Hello everyone, one of my waitlisted boarding school gave me a variety of options as to how long I would like to stay on the waitlist. Options included April 15, April 30, May 15, May 30 and through July. Which one is better and would increase my chance of being taken off the waitlist and accepted? Thank you!
If you are willing to change your plans at the last minute, you will want to stay on as long as possible.
You can tell them " I would, of course, be delighted to accept a spot this month. However, I really want to enroll at xyz in September, so I will happily stay on the WL until July with the hope that a spot might become available."
Lots of students hit a point, often around May or June, when they want to focus on the plans they have, so agreeing to July will keep you in the running for longer than most. I am only guessing, but I think a lot of schools are going to see a less settled admissions picture than usual over the summer because of Corona uncertainty.
I don’t have any experience in this so don’t trust my judgment, but I would say to stay on the waitlist through July. This increases your chance of being taken off, since many applicants will leave the waitlist after April 10th (initial decisions) and early July (final payments). And, if you don’t want to give up your payment at the school you planned on attending, getting off the waitlist doesn’t mean you need to enroll.
You can trust @ecowell 's judgment!