Most students who are placed on a waitlist will remain there—only a strategic and fortunate few will move forward to become members of that college’s incoming class. What makes that difference? And what can you do to increase the odds of success if you have been offered a spot on the waitlist?
COLLEGE WAITLISTS: THE LEAST PREDICTABLE METRICS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
Waitlist acceptance rates are among the least predictable metrics in college admissions. For example, over the past ten years the Stanford waitlist admissions rate has ranged from a depressing 0% to an inspiring 36%; last year 76 students received a late admissions offer to head to Palo Alto.
At MIT the range has been between 0 and 12%, and at UPenn the range has been 1% to 17%; most similarly selective schools see equivalent waitlist variation among years, with Cornell and UPenn typically seeing the most waitlist action among the Ivies. As a counter example, USC does not use a waitlist at all but pulls students from its spring admit program into the fall if needed. Last year, the University of Michigan took 955 students off the waitlist, but the previous year only took 77. This annual variance has to do with the broader admissions landscape and is out of your control, but it means that in some years, even at top-ranked schools, being waitlisted means that you still have a very real chance of acceptance.
Deferral/Denial and Waitlist Analysis & Guidance
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PREPARE FOR BIG WAITLISTS
Colleges use waitlists to buffer their own uncertainties about how many students will accept their admissions offers. Because they want to fill their classes (and dorm rooms) precisely—without going over or under by even a single student—many colleges plan from the outset to go to the waitlist as part of their enrollment strategy.
Top Tier Admissions predicts this year will have exceptionally high waitlist activity.
The University of South Carolina has already admitted students off its waitlist beginning in late March. Vanderbilt anticipates accepting 10% of its incoming Class of 2028 off the waitlist on May 1st. Princeton and Dartmouth are also expecting waitlist action this admissions cycle. Brown notes that the number of waitlist spaces available in its incoming class has ranged from 15-120 in recent years and expects that “waitlist activity will conclude by mid-summer.” Georgetown told students placed on their waitlist this week that they “will be informed of their admission status by May 15, 2024,” indicating the likelihood of a waitlist round at that time. Last year, students on the Georgetown College of Arts & Sciences waitlist had a 5% chance of acceptance. The School of Nursing had a 20% waitlist acceptance rate, while the McDonough School of Business waitlist only had a 1% acceptance rate. In 2020, the waitlist acceptance rate for the College of Arts & Sciences was 20%, but this dropped to 0% in 2021.
COLLEGES WITH A WAITLIST ACCEPTANCE RATE GREATER THAN 10%
The heavy reliance on the waitlist this cycle stems from colleges’ uncertainty at a time when elite universities are under the media microscope and the bungled national deployment of the FAFSA financial aid process has caused many universities to extend their enrollment deadlines beyond the traditional National Decision Day of May 1st. This will create a trickle-down effect with movement across a range of universities, extending much later than typical.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
This is a great year for patient and proactive students who have been waitlisted. Above all, you must decide on, enroll, and deposit at a school where you have been admitted. Then, following the specific instructions sent with your waitlist offer, accept and confirm your spot on the waitlist if you would prefer to attend that school. Georgetown’s advice to waitlisted students: “Students offered a place on the Waiting List should follow the instructions spelled out in their decision letters in order to accept their place on this list” is good advice generally.
Being waitlisted gives you the opportunity to reach out again to reinforce your accomplishments and qualifications while emphasizing your deep desire to join and contribute to the school community where you remain in admissions limbo. You can enhance your chances of being accepted off the waitlist by communicating your personal highlights in a compelling and strategic manner. Every school has its own set of guidelines and expectations about what they want to see (and don’t want to see) from waitlisted applicants. Some schools, such as Virginia Tech, do not want to see any additional materials at all, others such as MIT and University of Michigan have structured forms with strict word limits, whereas others such as Wake Forest and Tufts invite a wider range of additional materials. Institutions such as Cornell and Georgetown maintain separate waitlists for their individual schools and colleges, each with its own requirements and admit rates. Respecting a school’s individual approach and customizing your message is essential in crafting your waitlist strategy.
WHAT IS A LETTER OF CONTINUED INTEREST?
To maximize your chance of success in moving off the waitlist, you need to craft a targeted communications strategy, starting with a Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI) that gives that school the materials they are seeking, highlights your most important features, and includes a strong signal that you remain intensely interested in attending. After that, ensure that the school has your most recent senior grades and current contact information (especially if your high school email address will expire when you graduate) because waitlist action this year will continue into June and even July.
WAITLIST ANALYSIS & GUIDANCE
Interested in maximizing your chance of moving off the waitlist at the school of your choice? Work with Top Tier Admissions to craft a strategy and optimize your odds with our Waitlist Analysis and Guidance Program.
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After attending Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, Heidi graduated cum laude with an Honors thesis from Dartmouth College as a double major in Classical Archaeology and Comparative Literature. At the University of Pennsylvania, Heidi was a Williams Fellow in the graduate program of Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World. She has conducted archaeological field work in Sardinia, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey.
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