Waitlisted College Applicants

If you’re one of the many waitlisted college applicants, know that you’re not alone. Also know that there are things that you can do to improve your odds of getting off the waitlist and into the college of your dreams. Read our article in “The Huffington Post” to find out more about what you can do to achieve this goal. But, while you’re here, we’d also like to highlight some points in a “Chicago Tribune” article published today on waitlisted college applicants.

There are a number of students waiting on waitlists. How do you get off the lists? Show interest among other things. And money helps, too. You read that right.

“Call the admissions office.” Let your regional admissions officer know that you’re still interested in attending should you be admitted off of the waitlist. That doesn’t mean call every day. Or every hour. It means call and connect once. Don’t harass them. Don’t make them cringe at the mere mention of your name. That would only hurt you. It’s a fine line!

“Do not overwhelm admissions with new material.” One update can be sent that includes your significant accomplishments since you applied. These accomplishments thus should not have been on your application. If that were the case, this would indeed not be new material. And, as we’ve written before, significant means significant. Taking a bath, while hygienic, is not significant. You’d be amazed with the updates some students send in to admissions offices. Ok, maybe not bath updates, but you get the idea.

“Money matters.” It absolutely does. No matter what you’re told, colleges pull students off the waitlist who are full-pays. They’re unlikely to be pulling off financial aid cases. Their financial aid budget, at this point, is severely depleted if not nonexistent. So, yes, the rich stand a better chance of getting off the waitlist than the poor. It is what it is. We don’t make the rules. We just give you insider tips on the secrets of highly selective college admission.