you how long. My bet is they put over 10,000 kids on the waitlist every year for a class of 1,350. The thing is, though, they don’t count you on the waitlist until you tell them it’s your first choice. It’s a despicable practice, but it’s a popular place and they can get away with it.” — Jon Reider, director of college counseling at San Francisco University High School
Let schools know you can pay
“It never hurts to remind schools know you will be a full-paying student, especially this year. The rules even change at need-blind schools when it comes to the waitlist. It’s not an official practice, but admissions officers are human. They know endowments are down and cost-cutting is essential. If a full-paying student says he’ll definitely come, letting him in can be a relief.” — Karen Crowley, consultant for College Coach, a national education-consulting firm, and former admissions officer at the University of Pennsylvania
It’s probably too late for bribes…
“Anyone using the development angle successfully has started much earlier, probably last fall at the latest. And families who can build buildings don’t just pop a check in the mail. They are much more tasteful, major gifts officers seek them out. If only to spare the child the stigma that they’ve paid their way in.” — private college counselor Nina Marks, formerly director of college guidance at Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral School
…except perhaps this year
“We always have the parents who want to buy us a Mercedes or pay our mortgages. Usually we’d laugh them off, but money is tight this year. I’m telling my staff: Send them directly to the development office.” — Director of admissions at a small New York liberal arts college
It pays to be coy
“Last year was basically a total [mess]. Admissions folks’ biggest fear is not filling their class, and we were about 100 students short. Students flaunted their five other offers, even at state schools or schools not in our tier. I was on the phone begging some of our most-sought-after kids to come. I never have to do that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I had to do it again this year.” — Admissions officer at an elite Midwestern private university
Leverage your offers
“Vanderbilt will probably end up the hottest school this year. They can offer a lot of good merit aid. We already had kids last year turning down Duke, Georgetown and Penn to go to Vanderbilt with lots of money. So why not use a more lucrative offer to try to get off the waitlist? Then again, with financial things so bad, Vanderbilt’s admit rate could go below 20% this year.” — Gavin Bradley, college counselor at Atlanta’s Pace Academy and former admissions officer at Columbia University
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flyoverland
If our exclusive private K-12 school, which has always had 10 applicants for every slot is any indication, these losers who love sticking it to achievers are going to learn to beg this year. Our school is begging parents to talk up the school. Letters went out two weeks ago and for the first time the school "will continue to accept applications until all slots are filled".
larryfromkansas
Unlike the "best" list the writer had last week, in which only one college west of Chicago was snobbishly included, this column works. I would recommend the writer since she now has an audience beyond the New York Sophisticate market (the kind that use summer as a verb) that she be like the Internet and be more democratic and less fascist in her thinking about how higher education is for all who can achieve.
USMC1998
For my son going into college this year, we used a new company called "My College Agent". They provided us with a to-do list and whatever assistance we needed in all aspects. Highly recommended as I did not understand all the requirements or angles to use.
ragerx
College have again fooled students and parents alike with their "select" policies. The college system (more like business) has made students feel that if they do not get into certain schools they will somehow not have a good career or success. The truth is a History degree from Harvard is just about as useless as the one from the local State school. The name recognition can be good for certain degrees like Law or Medicine but the best lesson future students can learn is it depends on personal drive and initiative to be successful in life. And most school don't teach useful life lessons, rather life experience is the best teacher. But I suppose most people will learn when they get that useless degree from Harvard or Yale and can't find a job.....
Embers
"but we hear terrible stories all the time about kids who ended up with nowhere to go in the fall."
Nowhere to go? That's ridiculous. Success depends on the person and not the school you go to. Take a semester at a tech and transfer!
mamma6
I LOVE Larry from Kansas-----"summering as a verb"-----crack me up! I've got six children in private schools in a large city-----we are getting ready to tackle colleges, and yes, its daunting, but it will all work out. Failure and rejection make people better across the board. Its not cancer, and there are bigger fish to fry. Larry from Kansas should be making a living writing!
Gen2Kay
I am surprised that people still think a fancy college education will get them everything. It doesn't. I had one, so did the husband, but it doesn't mean a young woman or man will get a better job, or even that after graduation a student can find a job. I'm teaching my son to follow me, I make more money in the arts than I did in a medical career. My college education is nothing more than a memory now.
Tommaso
Get straight A's and UC Davis or Tufts as a freshman and apply to Stanford as a sophomore. I have two friends who did exactly that and were admitted, graduating with honors three years later. Did they get a better education? Probably not, but Stanford produces a great alumni magazine.
theelfpat
Larry from Kansas seems bitter for being from a boring state. Can't blame him.
littlemo411
Tina:
When Daily Beast first appeared, I thought you had an open-mind about public policy issues. Now I detect a bias to the right. Your stories are tinged with a critical edge towards the efforts of the Obama administration. Or am I wrong?
finderj
Don't want to get wait-listed at one of the 'best' schools? Have parents with money. A multi-million dollar donation will assure anyone of admission to any university in the country.
StealthBoy
I'm glad that I'm soon to be leaving university than trying to get into it. Although I don't think that high school students in Canada are in a similar position.
coloradokarl
The school of Hard Knocks is free (if you can survive).......
zzzzz5
Well,well,seems like Washington U in St. Louis has quite the wait-list rep...2 of my 3 children & this year, my niece were wait-listed at WU[we are consistent, although,not huge contributors to the Medical school!] the truth is "St. Louis kids"
don't fit their demographic, but, they are great marketing genius's to wait list 10.000 whew! Fact is my children went to the schools where they were wanted & appreciated a real winning combo...save the expense & prestige for grad school or not!@#$
Brigmi
Thank you daily beast! I am currently a high school student in Maryland. I have been excepted to Chatham, Campbell, LeMoyne, Shepherd, and Ohio University. However, I am on the waiting list for Temple University, which happens to be my top choice. I want to go there so badly it's unreal.
I had planed to write them and discribe my eager ambition to become a Temple student. I would like to major in film. I have several film-projects I have made in the past two years, some of which are pretty well done (not trying to brag).Should I submit one with a letter?
waitliststudent
yes, yes! do it! good luck, i'm in the same position -- wait listed from my top choice :( but it's not the end of the world, don't worry!
paroma
just read your entry. My son, also a high school senior, wants to make films.
He applied and was accepted into LeMoyne, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Suny Cortland, St. John Fisher, and Rochester Institute of Technology. He chose RIT as they have an outstanding film program, although he was accepted into the New Media Interactive Design program. He is hoping to transfer to film and animation after ,as he says, "kick butt his first year". Keep your chin up. There are more than a few ways to get to where you are dreaming of going. work hard!
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