How to get off the college waiting list April 23, 2009
There is a fascinating article in the Boston Globe about what to do if your child ends up on the waiting list for his/her first-choice college.
Most people who get on the waiting list simply cross their fingers, cross their toes and hope for the best.
According to the article, that’s NOT the best strategy if you want to get OFF the waiting list.
Also, I’ve always wondered what percentage of wait-list students are ultimately invited to enroll. Amherst College says they expect to take 35 students from its waiting list of 1,000. That’s only 3.5% — certainly lower than I expected.
How about you, do you find that number surprising?
I don’t know how 3.5% stacks up vs. other colleges; but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a college publicly divulge their numbers.
As one of the “Little Ivies,” Amherst College is ultra competitive. Even if a more common number is 10%, that still says you’ve got to have an action plan ready to implement if you want to go from ‘wait-listed’ to ‘accepted.’
The article by Tracy Jan lists a number of strategies that have been found to be effective. It is called, “Students hope to beat college waiting list” and can be found online at:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04
/18/students_hope_to_beat_college_waiting_list/
Enjoy.
Posted Under: Uncategorized
