2 things:
My student had gotten a handwritten letter and XMas card from Admissions director at Deerfield and got waitlisted.
My student told ONE of her schools they were her first choice and got in. To @Center s point. If you do have one school above all others that you want, (others will differ), I think it helps if you tell them if admitted you will go. But you can’t play that game with all of them. And it’s not really nice to say that if you don’t mean it.