<p>Recently I was misquoted in a newspaper article which claimed that “gimmicks” are my “favorite” way to help students get themselves off college waitlists. In reality, I had described such tactics as “last-ditch efforts” and “not imperative.” But, even so, I confess that, over the years, I’ve encouraged waitlisted seniors to consider creative ways to stand out in a crowd --especially if their effort is linked to both the college in question and to some talent that is touted in their application (e.g., the aspiring composer who pens “Ode to Oberlin” or the sculptor who crafts “Swarthmore in Soap”).</p>
<p>Of course, when a applicant who has attempted such a ploy actually is admitted from a waitlist, there’s no way to know if the good news was because of the gimmick or in spite of it. </p>
<p>Even so, I’d be curious to hear from students who tried novel ways to garner attention while waitlisted. What was the gimmick? What was the verdict?</p>
<p>There is a story in Jacques Steinberg’s The Gatekeepers about a student Carter L. Bays, waitlisted in 1994. He sent Wesleyan’s admission office a postcard every day for a month, each providing a reason he should be admitted. He got in.</p>
<p>I remember that story … and even though it seemed to have “worked” back then, I fear that’s it’s spawned a series of imitators ever since and might actually be a liability today.</p>
<p>I posted this in the Brown forum and I was wondering what you thought. I was waitlisted at Brown and wrote a letter saying I’d go there if accepted and I provided an update of how my third quarter went. A couple weeks ago, in our second baseball game of the year, I pitched a perfect game. I decided to include the newspaper article in the envelope with my letter. I’m not nearly good enough to play college ball, but I was hoping whoever read it in admissions was a sports fan. Do you think it will help me or is it too hard to tell if it’ll have an effect?</p>
<p>Bauman1535–Congrats on pitching a perfect game! That’s a more interesting story to tell your kids and grandkids than any college admissions saga!</p>
<p>As I’m sure you know, there’s a lot of luck involved in this process, and if your news clip landed on the right desk it might indeed work in your favor, but that’s a big “if.” My husband, who used to evaluate applicants for Smith, is a big sports fan and a former pitcher himself, so certainly he would appreciate what that feat entails. But, admittedly, many other admission folks wouldn’t get it at all. Or some who do still wouldn’t find it proof of your value to Brown.</p>
<p>Yet, even though you say that you’re not nearly good enough to play baseball at Brown, you might want to send that clip to the Brown coach anyway with a cute little note along the lines of “Using my time constructively while I wait to get off the waitlist. I’m not a recruited athlete but I’ll happily pitch batting practices if I get in!”</p>
<p>Should I be wait listed (waiting on any word- transfer admissions) I plan on sending conceptual finger paintings of how I see my current college.</p>
<p>Maybe not such a bad thing to be known as the gimmick college counselor! When you look at how ridiculously long the wait lists are at top schools, I think it makes total sense to try a well thought out way to emerge from the crowd.</p>
<p>I applied as a transfer to USC, and though I havent been waitlisted, I am still waiting for my decision. So in the meantime, I decided to write a personal letter to them adressing a few of the reasons that I really like USC and what impact I felt that I could have on it. I also took the time to find out the exact classes I would be taking to finish my major, which I hope showed that I’m interested.</p>
<p>Then I said that if admitted, I would be going and they wouldnt have to worry about that, and that unlike many of my competition, USC is not a backup school for me, and that I havent applied to any UC’s, so upon admission, I will 100% surely say yes. In other words though… :p</p>
<p>Last thing I did was include ‘mathematical’ proof that I was perfect for them… I made like every letter have a number; A-1 B-2 C-3 etc… and then showed how
[my name] at USC = fantastic^2(squared), by manipulating the number I got from [my name] at USC with factors like, how many years I’d be a proud Trojan, how long I would be at USC and such, so that it became = fantastic^2, or fantastic x fantastic :)<br>
Do you think that last part was a good idea? I thought it was pretty creative, dont know if anyone else has done anything similar, wouldnt be surprised, but I hope its original enough… :P</p>
<p>And what about the letter all in all ? I did include in the first paragraph, that I know they have a lot of stuff to read etc… and that I wanted the letter to act as a follow-up to my application and show that I am still interested and serious about USC.</p>
<p>What do you think ? Good/bad idea? How would you have reacted to it?</p>
<p>Several years ago there was a waitlisted student at W&M who wore a sandwich board. She walked around the campus with this thing on that said something like “I want to be off the waitlist and in the school”. Believe it or not, she did get in. They said it showed initiative and creativity and a real desire to attend.</p>
<p>The only action that I have known to work regarding waitlisting is to notify the school that:</p>
<ol>
<li>You regret that you were waitlisted and</li>
<li>You are very interested in matriculating if an opening presents itself and</li>
<li>You will not need any financial aid,which always helps, and</li>
<li>Adding some additional information that was not presented in the college application. Additional , good information is always good.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think that most admission folks will like your initiative, ns89, and that “kolom” can use it as an example of creative approaches to consider, even when there are no improved grades or other big accomplishments to report. </p>
<p>Once again, however, I urge all waitlisted students to keep in mind that there is a big element of luck involved. What one admission official thinks is clever or cute might be a turn-off for a colleague.</p>
<p>Above all, waitlist admissions is a numbers game. How many spaces will open up? That can vary markedly from year to year. Also, those spaces are often used to fill “deficiencies” in the class. In other words, if the college didn’t get as many science majors or synchronized swimmers or students from the Southwest that they had expected, then it may be the waitlisted applicants who qualify in one (or ideally more) of those areas who get good news first.</p>
<p>The biggest thing I recommend is to call your local or regional admissions rep. they can give you information on the status of the waitlist, and you can let them know about your strong interest in attending, as well as that you would attend if you’re accepted off the waitlist. Another thing that will beef up your chances, if your waitlist school has mid-year admissions, is to let the admissions rep you’re wiling to accept january or mid-year admission if their fall class is full. (make sure you’re actually willing to start in january before bringing this up.)</p>
<p>Other than that, the best thing you can do is send a letter telling the committee why the school is such a good fit for you and also stating that you’ll attend if accepted. if you’ve had any interesting updates to your application (for example, I made honor roll and won two awards that spring), mention those and possibly send xeroxes of the awards.</p>
<p>I did all of those things and was successfully accepted off the waitlist at my first choice college. I was one of only a small handful of students to be accepted off of a waitlist that over 200 students were on that year.</p>
<p>ok thanks Sally! I’ll hope for the best! :)</p>
<p>Yeah, I think calling is a good idea, make your counselor and the admissions people get to know you a bit over the phone, or at least remember your name Also if you keep it at a reasonable level, then that would show interest imo :)</p>
<p>I’ve been misquoted by the media before… more than once. It makes me mad, especially since they used incorrect grammar and even MISSPELLED my quote… which makes me seem like a dumbass</p>
<p>I’d just like to mention that the Carter Bays described in “The Gatekeepers” is the same Carter Bays who created/writes “How I Met Your Mother”. Definitely a waitlist success story!</p>
Also if you keep it at a reasonable level, then that would show interest imo :)</p>