Don’t Waitlist Your Future

From Wait List to Acceptance in 3 Easy Steps

Have you been wondering why how you got here—being waitlisted or deferred by a college? No doubt you did everything that you were told to: you worked hard and earned top grades, studied relentlessly for the SAT, you also spent your out-of-class time making robots or tutoring younger students, you played sports competitively, performed solo, etc.

Brimming with optimism and hope you applied early decision or early action to your dream college. Then one day a letter came in the mail that said something about their being an abnormally high number of applications and then the letter goes on to offer to say that your application will be deferred to regular admission cycle. Or, maybe you applied regular decision and the letter says something like “we invite you accept a place on the wait list.”

And, despite your best efforts, it still seems it wasn’t enough—you’ve been waitlisted or deferred by your favorite college. Take heart…I am here to tell you that there is nothing wrong with you or what you have done. The problem lies in not having communicated adequately the right information to the right audience at the right time in sufficient fashion to gain admission.

Insufficient Communication on Your Part

College admission officers may not have been able to get a clear message of value from your application; certainly, they did not sense value in the areas of their greatest need. On the other hand, they are not saying “no” to you either. A wait list or deferral is really just saying “not now”. Being waitlisted or deferred is just part of the process of admission—part of the game. Think of the process like dating. It wasn’t an immediate match from their side. First impressions count and you have one chance to reprogram this first impression.

While the chances statistically of reversing your situation are not as high as you might like, there are some very positive steps that you can take that have been proven over the years to change a wait list or deferral into a “Congratulations, you have been accepted” letter. You need a strategy for success. Now on to how you can take positive action that can help you get off the wait list and away from the deferral toward acceptance by your favorite college.

Take Action! Re-Position Your Application in the Minds of Your Admissions Audience

My wait list and deferral reversal formula has worked successfully for many of my students over the past 17 years. The key is to getting a different and positive impression from those reading your application in the admissions office is to understand the game from their perspective—not just yours. In other words, find out what matters to them and then address their issues, not the ones that you may think matter.

Now, let’s get started.

Your Action Plan

Below are the steps that I recommend to my clients who wish to change the course of their wait listing or deferred status:

STEP ONE:

Research the reason you were waitlisted or deferred. Call your high school counselor to schedule a meeting to discuss your recent wait list or deferral status. Write down the reasons for the deferral or wait list.

STEP TWO:

Gather proof that addresses or counters each reason for deferral or waitlist. For example, if the reason for deferral is a low Spanish grade, gather a higher and more recent Spanish grade or comment from your Spanish teacher about a more recent test where you performed better than in the past.

STEP THREE:

Draft a letter using these arguments that addresses each point of concern that the college’s admission office has. Be sure to add in any recent academic honors and awards or leadership accomplishments as well.