Jeanie Grimm, College Consultant

So you’ve been waitlisted. What next? 

At McNeal Sams, we know you feel how you feel, and we respect that and want to fully support you. We also know that what you do next is important for your present and future happiness and success. This piece addresses what being waitlisted means, what you can do, and what we recommend. 

The waitlist is a strong enrollment management tool for colleges and universities, and somewhere between welcome news and utterly disappointing news for students. For colleges, it represents a chance to fill their class, assuming they don’t through the early and regular rounds of admissions and matriculations, with students they want on campus. 

Waitlists are generally not ranked. Colleges ask you to indicate if you intend to remain in the pool and they wait to see what sorts of students matriculate. They are still trying to meet institutional need and build a diverse and interesting class. If a student from an underrepresented part of the country delines their offer, they may first examine the applicants who chose to remain on the wait that also fit that bill, for instance. 

Many colleges let you know when they will go to their waitlist, or when they will close it out. Some will do one or other…or neither.

This can all feel like limbo to students and their families. It is! It can be a hard spot to be in! You’ve worked really hard, your decisions start rolling in, and there it is: You’ve been waitlisted. How are you supposed to react? 

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” It’s one that comes to mind when we counsel students when they have been waitlisted. Admissions is carried out in large part in service to the institution. Our work is all about you, and we are eager to see you get excited about where you’ve been admitted and begin the process of making that very lucky school your next home. All that to say, you can only count on the schools to which you have been admitted. 

You are under no obligation to remain on a waitlist. Think about how you manage indecision and feeling uncertain, and speak to your McNeal Sams advisor, before you make a decision. If you decide to stay on, we suggest you do everything they allow you to do (write a Letter of Continued Interest, which we can help with, submit additional materials), of course! And then…fall in love with the school that have admitted you! You may be pleasantly surprised to get admitted from the waitlist, or you may be disappointed to be notified that they have closed their class. Either way, the time and effort you put into getting to know your potential next homes, and then selecting the one that is the best fit for you, is well spent. It will either pay off at that school, or the process is one you can duplicate easily, should you be admitted off of the waitlist.

We are eager and ready to help if you are waitlisted! Please reach out.