The Ivy Coach Daily
How to Write a Waitlist Appeal Letter [With Letter Sample]
Some call it a Letter of Continued Interest. Others call it a Letter of Enthusiasm. And still others call it a Waitlist Appeal Letter. Whatever you choose to call it, if a highly selective university has waitlisted you and you want to get off that waitlist, you have to submit a powerful letter that sways admissions officers to root for you. So what exactly is this Waitlist Appeal Letter, and how should you approach it?
What Is a Waitlist Appeal Letter?
It’s a note to express your continued interest in attending. It’s a (hopefully compelling) letter designed to inspire an admissions officer to want to pluck you from the waitlist and offer you a spot in the incoming class.
How to Approach Writing an Appeal Letter for a Waitlist
So how should you craft the letter to give yourself the best chance of admission?
What Should Be Included in a Waitlist Appeal Letter
A Waitlist Appeal Letter should be between 500-650 words (the length of a Personal Statement) and include the following:
- Specific after specific of how a student is going to contribute their singular hook to an institution through the school’s programs, institutes, activities, culture, traditions, etc.
- A demonstrated eagerness to attend the school. They want to know you love them and that you love them for the right reasons. Show, don’t tell.
What Should Not Be Included in a Waitlist Appeal Letter
A Waitlist Appeal Letter should not include the following:
- Brags. Students should not toot their own horns, as doing so will make them unlikeable.
- Updates. What have students achieved in the few months since they submitted their application? And if they have achieved something worth noting, let the counselor mention it during an advocacy call with the admissions office.
- Generic sentences that can apply to any school. “Brown is the school I most wish to attend.” “With its beautiful campus, small class sizes, and diverse student body, Dartmouth is in a class by itself.”
- College acceptance updates. “I thought I’d let you know, as I await word on the Yale waitlist, I’ve earned admission to UPenn, Columbia, and UChicago.” Yes, that will all but assure a student’s rejection.
The Distinction Between Waitlist Appeal Letters and Appeal Letters
Even though we’ve coined it a Waitlist Appeal Letter in this post (since some folks call this letter by this name), it should not be confused with an Appeal Letter.
Most highly selective universities do not accept Appeal Letters (or letters written after a rejection hoping to overturn the verdict). The University of Southern California, the University of California schools, and the University of Texas at Austin are the top schools that allow the submission of an Appeal Letter after a denial.
Your Chances of Admission Off a Highly Selective College’s Waitlist
Top National Universities
Below are the waitlist acceptance rates for the Classes of 2029, 2028, 2027, and 2026 for America’s top national universities of 2026. For schools that have yet to publish their corresponding Common Data Set (most schools have yet to publish the data for the Class of 2029), we report “Not Yet Released.” For schools that have already published their corresponding Common Data Set but have failed to include waitlist statistics, we report “Not Published.”
| College / University | 2026 US News Rank (“Best National Universities”) | Class of 2029 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Class of 2028 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Class of 2027 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Class of 2026 Waitlist Acceptance Rate |
| Princeton University | #1 | Not Yet Released | 2.87% | 0% | 0% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | #2 | Not Yet Released | 1.77% | 0% | 4.99% |
| Harvard University | #3 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Stanford University | #4 | Not Yet Released | 6.04% | 15.02% | 1.75% |
| Yale University | #4 | Not Yet Released | 4.07% | 0% | 1.15% |
| University of Chicago | #6 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Duke University | #7 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Johns Hopkins University | #7 | 1.86% | 1.86% | 4.10% | 0% |
| Northwestern University | #7 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| University of Pennsylvania | #7 | 2.89% | 2.89% | 1.75% | 5.86% |
| California Institute of Technology | #11 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 0% | 8.98% |
| Cornell University | #12 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 6.27% | 5.87% |
| Brown University | #13 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Dartmouth College | #13 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 1.32% | 0% |
| Columbia University | #15 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| University of California, Berkeley | #15 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 0.33% | 24.71% |
| Rice University | #17 | 4.37% | 4.37% | 0.25% | 0% |
| University of California, Los Angeles | #17 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 13.17% | 11.94% |
| Vanderbilt University | #17 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Carnegie Mellon University | #20 | 0.73% | 0.32% | 1.47% | 0.92% |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | #20 | Not Yet Released | 5.18% | 0.51% | 0.52% |
| University of Notre Dame | #20 | 3.66% | 3.03% | 3.23% | Not Published |
| Washington University in St. Louis | #20 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 7.90% | Not Published |
| Emory University | #24 | Not Yet Released | 3.67% | 3.65% | 3.16% |
| Georgetown University | #24 | Not Yet Released | 8.06% | 5.77% | 2.22% |
Top Liberal Arts Colleges
Below are the waitlist acceptance rates for the Classes of 2029, 2028, 2027, and 2026 for America’s top liberal arts colleges of 2026. For schools that have yet to publish their corresponding Common Data Set (most liberal arts colleges, unlike the national universities, have published the data for the Class of 2029), we report “Not Yet Released.” For schools that have already published their corresponding Common Data Set but have failed to include waitlist statistics, we report “Not Published.” For schools that don’t waitlist students, we report “Not Applicable.”
| College / University | 2026 US News Rank (“Best National Universities”) | Class of 2029 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Class of 2028 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Class of 2027 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Class of 2026 Waitlist Acceptance Rate |
| Williams College | #1 | 2.94% | 13.17% | 0.47% | 0% |
| Amherst College | #2 | 5.95% | 1.28% | 7.85% | 3.99% |
| United States Naval Academy | #3 | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) |
| Swarthmore College | #4 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Bowdoin College | #5 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| United States Air Force Academy | #5 | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) |
| Claremont McKenna College | #7 | 13.01% | 5.31% | 11.11% | 2.04% |
| Pomona College | #7 | 4.33% | 6.19% | 7.34% | 1.50% |
| Wellesley College | #7 | 2.62% | 1.60% | 3.40% | Not Published |
| Carleton College | #10 | Not Yet Released | 21.49% | 9.83% | 5.08% |
| Harvey Mudd College | #10 | 0.00% | 13.15% | 14.04% | 4.06% |
| United States Military Academy at West Point | #10 | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) |
| Barnard College | #13 | Not Yet Released | 9.45% | 13.73% | 4.13% |
| Davidson College | #13 | Not Yet Released | 4.10% | Not Published | Not Published |
| Grinnell College | #13 | Not Yet Released | 3.05% | 0.03% | 4.07% |
| Hamilton College | #13 | Not Yet Released | 3.70% | 3.28% | 0.00% |
| Middlebury College | #13 | 5.80% | 2.00% | 1.32% | 0.54% |
| Smith College | #13 | 0.00% | 5.35% | 8.19% | 3.27% |
| Vassar College | #13 | 5.88% | 32.70% | 11.98% | 5.02% |
| Wesleyan University | #13 | 0.29% | 14.80% | 5.20% | 0.50% |
| Washington and Lee University | #21 | 0.30% | 9.12% | 0% | 1.07% |
| Colgate University | #23 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | 4.91% | 0% |
| University of Richmond | #23 | 3.20% | 1.60% | 0% | 1% |
| Bates College | #24 | Not Yet Released | 3.85% | 7.95% | 0% |
| Colby College | #24 | Not Yet Released | Not Published | Not Published | Not Published |
| Haverford College | #24 | Not Yet Released | 0.42% | 3.65% | Not Published |
Your Chances of Admission Off a Highly Selective College’s Waitlist with Ivy Coach’s Assistance
Below are the waitlist acceptance rates for schools that reported the data to The Common Data Set for the Class of 2029 and Ivy Coach’s corresponding waitlist acceptance rates for the last 10 years (in the case of national universities), and 30 years (in the case of liberal arts colleges).
Top National Universities
| College / University | 2026 US News Rank (“Best National Universities”) | Class of 2029 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Ivy Coach’s 10 Year Waitlist Acceptance Rate |
| Princeton University | #1 | Not Yet Released | 33% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | #2 | Not Yet Released | 37% |
| Harvard University | #3 | Not Yet Released | 40% |
| Stanford University | #4 | Not Yet Released | 36% |
| Yale University | #4 | Not Yet Released | 36% |
| University of Chicago | #6 | Not Yet Released | 59% |
| Duke University | #7 | Not Yet Released | 46% |
| Johns Hopkins University | #7 | 1.86% | Insufficient Data |
| Northwestern University | #7 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| University of Pennsylvania | #7 | 2.89% | 43% |
| California Institute of Technology | #11 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Cornell University | #12 | Not Yet Released | 45% |
| Brown University | #13 | Not Yet Released | 40% |
| Dartmouth College | #13 | Not Yet Released | 41% |
| Columbia University | #15 | Not Yet Released | 37% |
| University of California, Berkeley | #15 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Rice University | #17 | 4.37% | Insufficient Data |
| University of California, Los Angeles | #17 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Vanderbilt University | #17 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Carnegie Mellon University | #20 | 0.73% | Insufficient Data |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | #20 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| University of Notre Dame | #20 | 3.66% | Insufficient Data |
| Washington University in St. Louis | #20 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Emory University | #24 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Georgetown University | #24 | Not Yet Released | 40% |
Top Liberal Arts Colleges
| College / University | 2026 US News Rank (“Best National Universities”) | Class of 2029 Waitlist Acceptance Rate | Ivy Coach’s 30+ Year Waitlist Acceptance Rate |
| Williams College | #1 | 2.94% | 25% |
| Amherst College | #2 | 5.95% | 20% |
| United States Naval Academy | #3 | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) |
| Swarthmore College | #4 | Not Yet Released | 100% |
| Bowdoin College | #5 | Not Yet Released | 100% |
| United States Air Force Academy | #5 | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) |
| Claremont McKenna College | #7 | 13.01% | Insufficient Data |
| Pomona College | #7 | 4.33% | 100% |
| Wellesley College | #7 | 2.62% | Insufficient Data |
| Carleton College | #10 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Harvey Mudd College | #10 | 0.00% | Insufficient Data |
| United States Military Academy at West Point | #10 | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) | Not Applicable (No Waitlist) |
| Barnard College | #13 | Not Yet Released | 62% |
| Davidson College | #13 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Grinnell College | #13 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Hamilton College | #13 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Middlebury College | #13 | 5.80% | 47% |
| Smith College | #13 | 0.00% | Insufficient Data |
| Vassar College | #13 | 5.88% | Insufficient Data |
| Wesleyan University | #13 | 0.29% | Insufficient Data |
| Washington and Lee University | #21 | 0.30% | Insufficient Data |
| Colgate University | #23 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| University of Richmond | #23 | 3.20% | Insufficient Data |
| Bates College | #24 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Colby College | #24 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data |
| Haverford College | #24 | Not Yet Released | Insufficient Data\ |
Getting Started with Ivy Coach on Waitlist Appeal Letters
If you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s assistance in crafting a compelling Waitlist Appeal Letter, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll get back to you with an immediate response.
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