Does anyone know how many people approximately are put on the Bowdoin waitlist? Does anyone come off? Thanks. My son was waitlisted yesterday.
See if the school’s common data set has any information.
As a general rule it is fine to send a LOCI but then I suggest your S move on from Bowdoin and focus on choosing a college from his acceptances.
On last year’s CDS, they don’t say how many but 29 were admitted.
Same the year b4 with 10 admitted.
It’s wise to take WL for what it is - we have not accepted you - also known as a rejection. Get on it - but move on. It’s there for them, not you - in case they miss their goals. It’s insurance.
You can look at other similar schools to get an idea of how many might be on:
Bates offered 2198 of which 855 went on last year.
Middlebury in their last report 2259 of which 2215 went on.
Yes, these schools WL multiples of how many they admit - because again, they are looking for protection for them, not you.
My guess is Bowdoin doesn’t want to embarrass itself which these other schools, kind of do…leading these poor kids on when perhaps some will get off, but by and large for the masses they won’t.
Anyway - there’s some stats to possibly use as reference. As @happy1 says - sign up, forget, and fall in love with where the student intends to be this fall. As will often happen, if that WL school returns, the student often tells them - sorry - someone else loved me first!!
Good luck.
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Bowdoin typically waitlists 1,000+ students. They just choose not to report it on their CDS. You tell me—is it better to be more open about chances of getting in off the waitlist by reporting complete numbers, or better to just not report them?
This is very helpful. I think my son had already moved on because he is considering a gap year which I believe is not possible if you come off a waitlist. And it seems highly unlikely to come off anyway. I appreciate the information.
Best of luck!!
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That article is 15 years old, so not much help today as we have no idea what Bowdoin’s current waitlist practices are.
Not many schools are transparent with the waitlist numbers and/or how students are selected from the waitlist (can be based on ability to pay full COA, gender, major, etc.) Even if they were more transparent, it likely wouldn’t change the advice for OP.
I agree that a waitlisted student should move on, and see what happens as things shake out this year. Could be a lot of movement because of the FAFSA situation with late FA packages and many different enrollment deadlines out there, but no one really knows what’s going to happen.
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The selective schools generally take between 0-10% of the WL. Last year Bowdoin accepted 29 students of the WL. My guess is that 500 kids were on WL.
In the latest common data sets, Amherst reported waitlisting 1419. Williams 2241. Middlebury 2259. Bates 2198. Wesleyan 2754. Pomona 800+.
Swarthmore and Bowdoin and Colby don’t answer this question in their CDS (Colby doesn’t release their CDS period).
I think it’s safe to assume that Bowdoin still waitlists at least 1,000 applicants per year.
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Your guess is based on what exactly?
Nothing really. I looked at enrolled/admitted/yield and threw out an “at least” guess. I was simply trying to convey that WL is nothing to wait for.
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It’s like guessing how many jelly beans are in the bowl. My guess is at least 1500 - but we’ll never know unless they tell us!! But based on the direct competition, I’d surmise a lot more than 500.
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I think 1,500+ is a good guess. Again, a waitlist for most is a polite rejection. For a very, very lucky few, it’s a lifeline.
Thanks everyone. I figured a waitlist was most likely a no. I appreciate the info and we are moving away from Bowdoin and towards the other schools he has been accepted to.
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