Seniors: Enter your College Results in Naviance - Waitlisted? ADVICE

SENIORS

The College Office shares that by early April, students will receive responses from the majority of the colleges and universities to which they have applied.  PLEASE enter ALL application results in Naviance –use the edit (pencil icon) for each college on the “colleges I’m applying to” page.  This information is essential; it helps us to identify students who may not yet have been admitted to a college or university, and the historical data helps us to guide future classes.

Advice for Wait-Listed Students

It is important to remember that selective colleges and universities use wait -lists primarily to control for enrollment needs that arise after May 1^st, when they know which of their admitted students will actually enroll.  If the institution needs more boys, or students from the south or the mid-west, or soccer players, or clarinet players, or students who can pay the full costs of attendance, they pull such students from the wait- list.  These are institutional needs over which individual applicants have absolutely no control.  

Students cannot assume they will be admitted from a waitlist.  While it can happen, the reality is that highly selective institutions admit very few students from the waitlist from year to year.  Some will admit none at all. Make sure to deposit at one of the colleges that admitted you, the one that you believe to be the best fit, and plan on enrolling there in the fall. So, what to do if waitlisted?

• Commit to staying on the waitlist(send back their reply card, use their portal, etc.)  
• Reaffirm interestin attending said institution via a concise but informative email or letter to the admissions office.  Let them know that the institution remains a top choice, and why.  If you would DEFINITELY enroll if admitted from the waitlist, let them know that. Notify the admissions office of any new and noteworthy accomplishments about which they are currently unaware, whether they be inside or outside of the classroom.  If the institution allows for the submission of new materials, feel free to do so…so long as you are sending something significant that is not already within their file.
• Don’t pester the admissions office. Frequent communication, superfluous documents, etc., can actually be counterproductive. 

Please remember that the College Office cannot call a college to which you've been waitlisted to advocate for your admission