Help for Waitlisted Students

At Ivy Coach, we give waitlisted students the best shot possible of getting in. Do they have a great shot? No. But we give them the best shot possible (photo credit: Chensiyuan).

If recently your child learned that he or she was waitlisted at one or more Ivy League (or non-Ivy League) universities, all hope is not lost. In most cases that is. We received an email recently from a student who was waitlisted at a highly selective college, an Ivy League college, and he wrote in to tell us that he sent an email that boasted of many of his achievements since first applying. For this student, we wished him all the best because we believe all hope to be lost. After all, sending in a list of accomplishments doesn’t exactly inspire admissions officers to want to go to bat for a student. Rather, it has the opposite impact. Big time.

Most students who are waitlisted will never earn admission off college waitlists — either because they’ll do nothing other than send in the card to indicate they wish to remain on the waitlist or because they’ll send in lists (or letters) that are boastful. Likeability matters in highly selective college admissions. It’s not about the accomplishments. What has a student really achieved in the couple of months since first applying? Likely nothing that changes our world. Or even close.

As a rule of thumb, about 10% of students earn admission off waitlists at highly selective colleges. Do 90% of the students we work with for the first time after being waitlisted earn admission off these lists? No. But a whole lot more than 10% do. At Ivy Coach, we give students the best shot possible of earning admission off these lists. And, at the end of the day, that’s all anyone can do. We just happen to do it better than anyone else. Yes, we can boast. We’re not applying to college.

For students who approach us for the first time as potential clients after being waitlisted, all we can offer you is the best shot possible of earning admission off those dreaded waitlists. We will optimize your chances for admission by helping you submit powerful and compelling Letters of Enthusiasm, a term we at Ivy Coach coined years ago that has since become part of the college admissions vernacular. We will give your child the best shot possible of being the one student an admissions officer at a highly selective college roots for and champions. But that’s all we can do. And anyone who should suggest that they can guarantee that your child earns admission off a waitlist or even suggest that in all likelihood they will get off those lists — run and run fast. Run for the hills.

If you’re interested in our help with helping your child earn admission off a waitlist or multiple waitlists, fill out our free consult form and we’ll be in touch within the day via email. If you don’t hear from us right away, relax. We will write you back.