This question is related to the letter of confirmation following a waitlisted RD situation. Question regards the strategy in the timing of this letter. Is it advisable to send this letter sooner than later, ie before more decisions come in later this month? Stated differently, is it harmful to wait for all decisions to come before sending this letter (which would include a truthful statement of intent to attend)? *Daughter has been waitlisted at one of her three top choices, she’s waiting for the other two decisions to come in. Ideally she wants to wait for an acceptance from one of the other two (both reaches) but if writing this letter might seal the deal - then should she?
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I would send the letter now. She can always decline if circumstances change.
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I wouldn’t wait - but know many wait lists are tough to get off - so she should send it and move on emotionally.
I say this because a WL is a school saying we can’t accept you. However, if our yield falls short and we need more kids, then we’ll pull from it. In other words, it’s an insurance policy for them.
Not all but many private ones are need aware - so being full pay can help.
Some schools literally WL multiples of the amount of people people they accept, etc - so send in the letter now, but then forget about the school - so emotionally she doesn’t get attached.
And if it comes through later, then you can revisit - but many kids by then have moved on…
PS - if you google the school name and common data set, you can see the most recent WL info in section C2 - some take a lot, some few. It just depends on how good they are at guessing their initial yield.
Best of luck.
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The OP asked a simple question so a simple answer.
Send the letter and express the intention to attend if accepted off the waitlist. Let’s hope circumstances change with some acceptances forthcoming but currently that is accurate.
Good luck!
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That’s helpful if that’s the case. But this candidate doesn’t know all decisions yet, so unless this was #1, they might not want to say that.
I would look at what this school has done in past. If they approach WL applicants before the finsl decision date, by all means, send that LOCI with any updates now.
But if they wait, I don’t think there’s any harm in waiting, especially if it might allow you to say “,if you make me an offer, I’ll be there!”.
Fwiw, DS accepted 2 WL offers (with a LOCI with updated awards) – both NESCACs – 2 days before the final response date and was offered a spot at both the following week. Perhaps he was top of mind and/or they knew it was serious, not just saying yes to every WL.
We can agree to disagree. As of right now she has no other acceptances that she prefers. This school is her top choice of available options.
She can amend her position as results come in and if needed update WL school. In the unlikely event she comes off the waitlist before further results (great option that might not happen if she didn’t respond early) she can make a decision from a position of strength.
WL can be a game of musical chairs and until she has a better option she should participate in a way that gives her the best chance to find a desirable chair.
Congratulations on your kids success.
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DD waited but probably a bit too long. But it worked. In a letter she mentioned several top schools that accepted her and explained why she wanted to attend a particular school (in her case it was no-brainer since all family members were attending that school and she grew up dreaming about it from preschool). She got very lucky and came of waitlist after that letter in 2 days.
Minor addition. We were full pay OOS for that school. Thus strategy will not work if you are looking for any FA.
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