College Application Purgatory: What you Must Do if You’re Waitlisted
The wait list is certainly the most stressful position during the college application season. Many applicants with deferred admissions offers in hand are left wondering what to do. As to what you have to do, the answer is easy. Sometimes you can do nothing and remain on the waitlist. Other times, you simply check a box indicating your interest and mail the latter back. But the question of what you should do if on the wait list is more complex.
Being added to a college's waitlist should put you back into action mode. Hope is absolutely not lost because universities almost always admit many applicants from their wait list in an attempt to keep the incoming student body of an expected size. Your goal now is to stand out amongst the other waitlisted candidates. Your foot is already in the door, so the trick is to make sure that the admissions committee opens it for you and not someone else. Try one or more of the following tips:
- Indicate your interest. If you don't have to do anything to remain on the wait list, do something anyway. If you only have to check a box, do something more. Personally call the admissions office to indicate your continued interest in the college and ask if there's anything they would like you to send in to help them make their decision. They're already interested in you as a student, otherwise they would have just rejected you. So make sure you make it clear that the interest is mutual.
- If they don't ask, send it anyway. Several months have passed since you sent in your application, so let the university know all the good things that have happened in the meantime. If your GPA has gone up, send in an updated transcript. A quick report on your new awards, honors, or club presidencies should be sent as well. Anything you believe could have helped you the first time around should be shared.
- If you have nothing new to send, make something. Staying the same guy or gal they wait listed the first time isn't going to get you accepted the second time. Work as hard as you can in your classes and let the school know that you anticipate a GPA increase. Sign up for a college prep class at a local community college to show initiative and preparedness. Shoot for leadership opportunities or community involvement. You need to add to your application in some way to make yourself more attractive to the university. And, of course, let them know all about it.
- Understand why colleges defer applicants to the waitlist. One of the hardest things for admissions committees to do is to make sure they select the right amount of students. This includes complex calculations regarding their typical yield (or the percentage of students they accept who actually attend) and the likelihood that certain applicants will accept an admissions offer. The more sure they can be about you, the more they will like you. So if you're waitlisted at your top-choice school, tell them that they're your top choice and that you will definitely attend if they accept you. If you're less of a risk, you're a better choice for them.
- Find an advocate. If you want to be a college athlete, contact your sport's coach and let him or her know that you've been wait-listed and see what he or she can do to help you. Somethings the athletics department has some sway over who gets to come off the waitlist. If you're not going for sports, find any other contact. A professor, an advisor, or even an admissions officer all make great advocates. If you have someone at the school who likes you and wants you in, you have a much better chance.
The wait-list can be an uncomfortable place to be, but keeping your hopes up and continuing to play the admissions game is the trick to getting accepted off the waitlist. The majority of deferred candidates will do nothing -- they will not call, update their application, or show that they care. By being different, you will stand out and have a decent shot at acceptance. Don't pester the admissions office of course, but do make sure they know that you're interested.
The wait list is never the end of the road, but just a beginning to a new one. Good luck.
Have a question or comment? Leave me one.Stressed Parent? Try the Parent’s College Admissions Mantra
I'm reading through the Fiske 2008 Guide to Colleges
I just had to share the following (edited) gem from the Fiske guide, the "Parent's College Admissions Pledge":
I am a parent and I know nothing. I am serene.
Confronted with endless procrastination, my impulse it to take control - to register for tests, plan visits, schedule interviews, and get applications. And yet I know that everything will be fine if I can summon the fortitude to relax. My child is smart, capable, and perhaps a little too accustomed to me jumping in and fixing things. I will hold back. I will drop hints and encourage, then back off. I will facilitate rather than dominate.
I will not get too high or low about any facet of the college search. By doing so, I give it more importance than it really has. My child's self-worth may already be too wrapped up in getting an acceptance letter. I will attempt to lessen the fear rather than heighten it.
I will remain open to the possibility, however improbable, that my child has the most important things under control. I understand that my anxiety comes partly from a sense of impending loss. I can feel my child slipping away. Sometimes I hold on too tightly.
I realize that my child is almost ready to go. I will respect and encourage independence, even if some of it is expressed as resentment toward me. I will make suggestions with care and try to avoid unnecessary confrontation.
Paying for college is my responsibility. I will take a major role in the search for financial aid and scholarships and speak honestly to my child about the financial realities we face.
I must help my son or daughter take charge of the college search. I will try to support without smothering, encourage without annoying, and consult without controlling. The college search is too big to be handled alone - I will be there every step of the way.
In the spirit of this terrific advice, I have written a new article, What You Should Push Your Child to Do (and What You Shouldn't!).
Have a question or comment? Leave me one.Why (and How!) to Take Control of your Online Presence
Did you know that college admissions officers actually check MySpace, Facebook, and Google? What was long just a myth designed to scare students has now become reality in a new Web-driven era.
Learn their search strategies and how they find you online, and tips to make sure that what they find helps rather than hurts you by reading my newest article on how (and why) to take control of your online presence.
Have a question or comment? Leave me one.A New De-emphasis on SATs in the Ivy Leagues?
There appears to be a new trend emerging at elite universities to focus less on SAT score and more on an applicant's general academic context.
While the top Ivy League schools -- colleges like Yale, Harvard, and Stanford -- don't seem to be changing their admissions standards just yet, the trend to de-emphasize the SAT is working its way upward. Smith College, for example, known for its students' economic diversity, has switched to a system of evaluating students in the context of the opportunities available to them in high school. Dean of enrollment Audrey Smith explains that SAT scores are more a reflection of a student's family income than actual merit or potential. In fact, the College Board reports that in 2007, the median SAT score for students with incomes greater than $100,000 was 1637, while students with incomes less than $50,000 had an average score of only 1462.
This certainly makes sense when considering that students from more wealthy financial backgrounds can afford college luxuries like standardized test tutors and high-priced admissions consultants.
Common acceptance of the ACT was born out of a growing distaste for the SAT at many universities. If the trend of analyzing test scores within a greater economic context becomes more common (which I believe it will), we will in all likelihood see a de-emphasis on SAT scores in the top Ivy Leagues.
Have a question or comment? 3 people do.The College Opportunity and Affordability Act: Why It’s Good News
The U.S. House of Representatives decided yesterday to address the soaring price of college tuition and remove other obstacles that make it harder for qualified students to go to college. The bill they passed, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (H.R. 4137), promises to reform and strengthen the university programs to ensure that they operate in the best interests of students and families.
It is no secret that tuition costs have steadily increased over the past few years, far surpassing the rate of inflation. With masses of students graduating with enormous debt, Congress hopes to alleviate the problem by encouraging colleges to rein in price increases, ensuring that states maintain their higher education funding, and providing students and parents with more information about tuition and college fees. Even better, the bill demands greater disclosure and protections on private student loans.
Other notable goals of the bill include:
- Streamline the federal student financial aid application process
- Make textbook costs more manageable for students
- Allow students to receive year-round Pell Grant scholarships
- Strengthen college readiness programs
- Increase college aid and support programs for veterans and military families
- Improve safety on college campuses
What's best about the bill is that it targets middle class families in ways that previous bills did not. While the federal government has sought many times to increase access for very low income families, middle class students were often left shouldering the leftover tuition. Now it seems that all students are gaining the benefits.
Personally, I think the commitment to greater education regarding student loans is a long overdue change. Even worse than skyrocketing tuition are the ultimate interest payments that later gouge graduates. And with student loans impossible to escape through bankruptcy, early education on smart borrowing (and, more importantly, other financial aid programs) pays off.
Have a question or comment? Leave me one.Do boys have a better chance of getting into a college than girls?
It is a growing truth that colleges are seeing a shift in the balance of male-to-female student ratios. In fact, though males vastly outnumbered females on college campuses just a few years ago, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) predicts that this year's incoming college student population will have 75 boys for every 100 girls. This begs the question: since college admissions boards desire diversity in their student population, will they now be more likely to admit a boy over a girl even if their qualifications are otherwise equal? Or, even more striking, will they admit a less qualified boy?
What we know for sure is that colleges are currently working harder to attract male applicants. Some universities have used athletics as a draw, and some have expended more traditionally male-dominated programs, such as business. Skidmore College in New York, for example, has used both strategies in hopes of drawing in more boys.
However, there does not appear to be any sort of generalized trend for preferential treatment for boys during admissions. Though if you are concerned about a gender penalty (or bump) and want a better estimation of your individual odds, there are two things you should analyze about each college you are interested in:
- Current enrollment statistics will tell you if there is a wide gender gap at your target college. Interviews with admissions officers have revealed that if such a gap existed, they may prefer male applicants. Bruce Poch, admissions dean at Pomona College in Claremont, California suggests that, "if [enrollment] were to suddenly be 65/35, [a gender preference] would be very reasonable."
- Application statistics are revealing as well. Pomona College, for example, admitted 17% of its female applicants to 24% of its male ones in order to maintain a rough 50/50 ratio. Other colleges such as Swarthmore College near Philadelphia engage in similar practices, as suggested by admissions dean Jim Bock who says that he would consider admitting more boys than girls off the waitlist if the incoming class seemed too lopsided.
Girls should not panic too much, however. University of Delaware admissions director Louis Hirsh along with several other admissions officers assert that they would not admit an unqualified male applicant over a qualified female one.
Ultimately, the best any applicant can do is to put his or her best foot forward. I highly recommend that you not stress yourself over potential gender handicaps or the effects of gender diversity. Though boys may receive a slight bump at the margins, there is no evidence yet to suggest that colleges in general are offering preferential enrollment to male applicants.
Have a question or comment? 2 people do.