WAITLISTED! What to do next…

Nobody likes to be waitlisted!

Alright, you got waitlisted—but it’s not the end of the process, so don’t give up just yet!

If you’re waitlisted, it could mean a few things:

➡　You’re among the candidates the school would like to accept, may not have the space for: “This is a great student, but we just don’t have the space for all the great applicants. Maybe something will open up.”

➡　You’re one of the backup candidates for students who will decline the school’s acceptance offers: “This is a pretty good applicant, but not exactly what we’re looking for at the moment. If enough of our target applicants decline, we’ll extend a full offer.”

➡　Interestingly, you may also be waitlisted if you are a top-level applicant that the school suspects may decline their offer. “This candidate is excellent—and probably in demand from several other top schools. Since, we can’t count on them to definitely accept our offer, we need to find out if we’re really their top choice. Let’s waitlist them and see how they pursue admissions.”

So what can you do to get off the waitlist and into the incoming class?

First, be sure to accept your position on the waitlist. Don’t ignore the notice! Read it thoroughly and follow instructions on how to officially let the school know you’d like to accept your spot on their waitlist. Taking too long, or failing to do this can get you dropped from the waitlist and out of the running.

Now, it’s time to start engineering an excellent LOCI—letter of continued (or continuing) interest. This is the letter that will clearly inform the school that you are still very interested in pursuing acceptance to their institution.

You’ve already sent in your application, so there’s no need to be redundant by going over what’s already included in it. You don’t need to discuss the classes already on your transcripts or the test scores you’ve already submitted. Your goal is the show the school why you should be elevated from the waitlist! So you need to produce something new.

1.       If you’ve been involved in any ongoing projects or independent endeavors, talk about their progress and results—what you’ve accomplished since your initial application.

2.       Have you gotten any test results back—AP scores, updated SAT or ACT scores, et cetera? If you have improvements you can share, it could make a difference.

3.       What are you working on right now? What new things have you started? Discuss any new initiatives you’ve made and what you expect to achieve with them. Be sure to highlight community impact!

4.       Have you won any awards, championships, recognitions, or achieved any titles or honors since the application? Put them in the LOCI.

5.       Do a little more research! Explain why you believe their school suits you in terms of major offerings, curriculum style, available research and projects, special programs, et cetera. Be consistent with their mission statements and core beliefs. Don’t just keep saying you love the school and parroting things from the school’s website.

6.       If you haven’t already discussed your desire to work with specific faculty in the department and program you’ve applied to, now is the time to bring it up. This will show that you have researched the school and your intended major department deeply enough to recognize why it’s ideal for you.

Next, letters of recommendation! Yes, you have already submitted some letters of recommendation from your academic instructors or your school’s administrators. Now, reach out to your supporters from other areas! Anyone who is a witness to your character, your strong work ethic, your intelligence, your curiosity, and your sense of commitment to improving the world around you is a great choice. Your internship bosses, your summer coursework professors (especially if you’ve done dual-enrollment classes), your volunteer organization supervisors, your coaches, or mentors. You can even request letters from your pastor, rabbi, imam, or other leaders of community organizations of which you are a member, religious or otherwise.

You can ask for letters from as many people as available, and choose the ones you feel are most likely to impress the college or university you’re submitting to. Be sure to guide the writers by providing a brag sheet and a short paragraph on what you’d like them to focus on. These request for letters of recommendation are similar to the requests you made when you first applied. The difference is that these will be more focused on character and real-world activity than on classroom-based academics.

Some other important things to remember:

Act as quickly as possible. The day you receive your waitlist notification, accept the position and begin planning to get off! Be timely, but don’t be sloppy. Your LOCI should be thoughtful, thorough, professional, and engaging.

Let the people you’re requesting letters of recommendation from know that you have a deadline. Ask them if they can help you with your goal of advancing from the waitlist.

If you have questions or you’d like some examples LOCIs, register and leave a comment. We’ll be sure to reply!

The Mugenn-Sensei Staff

Let us know what else you’d like us to post about!

#waitlist, #waitlisted, #LOCI, #collegeadmissions, #collegeapplications