<p>I’m unsure. If I go, I know I’ll fall in love with the school and then will only want to go there… while I’ll be signed up at a different school at the same time. Comments? Opinions?</p>
<p>From the UChicago blog:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“https://blogs.uchicago.edu/collegeadmissions/2010/03/some-advice-for-students-on-th.html[/url]”>https://blogs.uchicago.edu/collegeadmissions/2010/03/some-advice-for-students-on-th.html</a></p>
<p>They summed it up pretty nicely. You don’t really want to fall back in love with the school if your chances at being admitted are so low. But if you’d really like to visit, it shouldn’t be that big a deal. You’ll certainly enjoy yourself.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you need to be ready to accept or refuse an offer of admission off the waitlist in a relatively short period of time.</p>
<p>I went to a school I was waitlisted at, and it wasn’t too bad. I may have been lucky though, I didn’t really like it that much. It felt kinda weird being in the tour group with all juniors in HS though.</p>
<p>Oh, trust me, everything I’ve heard about Stanford has been nothing but positive, and I don’t think there’s anything that would stop me from going there if I was accepted. It’s my #1 choice and my dream school. Actually seeing the campus would only reinforce my viewpoint. :)</p>
<p>^ Which is exactly why you shouldn’t visit (yet) because it’ll only hurt more if you get rejected in the end. It’s like touching something you can’t have. Although I do hope you get in.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you, but no, do not visit campus. That way, if they admit you, you’ll get super excited about going (even more so than you would have been, had you been admitted right away). Again, best of luck to you.</p>
<p>That’s true. I see what you’re saying. I’ll be up in the Bay Area anyway because I plan on visiting Cal that same weekend, so maybe I’ll just “drive by” Stanford, at least to see if the outside matches the pictures online.</p>
<p>Can I take my name off the waitlist later?</p>
<p>All I know is that we have until May 1 to either accept or deny a spot on the waitlist. From there on, it’s in Stanford’s hands. Eesh.</p>
<p>NOOO. Don’t do that either; you’ll be tempted to actually visit the campus. Just pretend Stanford does not exist for now. Enjoy Cal because it’s a great school… and hope for the best. Like I said, if you do get pulled off the waitlist, you’ll get this orgasmic feeling of happiness. But if you don’t, you’ll have terrific schools to choose from. It’s a win-win situation for you, really.</p>
<p>P.S. Trust me. I hope you remember what I said when you’re in the Bay Area.</p>
<p>mattmorenz
You can take your name of the waitlist at any time before a decision is announced. If a decision is announced and that can happen any time after May 1st, you have only a window of time to accept or reject. </p>
<p>We have decided that it does not make sense to visit Stanford at this time for all the reasons mentioned above. It makes sense to visit your top choices now and accept the best choice you have and then go on the W/L if that is what you want to do. Please remember that people have got calls from Stanford in July and August, so it can be a very long painful wait. </p>
<p>I had posted a similar question on the parents forum and there was a pretty active input from the parent community, including the question of visiting when on W/L. Again situations are very different, but that thread might be provide you with some guidance on this very question.</p>
<p>mazewanderer, I would strongly suggest that you and your waitlisted student <em>do</em> visit Stanford when you are in the area. Sure, it will likely inspire lots of Stanford-lust, but if your student has not even visited the school, he will benefit greatly from having a first-hand look and the opportunity to ask questions about his fields of interest (Stanford has amazing depth and research opportunities in all computational fields, and lots of interdisciplinary options, including student-designed options.) Another benefit that might be derived from a visit is the discovery of some particular synergy between Stanford and your student that he could perhaps address in a supplemental letter to the admissions committee. I really think it takes a visit for a prospective student to intelligently assess where he is most likely to thrive over the next four years.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Do not visit, there is no upside. It will just make you love the school more. If you don’t get off the waitlist it will just hurt that much more. If you do get off the waitlist, (and I hope that you do), you already know you want to go there, so there will be no need for a last minute visit.</p>
<p>Statistically I don’t think Stanford accepts that many people off the waitlist. I do hope you are one of the chosen few but the odds are not in your favor. In any case it will be months before you know. Use that time to get excited about the school you have decided to matriculate to.</p>
<p>Of course there are upsides to a visit, which I just detailed in my prior post. This is a very important decision, and shouldn’t be made based solely on the possibility of eventual disappointment. There’s no need to view this as an either/or situation–if the student is interested enough in Stanford to take a spot on the waitlist, he should certainly visit to gather more information and personal insight, while also learning more about his other college options and getting excited about those too. That seems the more mature approach to take.</p>
<p>I ignored your prior post because I totally disagree with it and I was trying to be polite.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What is the important decision to be made? There is no decision, this student wants to go to Stanford, it is their #1 choice and dream school.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Who are they going to ask? They are a waitlisted students. And they are supposed to start asking about research opportunities? Thanks for the Stanford plug by the way. You are talking to a high school student here, not someone looking for a graduate program.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is nonsense. A supplemental letter talking about synergy isn’t going to make any difference.</p>
<p>To the OP, maybe this is for the best. Maybe Stanford isn’t the right school for you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen students not get into their dream schools and then they ended up at the place they were meant to be. Again, I’ll hode a good thought for you being accepted off of the waitlist.</p>
<p>Stanford has actually cautioned against sending supplementary materials, recommendations etc. They have advised against it.</p>
<p>I agree with Pea that their is no decision really in the case of OP. The OP has decided to go on the wait list and should hope for the best and plan for the worst. </p>
<p>In our case (as was discussed in the detail in the parent thread), we are concerned that if he goes on the W/L and then does not get it, he will be very disappointed. If he does go on the W/L and gets in, we will visit then. </p>
<p>Meanwhile he has to make a choice with what he has and we need to spend time visiting the choices he has, not the ones he does not. In our case we do not see the utility of spending time and money visiting Northern California only for visiting Stanford, when the outcomes are unknown.</p>
<p>In case of the OP, he/she is visiting UC Berkeley anyway and hence it may not be too much extra trouble. I would still advice against a visit to Stanford for the OP but I can understand OP doing that, given that he/she is already there.</p>
<p>Wow, Pea–obnoxious much? My post was addressed to mazewanderer, who had joined the conversation with a similar question after seeking input on the parent’s forum.</p>
<p>And just fyi: with respect to your “polite” assessment of my suggestions as nonsense, I am personally aware of cases in which waitlisted students at Stanford have submitted a brief letter highlighting their specific reasons for hoping to be taken off the waitlist, and have succeeded. It’s true that admissions offices generally discourage a second barrage of recommendations and supplemental materials, but a single brief, carefully tailored letter containing new information or perspective can be useful.</p>
<p>Best of luck to both the OP and mazewanderer.</p>
<p>Zenkoan: Thanks, your insight and advice is appreciated. And I do understand where Zenkoan is coming from and I did not find Zenkoan’s post to be obnoxious in any way.</p>
<p>I didn’t call Zenkoan’s post obnoxious, that is what she said about me, not even my post, me.</p>