The college waitlist is the modern limbo – your applicant is neither saved nor condemned, but trapped in a twilight zone between admitted and rejected. They might feel more powerless than ever in a process that often feels like schools hold all the cards. Let’s change that!
I don’t have any experience with waitlists. What I do have are teammates from CollegeAdvisor like Amber Bisnauth, scholars program coordinator, and Alvin Carter, senior admissions officer, who have expert understanding of how to get from waitlist to the no-longer-waiting-list.
I’ve combined their advice into a waitlist potluck dish. But basically: Be prepared, be thoughtful, be quick. Familiarize yourself with the chosen school’s process and timeline.
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Your applicant will need to confirm their spot on the waitlist immediately. Typically, a school will tell waitlisted kids how to do that in the same note that informs them of their status.
A school may require a Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI) or its equivalent. It may be helpful to think of this as an extension of the original application: You can provide “relevant and non-redundant updates,” Amber says.
“Such updates can include receiving an award, project completion, updates on impactful extracurriculars, an upward trajectory in grades, etc.,” she explains.
“I always tell students to be extremely selective,” Alvin advises. “Admissions officers are working under intense time pressure during waitlist season and a rambling three-page list of minor club meetings is counterproductive.”
“Instead, focus on one or two ‘needle-movers’ like a significant state-level award or a major project completion that was only a ‘work in progress’ when they first applied,” he says.
Make sure the school in question does not explicitly say not to submit an LOCI. If you disregard that direction, “you could be jeopardizing your consideration for admission by not following those – or any – explicit instructions,” Amber warns.
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Win Them Over
If the school in question welcomes a LOCI, your applicant should use it to convince the school that they are determined to attend if ultimately admitted.
“In my experience at highly selective institutions, we often looked for the ‘sure thing’ when pulling from the waitlist,” Alvin says.
If a student is clear “that the school is their absolute first choice and they will enroll immediately if admitted, they become a much safer bet for an admissions officer trying to hit a specific enrollment target,” he adds. “We were much less likely to gamble on a student who sounded interested but vague about their final decision.”
Rope In Guidance
To that end, enlist the high school counselor, who can “make a direct ‘nudge’ call to the regional admissions officer,” Alvin suggests.
“A quick professional check-in from a counselor to say ‘this student is still 100% committed to you’ carries significant weight because it validates the student’s own claims and helps the college feel confident about their yield,” he explains.
Kids, Read Your *&^%$*# Email
This may be unpopular with Gen Z but: Your applicant has to read their email. Daily. Not just scan for keywords. Actually look through the messages.
“Monitor your email vigilantly for important updates,” Amber says. That could be potential movement off the waitlist or requests for additional information, among other things.
Blowing your chance because you missed one of these could be tragic.
