Waitlist vs waitinglist how to#

Ultimately, how likely it is you'll be admitted off a waitlist really depends on the particular school you've been waitlisted at.

How highly ranked you are on the waitlist (if the school ranks applicants).

While this is impossible to know, if you have strong qualities such as an SAT score or GPA well above the school's 75th percentile, then it's likely you're a top candidate for admission.

How strong your overall application is, especially compared with other waitlist applicants.

Carnegie Mellon maintains a Priority Waiting List, for example, for applicants whose first choice is CMU. This factor mainly depends on how interested you are in the college and whether you've actively demonstrated your continued interest in attending (we'll explain how you can do this in the next section).

How likely you are to attend the school if admitted.

If a school didn't admit enough engineering majors, for example, it will most likely admit engineering majors off its waitlist first. What majors, locations, etc., the school wants to have represented in its freshman class.In contrast, the more spots available, the more likely it is you'll be offered a placement. The fewer the spots there are, the less likely it is you'll be admitted off the waitlist. How many spots the school needs to fill for its freshman class.Your chances of getting off the college waitlist primarily depend on five factors: If you've been waitlisted at your dream school, you're probably wondering what exactly your odds are of getting off the waitlist and moving on to a full-blown acceptance. What Are Your Chances of Getting Off the College Waitlist? Nevertheless, most colleges don't rank waitlist applicants and instead make their admissions decisions based on other factors such as what majors they want to have represented and which applicants will be most likely to attend if admitted. So if you're ranked highly, you're more likely to be accepted off the waitlist. In fact, some colleges might admit just a few students or even none at all one year!įinally, some college waitlists rank the applicants on it. Of course, not everyone on the waitlist will be admitted.

Waitlist acceptances often roll out gradually throughout May, June, July, and sometimes even August right before the school year starts. Essentially, once the May 1 deadline has passed, if not enough applicants have decided to attend, the school will start to admit applicants off the waitlist with the hope they'll accept the offer. If you are offered a spot on the college waitlist, you may either accept the invitation and allow your name to be added to it or decline right away if you'd rather not wait for an admission decision or have already decided to attend a different college.Īpplicants are typically only admitted off a waitlist starting after May 1, or the date by when admitted students must submit their decisions to attend the college of their choice along with the non-refundable deposit.Ĭolleges usually begin to admit students off the waitlist if and only if they need to fill more spots in their freshman class. The total number of applicants offered a place on the college waitlist varies by school and by year. These applicants are essentially put on hold by a college and would have been admitted had space allowed. The college waitlist is a list of applicants whom a school might or might not offer admission to. What exactly does it mean if you've been waitlisted by a college or several colleges? What Is the College Waitlist and How Does It Work?

Waitlist vs waitinglist how to#

In this article, we explain how the college waitlist works, what steps to take if you've been waitlisted, and how to raise your college waitlist chances so you can attend your dream school. Luckily, there are many things you can do to increase your odds of getting off a waitlist. After all, when you're on the college waitlist, you don't know whether you'll be admitted or not, and that alone is anxiety-inducing. Getting waitlisted at a college certainly isn't a bad thing-your application was good enough to not get rejected!-but it's definitely an uncomfortable place to be.