My daughter was waitlisted at Lafayette, and it is one of her top choices. The letter she received said they do not rank the waitlist, so any idea how they pull people off? Is that a valid question to pose to the admissions counselor?
students who can pay full freight AND who have communicated to the admissions office that they WILL enroll if taken off the waitlist ,are generally the first ones to clear.
she should also send Lafayette a list of any recent achievements.
Her GC should ALSO contact the admissions office to reinforce her level of commitment to Lafayette
At smaller selective colleges it’s often by category, e.g., if they end up with fewer deposit-payers with HS drama experience than they want, they might pull another from the wait list. There are lots of categories: state or region of residence, income level, athletic experience, ethnicity, talent, the list can go on and on. If the school has filled its categories, the usual admittance factors might be used. BTW, information on a school’s categories might not be available!
Gender can play a big role. Most schools are aiming for an even male/female split, so if they have too many guys who have enrolled, they may focus WL admits on females. Most schools are need aware during the WL period, so being full pay can help.
It always helps to be a member of a niche group that the school wants. You won’t be told what that is. If you get an opportunity to appeal answer the questions carefully and directly that clarifies where you fit into the school.
Does your D have an excellent guidance counselor? If so, have the GC work it. Of course, that’s in addition to your D sending an email to say that she will definitely enroll if admitted. Don’t just say it’s her #1. She has to say she will DEFINITELY enroll if admitted.
As others said, being full pay is almost essential during the WL period. They’ve already spend the FA budget.
So someone who applied for FA would have to become full pay to have a chance?
If you have a large financial need, it’s unlikely to come off the WL. How could you become full pay if you can’t afford it?
Most schools are need blind (but don’t meet full need), so financial need applies only to those few need-aware schools.
Thank you, all. There’s no way daughter would say she would definitely attend because she’s got great offers elsewhere and we’re not wiling to be full pay for Laf. The letter she received did say she’d be eligible for FA but no info on how that would work, ie would she have a FA offer at the time of admissions offer (if that were to even happen). She really has no “hooks” either. Some great leadership and volunteering and three varsity sports, but not sure if she’d continue any of those in college. She does love working with adults with developmental disabilities and that is what she wants to do for a career. But that’s not a hook in any way. She is going to speak with her GC but honestly, her GC hadn’t even heard of most of d’s small LACs–she very much points kids toward the instate uni, other state unis, and instate privates, especially focusing on Catholic colleges because it’s a Catholic high school. Think we may need to let go of Laf as a possibility.
It depends on the college.
The first thing I would do is look at Lafayette’s Common Data Set and see how many students come off the waiting list each year. if it is small, then start figuring out what other college she will attend. Also see if they rank the WL.
If it is larger, then the college will want someone who will definitely attend if admitted. This helps colleges increase their “yield” (Enrolled Students/Admitted students) .So she needs to write a letter updating any awards/honors/whatever that have happened since she applied and tell Laf that iti s her top choice and that she would 100% attend if admitted.
Private schools often still give merit to WL students.
I think that they use the WL to fill out the class…They may need another English major or Tuba player or whatever.
But really, after she does that, have her attend admitted students days at the other colleges and start down that path. If Laf comes through, then great. Otherwise she will have another wonderful choice.
Thank you @bopper. She is moving forward as far as committing elsewhere. Laf has taken as few as 0 off the wait list and as many as 110 I believe their letter said. They do not rank the WL. She is not 100% sure she would attend. We are currently heading up to URoch for accepted students day. It is also a top choice, though we haven’t gotten any info on merit/FA. It’ll be interesting to see if she likes it more or less than our first visit and more or less than Lafayette. She sent in her latest grades. There really isn’t much to update… no awards or anything. She spent a week in WV doing a Habitat for Humanity type program, which affected her in many ways. Would it be worth sending in something about that? Probably not I’d guess. Her GC has been out but she’s going to speak with her as well when she returns.
It certainly can’t hurt if she is still interested in Laf… but given that WL record I would concentrate elsewhere.