CameronFor the majority of U.S. colleges, May 1, the National Candidate Reply Date, is their deadline for deposit payment and students thus secure a spot for enrollment at one particular university. Followed by that, once the number of matriculating students is almost confirmed, some colleges start removing students previously placed on waitlist due to the matriculating students are fewer than expected/projected. In other words, the yield rate, the percentage of admitted students who enroll, isn’t as ideal; the under enrollment therefore pushes the college to extend offers to students on waitlist, hoping these students will accept the offer and attend this college, in order to fill in the spots that are still open. Sometimes, students don’t know the school’s final decision until the end of their senior year, or even very late until July.
According to the National Association for College Admissions Counseling:
- 43% of institutions use waitlists (48% of private colleges and 34% of public colleges)
- An average of 10% of college applicants are placed on a waitlist
- On average, 50% of waitlisted students decide to stay on a waitlist
- Colleges eventually admit 20% of waitlisted students on average
- Of students who were waitlisted at selective institutions, 7% were eventually admitted
In short, waitlist is a method that colleges use to better manage the number of enrollments: when the incoming class of students enrolling are fewer than expected, more waitlisted students will be admitted. And vice versa, when the yield rate is high, very few students on waitlist will be offered acceptance; say, for Ivy League, roughly only about 1% students on waitlist are eventually accepted. On the other hand, Vanderbilt University, with admission rate of about 6.3% during Regular Decision, has historically 7-10% of the first-year class made up of students who were initially waitlisted earlier in the process. Therefore, how many students will get off waitlist depend solely on how many admitted students choose to matriculate somewhere else.
To this end, here are some steps to follow once being place on waitlist:
- Confirm intent to remain on waitlist. Once students are notified that they’ve been place on waitlist, they have the choice either to stay on waitlist or just simply decline the waitlist offer and therefore forgo this school. On top of that, students also learn about if the school applies ranked waitlist or unranked. For ranked waitlist, candidates with stronger qualifications will be placed at the top of the list; as seats become available, the school contacts applicants in the order of their ranking. On the contrary, unranked waitlist does not admit students by a particular order, selection is made primarily based on the original application and update grades. Factors such as continued interest in the school, intended major, geographic diversity and etc. may also play a role.
- Submit additional information to demonstrate continued interest. With the intent to stay on waitlist, students should update admission officers with new achievements since application submission. Typically, in addition to Mid-Year Report, second semester grades, leadership positions, academic honors, extracurricular activity engagements, internship/research opportunities, and letters of recommendation are accepted. Above all, students always emphasize their genuine intention to matriculate if admitted, through this way, the school learns the student’s commitment.
- Keep the communication professional and mature. While it is understandable the anxiety and frustration that students experience once learning they’ve been placed on waitlist, students ought to be aware of the quality and quantity of the contacts going back and forth between them and the school. It is never a good idea that students reach out too frequently or send exaggerated achievements.
- Maintain close watch on the waitlist update. Most of the time, when a student is notified of being off the waitlist, they are given a very short window to respond; sometimes, it can be as short as 48 or 72 hours. Therefore, when students have decided on remain on waitlist, they should always keep an eye on the update so they don’t miss out the long-waited offer.
Helpful links:
The Vanderbilt Waitlist: True and False | The Vandy Admissions Blog | Vanderbilt University