Hello! I was recently waitlisted at UMass Amherst and want to know if there is any way of helping my chances of acceptance. Is there anyone who has been in my position and has gotten off the waitlist? Should I write a letter of continued interest?
Hi @unigirlcc, I was put on the waitlist for my top choice and was rejected. In all honesty, I wouldn’t put to much faith in the waitlist system. I can’t say for a fact how UMass handles applicants on the waitlist, but the majority of colleges accept very few applicants from the waitlist pool (i.e. <10%). Applicants who are taken from the waitlist often fill last minute gaps in the incoming class (i.e. diversity), thus the admissions office often looks for specific qualities rather than your entire application. It’s usually better to move onto other schools you applied to, were accepted and are excited for.
However, if you are still interested in UMass, a letter of continued interest is always appreciated by admissions officers, because at least they know that if they give you an opening, that you’ll almost definitely take it. I’m not sure your application statistics or how much interest you put in UMass (whether you visited, interviewed, etc.) but sometimes admissions find qualified candidates that lack what they perceive as ‘demonstrated interest’ and places them on the waitlist to see if they truly want to enroll.
Best of luck!