Pamela Hampton-Garland

Owner
Scholar Bound

Managing Waitlisted or Deferred Notices

The best way is to first of all not feel that something is lacking in you, know that you did not get the "no thanks letter". Now that we feel good we keep working, contiue to apply, I typically recommend that my students choose their top five schools and apply as early as possible (usually early action because it is non-binding) if their number one school is binding then we first make sure they...

Rebecca Joseph

Executive Director & Founder
getmetocollege.org

Be realistic. The odds of getting accepted from a waitlist or deferral are not high for most colleges. So please, please fall in love with a a college that accepted you. You will have so many great choices. If you do really want to try to get into the waitlisted or deferred college, you can follow my tips---update college of your interest, ask a senior year teacher to send in a letter of...

Chris Powers

College Counselor and Philosophy Teacher
Powers College Counseling

The best to handle a waitlist or deferral is to consider it a maybe. You have to let them know you are still interested. Following up with a school with new awards, new accomplishments, or a new grades can be really helpful.

Patricia Aviezer

President
Inside Track To College, Inc.

What should you do if you receive a “Waitlist Letter?” You want to ask yourself these questions: 1. Should I remain on their waitlist? 2. Do I want to put in the extra effort it will take to let them know 3. I’m really interested in them? If your answer is no, write them a nice letter declining to remain on their waitlist. Other questions you might ask yourself? 1. Am I...

Kathleen Harrington

Owner
New Jersey College Consulting

If you receive word from a college that you have been waitlisted or deferred, you should continue to correspond with the school to show your genuine interest in attending. In addition to emailing admissions explaining your continued desire to attend and to update the school on your academic/extracurricular progress, you should also pick up the phone and contact admissions personally. If an interview...

Trevor Creeden

Director of College and Career Counseling
Delaware County Christian School

The best way to handle it is to relax and think of what can be done from this point forward. There is no point in looking back and regretting something you didn't do, could have done better or forgot to do. Those things are in the past now and you need to move forward. If you still would really like to go to the school you got deferred or waitlisted to, then make sure the college knows that their...

Lora Lewis

Educational Consultant
Lora Lewis Consulting

First, don't let it get you down. Being wait-listed usually means that you met all of the college's admission criteria and were an excellent candidate, but they just didn't have the space to admit you. But since you can't know the reasons you were put on the wait-list, it's not worth wasting energy trying to figure it out. If you want to remain on the school's wait-list, let them know by responding...

Dr. Bruce Neimeyer

CEO/Partner
Global College Search Associates, LLC

Wait list is certainly better than the deny letter. The wait list is to be used by schools to let student know that they are admissible to the school but there isn't enough room or spots in the class to admit all those students who applied and were academically admissible. So the good news is that they think you could handle the academic challenges there. The bad news is that MANY well qualified...

Mollie Reznick

Associate Director
The College Connection

If you are deferred or wait-listed by a school and it is still your top choice there are a few things you can do which might affect your acceptance. Firstly, if your application was early decision, you still have some time to bring your grades up, and you can certainly have your updated transcript sent to the school. Additionally, you should write a letter (coming from you, and not your parents) to...

Nancy Milne

Owner
Milne Collegiate Consulting

First, contact the admissions office to see if you can learn where your application fell short. Address those issues in a letter, expressing your continued interest in the institution. If they offer interviews and you didn't have one yet, by all means try to schedule an appointment. Quite possibly it is your transcript that is a concern; all the more reason to not slack off senior year and...