Being wait-listed or deferred from colleges puts you in admissions purgatory. Not being accepted and not being rejected can be frustrating and confusing. Let’s first try to understand why you’re there.

Every year, colleges and universities have a group of students who are qualified to gain admission, yet these institutions are unsure if they have space available to enroll these students. Colleges are well-aware that the percentage of students who accept their offer of admission (their yield) varies widely by year and by selectivity of the institution. It’s no surprise that the highest yield rates will be at the most selective schools: last year Harvard’s yield was 84%, that means that 16% of students chose to turn down Harvard’s offer and attend school elsewhere. By contrast, schools like Quinnipiac and Pepperdine had yield rates of 11% and 12% respectively; meaning that more 85% of their accepted students chose to go to another school.

Since colleges have all this historical data, they intentionally over-accept and then hope they make their numbers. The wait-list is used to fill any gaps they may have. Colleges monitor the number of students who accept their offer of admission and will pull from their waitlist to create the size and desired makeup of their incoming class.

Too many students enrolling can be just as bad as too few. What happens when there aren’t enough beds? In 2019, Virginia Tech was swamped with a surge of incoming freshmen it hadn’t foreseen. When 1,000 – 1,500 more students enrolled than anticipated, it forced more than 500 students to move into hotel rooms instead of dormitories. Many colleges struggling to fill seats would love to have Virginia Tech’s problem.

Why Did I Get Waitlisted?

Here are the most common reasons applicants are placed on a waitlist:

• Too few spaces are available. There might have been too many students with your particular set of credentials or academic interests. The admitted applicants were just slightly better than you in some arbitrary way or applied earlier.
• Yield protection. You might have been too strong a candidate. The college admissions office might have been certain that you would be admitted by a much more prestigious college. The admissions office might have been concerned about your commitment to enrolling at their college and placed you on a waiting list to determine how keen you are to be accepted.
• Application deficit. Your application may have flaws that make you a borderline candidate. Maybe your grades weren’t strong enough. Maybe your activities and community service or leadership were lacking, or perhaps your essay lacked depth.
• Common major. Many schools look for a balanced makeup of their freshman class in terms of area of study. If there are too many students with your intended major, you might be placed on a waitlist while the school attempts to accept more candidates from other majors.
• Courtesy wait-list. Sometimes when parents are alumni, work for the college, or are well-connected, you might have been waitlisted as a courtesy. Waitlisting can soften the blow of rejection.

What Should You Do if You’ve Been Waitlisted?

If you’ve been waitlisted, you can stay on the waitlist or back out and move on with your applications. Evaluating your goals and priorities for admission can help you decide on the next steps

• follow up once immediately after being waitlisted or deferred to let schools know if you want to stay on their wait-list or have chosen to be removed.
• reach out again monthly to check in and share something new and factual each time. Bragging a little is fine. Recommit your interest and, of course, keep the follow-ups short.
• keep your grades up.
• update the school with your most recent grades as they become available and provide additional information about your interest in attending.
• only stay on the waitlist if you are pretty sure you’ll enroll here if you are offered a spot. Letting a college know you’re no longer interested in being on their waitlist allows you to focus on schools you’re truly interested in attending.                                                                                                                    Bierer is an independent college adviser based in Charlotte. Send questions to: lee@bierercollegeconsulting.com; www.bierercollegeconsulting.com