Hypothetical regarding Waitlists

[Captain]

Ok, here is a hypothetical situation that I thought up while I was at lunch a few hours ago after getting the news that I was waitlisted at W&L...

Lets say you were waitlisted at two (or more schools) and decide to stay on the list at both of them. Lets say you got off the list at one school, and accepted, and a few weeks later another school (Yale?) accepts you from the waitlist...

What do you do? Withdraw from the first WL, Accept after two weeks of being in (and a lot of paperwork and plan-changing), or politely decline the other WL.

[Captain]

I've got one WL at W&L (west-bumblefck, VA), and potential additional WL schools in East-Bumblefck, VA, Boston, NYC, St. Louis, and a longshot to make a WL in Philly (Penn -- I'll be rejected though, so forget this one).

So, yeah, that whole same-city thing isn't going to be true for me anyway.

[katrines]

Ok, here is a hypothetical situation that I thought up while I was at lunch a few hours ago after getting the news that I was waitlisted at W&L...

Lets say you were waitlisted at two (or more schools) and decide to stay on the list at both of them. Lets say you got off the list at one school, and accepted, and a few weeks later another school (Yale?) accepts you from the waitlist...

What do you do? Withdraw from the first WL, Accept after two weeks of being in (and a lot of paperwork and plan-changing), or politely decline the other WL.

Oh man, I never even thought about that. Yikes. It would depend on the situation I guess, and the timing of it all. I've made a rule for myself - no staying on waitlists past mid June-ish. I'm a planner, and there just wouldn't be enough time.

[Zam]

jsyk, seat deposits for scholarship recipients at W&L are due on 4/2/07 so I would imagine some spaces will open up in early April.

[Captain]

So there is a small chance I might NOT be in WL hell all summer? Awesome.. 

[Chingon]

I think it depends on your situation really.  For example, I am WLed at UVa, Michigan, and Penn so far.  If I were to get in off of one, I would most likely take it and withdraw from everywhere else because I wouldn't count on the others to come through (I'm not counting on any to come through).  Your situation might be different, however.

[Zam]

So there is a small chance I might NOT be in WL hell all summer? Awesome.. 

If you are really interested in going to W&L, which, let's be honest, who isn't, I would write them a continued interest letter and also call them. They are very friendly over there and they highly value people who they think will be involved in the W&L community.

Spots should open up as each deposit deadline passes.

EDIT: Also, I don't know if they mentioned this when they waitlisted you, but you should try to find out about how many people get in off the waitlist each year.

[Pugnacious]

I've been wondering about this also. I am on 5 WL, all in different cities. UGH.

[Auelan]

This may not help you depending on your plans/goals, but I helped alleviate this pressure on myself by telling myself at the start of the application season I would only remain on one or two waitlists, tops. I did the same thing in undergrad and got in off the waitlist in early May, so I'm hoping it works about the same. If you promise yourself you'll only stick around on one or two waitlists, both of which you'd be happy to go to (for full price) if offered a position, you can't get yourself into too much trouble--just accept the first one that comes to you and withdraw from the other.

Coincidentally, I've heard (not from a great source, granted) that sometimes you can use a WL acceptance to bargain more information out of another school. I know someone who was waitlisted last cycle at a top 20 school and got an acceptance phone call in May. He asked them if he could have 24 hours to talk it over with his family and they agreed. The same day he called another school he was waitlisted at that he preferred, told them about the offer he got (the two schools in question were peer schools, so to speak) and asked them what his odds were about getting in at his first choice. They ended up offering him a spot right there on the phone. Obviously this is only one case and is probably incredibly difficult to pull off (I know I wouldn't do it), but I wouldn't be surprised if more people did something akin to this.

[Pugnacious]

Good advice. Thanks!