How ,much time do students typically get to make a decision when admitted form the wait list?
My son currently is wait listed from 2 schools that are his current top choices. He has not visited either one. I want to make sure he gets to experience the schools before he accepts. It will be a cross country trip for us, so we will need some time to make a visit. He asked if he could attend the admitted student days, but was told that it is for admitted students only.
I hope you will communicate with the schools about any anticipated visits, because that is one way to show demonstrated interest. Let the schools know they are still top choices, that your son is staying on the waiting list, and that he will be visiting, in the hope of getting in. Maybe he can meet with someone too…
Demonstrated interest can be important for some schools. They are concerned with “yield,” meaning, they are concerned with stats regarding the percentage of admitted students who accept their offer of admission.
Not sure how a kid on the waitlist who ultimately accepts an offer affects yield, since they are replacing someone who did not accept the offer. But in general, at this stage of the game, demonstrating interest is a good thing to do- if he has a shot at being admitted from the list.
Of course, he could also write a letter of continued interest. If the chances are slim for admission, going to the expense of cross-country travel may not be worth it, so it really does depend on the odds for admission.
Maybe they can tell you the chances up front. Or some sort of percentage as an average.
I am only speculating but if he gets in off a waitlist I would think he would have to respond very quickly, because there are others waiting on the list. So yes good idea to figure out which one is top choice, but then again, he might be smart to say yes to whichever one tells him yes first! Others may know more about this…
You will have 48 to 72 hours to verbally commit and then they send something and you have to deposit. So yes, fast.
Personally, I would wait for the call and then drop everything to visit. They may give you an extra day if you’re getting on a plane.
You may not get a call, and if that happens, these visits are only distancing your child from the place where he’s been accepted and will enroll. There is a reason WL students are not invited to accepted student days.
Having said that, it depends on the schools involved. I can imagine at some, it could help.
My D was offered a spot off a waitlist and had 3 days to respond. She didn’t have time to visit and her first time on campus was on move-in day. I asked her later if it was how she expected it to be, based on looking at information online, and she said yes. No regrets, thankfully!
I agree with @gardenstatelegal . I, too, question whether it is wise to visit a WL school. Depending on the school, it can be very unlikely to get in off the WL, and meanwhile your S is not making more realistic plans to attend a school where he was accepted.
I’m of the “write a letter and make your best case then forget about it” school of thought.
If I were in your place I would start having him decide what college that he WAS admitted to that he wants to attend…as you get closer to May 1 get him the sweatshirt. At that point you have to act as if he is attending that school. Then I would have him choose one of the waitlist schools to stay on…and tell them if admitted he would attend and he is their top choice and tell him to forget about the waitlist school until he hears anything but start investigating the school he has said he will attend.
I don’t see any reason not to stay on both WLs. Just concentrate on picking from the existing choices. A bird in the hand and all that.
This thread probably should have been titled “Time to decide IF admitted from waitlist.” 
Good luck to your S. I’m glad he has choices.
Agree. if
Additionally, I agree the all the posts above. In the interim, your son should love the school that loves him back.
Do not visit a school not admitted to. That will make it so hard to ‘love the school that loves him’. Chances off the WL are very slim, just look at CDS data if you want proof.
Thanks for all of your feedback. I will discuss the options with my son. He has already committed to one of the schools where he has been admitted.
It is going to take some time to get over the “March Sadness”.
Yes, it’s important to look at the college’s Freshmen Profile. How many students they did accept last year and how many enrolled? In reality, their “waitlist” was half of the people they accepted probably, because they protect their yield upfront. “Waitlists” are such a misnomer at most schools. Be upfront and simply call these two schools and ask exactly how many students they took off the waitlists before you go visiting. If they took less than twenty, don’t get on these lists and move on and don’t drag out March Sadness into April.
Numbers taken off WLs vary wildly at each school from year to year. There really is little or no predictive value.
Ya, my son was on a WL. He had never visited the schools he was accepted at. We toured 3 in a week, including an accepted students day . When he got off the WL, he had an hour or so to respond.
Still don’t know if the right decision