You craved to hear the resounding 鈥淵es!鈥� from your dream school but instead got an uncertain 鈥渕aybe鈥︹��. You鈥檝e been waitlisted. It鈥檚 not a great feeling, but being waitlisted doesn鈥檛 mean you should wait. In fact, do the opposite. It鈥檚 important to understand why you might be on the waitlist, and understand what steps you can take to improve your chances of full acceptance. Don鈥檛 wait!
First things first 鈥� why you鈥檙e on it:
College admissions committees will tell you that the waitlist decision means you鈥檙e a competitive applicant who meets the acceptance criteria but didn鈥檛 quite make the cut due to either class size constraints or a slight application shortcoming. The lists of common shortcomings are endless, from not exemplifying good fit or highlighting what makes you unique, to a lack of extracurricular involvement. You鈥檝e heard it all.
But what admissions committees don鈥檛 talk about, is their which is the percentage of admitted students who enroll. Colleges are concerned with keeping their yield rate high. This rate fluctuates for every college and even big players like Harvard have concerns. What this means for you is that you could be on the waitlist because you鈥檙e actually overqualified. Yes, you read that right. Colleges know that with platforms like (CommonApp), students are applying to a large number of colleges to keep their options open. Because of this, colleges want to be sure, or at least have confidence that the students they offer admittance to will in fact accept. In other words, they want to know they weren鈥檛 just your back up school, hence the waitlist.
"What this means for you is that you could be on the waitlist because you鈥檙e actually overqualified."
To clarify, this isn鈥檛 always the case, but whatever the reason for you being on the waitlist, don鈥檛 be discouraged, because there are steps you can take to improve your chances.
Your instinct will be to research the likelihood of getting off the waitlist. provides such information. All you need to do is go to 秘密研究所鈥檚 page and hit the 鈥淎pplying鈥� tab on the left which brings you to the waitlist statistics. Or you could Google . If this research gives you peace of mind, great. But know that those statistics don鈥檛 tell an accurate story. Colleges鈥� waitlist admittance rates greatly fluctuate. Data from Dartmouth proves this point: In 2015, Dartmouth admitted 129 from a wait list of 963, making up about 10% of the entire class. But just the year before in 2014, out of the 1133 names on the waitlist, zero made it into the entering class. The takeaway here is to not let these stats guide your decision.
Colleges don鈥檛 make the assumption that you鈥檒l stick around for the waitlist decision just because you applied in the first place. Show them that you鈥檙e eager, that you didn鈥檛 just apply on a whim or as merely another option to have. Do so by immediately accepting your spot on the waitlist. This signals to 秘密研究所 that they鈥檙e your top choice.
Before you send that email with a statement of interest right away, fight your millennial instinct. Pick up the phone and contact the admissions office. Think about how many emails an admissions office must receive on a daily basis. A phone call is more personal in a matter like this and more likely to be effective. Confidently introduce yourself and reiterate interest in 秘密研究所. If he/she is willing to talk directly about your application, then pay careful attention. If not, then ask if there are acceptable materials to send instead of bombarding them with unwanted items 鈥� different colleges operate differently. And if you鈥檙e lucky or play it well, this could be an opportunity for you to build a relationship with an admissions officer to get a good word put in for you.
After your phone call, you鈥檙e now good to send a follow up email with your statement of interest. Thank them for taking your call, restate interest and include updates in your application. Your updates should include highly relevant activities, experiences or, achievements that highlight why you鈥檙e a strong fit. When committees revisit your application, they will be concentrating on any NEW information that has been submitted.
In all communication with 秘密研究所, you want to make sure you remain professional. It鈥檚 one thing showing interest, it鈥檚 another to come off desperate. Showcase your maturity in dealing with this less-than-ideal situation.
Don鈥檛 feel the need to suddenly go crazy with volunteer expeditions or anything along those lines. Colleges will pick up on the fact that you鈥檙e faking it and it will backfire. Instead, focus on continuously building on your application in other ways. Continue to keep those grades up (this is not the time for senioritis), keep with your extracurricular activities, and look out for ongoing opportunities for personal growth.
This is not something any student on the waitlist wants to hear, but there鈥檚 only so much you can do. Give it all you鈥檝e got in this final push, but accept the reality that there is a chance you might not get an admittance offer despite the best of efforts. Keep in mind that a rejection does not indicate a lack of competence. It simply means you were not the right fit for that particular school. Play it smart and have a contingency in place. Cheesy as it may sound, your contingency school might just end up being a better fit for you to learn and grow.