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“Good enough” doesn’t equate with “made the cut”. Top colleges tend to waitlist at least 3 times as many students as they admit – while there may be many outstanding students who make the waitlist, there are also students who are deemed qualified but definitely not up to the level of those who are offered admission in the first go round.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that waitlists are used for a variety of reasons. Among other things, they are often a source of full pay students when space opens up and the financial aid budget has been taxed to its limit. </p>
<p>My kids were waitlisted at several schools and in each case I could point out a specific deficit in the kids application that could account for why they were not admitted at the outset.</p>