Waitlisted- What Now?

College decisions for the class of 2025 have finished rolling out. This year was an exceptionally difficult year for college admissions, and many students have found themselves placed on waitlists for colleges of interest. Being waitlisted can bring on many mixed feelings - while you were not offered a spot of admission, your dream of attending a certain college hasn’t been totally ended, either. Read on to find out what you should and should not do when placed on a college waitlist.

What to do:

1. Decide whether or not you want to stay on on the waitlist.

   Only stay on the waitlist of a college if you would rather attend that college over any of the colleges you were admitted to. Be sure to accept admission and pay your deposit to one of the colleges to which you were accepted- don’t miss out on securing a spot somewhere for the fall semester. By staying on the waitlist of colleges that don’t interest you, you are occupying a potential admissions spot from other waitlisted students who want to go to that college more than you do.

2. Write a letter of enthusiasm (or letter of continued interest) to the admissions office.

   Once you’ve decided you want to stay on the waitlist, the next step is to write a letter of enthusiasm to the admissions office. A letter of enthusiasm is a message to a college that you’re still interested in attending if you were admitted, and it should also update them on any notable achievements since you submitted your original college application. Your job with this letter is to convince the admissions team that you would be a valuable member of their freshman class and that you would attend the school if admitted.

3. Stay involved in school and maintain your grades.

   For the remainder of senior year, stay engaged in classes and extracurricular activities. Colleges may turn to these grades when making a final decision about whether to admit you off the waitlist.

4. Be ready to make a quick decision.

   Colleges that admit students off of the waitlist often want a decision quickly. Don’t count on being admitted from the waitlist, but do be sure of what decision you would make were you to be admitted.

---

What not to do:

1. Don’t ask the college why you didn’t get in.

   Once colleges have made their decisions, they don’t want to answer this question.

2. Don’t reach out multiple times to the same school.

   Reach out to the school once through a letter of enthusiasm. If you write a compelling, original letter of enthusiasm that properly captures your continued interest in attending the school, there should be no need for additional communications.

3. Don’t wait to send your letter of enthusiasm.

   Once you are notified that you have been placed on a waitlist, don’t wait to send your letter of enthusiasm. Often students will wait to hear back from all colleges (Ivy Day, for example) before sending a letter, but by sending your letter before you are notified of other decisions, you signal to the college that you are truly committed to them and not waiting around for a better offer.

4. Don’t only send a letter of enthusiasm to one school.

   You should be sending letters of enthusiasm to any school to which you were waitlisted that you would prefer to attend over a school to which you were admitted, not just your top choice. It is okay to try to convince multiple schools that they are your top choice- they just want to see that you are highly interested in going to their college if you were to be admitted.

For more college admissions tips and advice, join the Lotus College Planning group for $49.99 a month!