so why would a college ever put you in such an awkward position? why would they put you on a list, rather than sending an acceptance or rejection letter? in order to understand why you were waitlisted, the first thing you need to know is what a waitlist really is.
 

what is a waitlist?

a waitlist is a tool colleges use to ensure that they will fill all of the spots in their incoming class. when schools send out acceptance letters, they know that not all of the applicants they accept will choose to enroll. for this reason, they will usually send out more acceptance letters than they actually have spots for. but sometimes their calculations are off. it’s possible that more accepted students choose not to enroll than they originally expected. in this case, they wouldn’t have enough students to fill up their class.

here’s where the waitlist comes in. admissions officers place qualified students on a waitlist, so if an accepted student decides not to attend, they can fill the empty spot with a waitlisted student. that’s why you would get the call or email that you’ve been accepted off the waitlist and have a place in the freshman class.
 

but if you’re qualified, why were you waitlisted and not accepted?

you’re clearly qualified enough to attend the school. you weren’t rejected. after all, there’s a possibility you could be taken off the waitlist and be accepted. but perhaps you are slightly less qualified than other applicants who the college would prefer to accept. these applicants may even be overqualified. and at some schools with very low acceptance rates, you may be extremely similar to an accepted student, but the school simply didn’t have enough space for you. so you were placed on the waitlist as a consolation.
 

don’t feel bad about being waitlisted.

being waitlisted can feel pretty terrible. but don’t beat yourself up about it! you shouldn’t take this decision personally. many students have similar levels of qualification, so college decisions end up being almost arbitrary. remember that thousands of students apply and there are only so many spots.

at this point, your best option is probably to consider attending another college, because you can never assume that you will be taken off the list. there are lots of great schools out there. don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. you never know, maybe being waitlisted was a sign. that school wasn’t meant for you anyway.

looking for more information about what you should do next? check out these waitlist faqs.
 

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all across the world, students are receiving letters of acceptance and rejection. but what do you do if you get waitlisted? you’re not completely in, but you’re not completely out. it’s an awkward situation to be in because you don’t know whether to let go of the idea of getting in. has all hope been lost? it’s hard to tell.
 
what steps should you take next?

1. don’t make assumptions.

 being put on the waitlist doesn’t mean you will get in, but it also doesn’t mean that you won’t. don’t take it as a great sign or a terrible sign. just stop making assumptions. don’t expect anything, because you never know what will happen. move on with the process.
 

2. compare your options.

compare your waitlist options with the schools you got into. if you like the schools that have already accepted you just as much as the waitlist schools, then get off the waitlist and enroll in a school you’ve gotten into. there’s no reason to stay on a waitlist arbitrarily. at the very least, deciding where you’re going to college will ease your mind. consider that you’ll likely have to wait until after may 1^st to know whether you got off the waitlist or not. that’s after almost everyone knows where they’ll be going to school. also, consider that if you get off the list in may, your options for housing and financial aid may be greatly reduced. students may have already taken advantage of the best of these options.
 

3. prepare to attend another college.

to be safe, prepare to enroll in a college you’ve been accepted to. put down a deposit and assume that you will be attending this school. you’ll forfeit your deposit if you get into your waitlist school, but losing a deposit is better than not having a college to attend in the fall if you don’t get off the waitlist. you want to make sure you always have options.
 

4. find out what your chances are.

call the admissions office to find out how close you are to getting in. ask them where you are on the waitlist. but don’t go overboard. you don’t want to bother them because that will just decrease your chances of acceptance.
 

5. advertise yourself.

if you have a reasonable chance at getting in and you’re highly interested in attending, take steps to portray yourself in the best light to admissions officers. send any supplemental materials that show impressive things you’ve done since sending in your application. you could also send another recommendation letter from someone different saying something different. you don’t want to send repetitive materials. most importantly, make sure you keep your grades as high as possible. i know it’s hard to do that second semester senior year, but you have to try if you want to get into the college of your dreams.
 

6. don’t beat yourself up.

the waitlist isn’t a fun place to be. but don’t feel bad about it! getting on the waitlist shows that the college took a real interest in you. it means that you were qualified, but they had already filled all of the spots in their class.
 

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fees aren’t the most difficult part of college applications, but you do need to figure them out and get them out of the way. nothing should stop you from applying to the colleges that you wish to apply to, especially if you put in the work writing essays and filling out forms.
 

the cost of applying

schools like stanford and columbia tend to charge the most to apply, around $90. this is more than twice the national average of $41. but every school’s application fees are different. make sure to double-check the fees of each of the schools on your list. depending on which schools you apply to, you could be paying very different amounts of money. the fees for each school are definitely some information you should keep in mind.
 

fee waivers

three of the biggest suppliers of fee waivers are the college board, nacac (national association for college admission counseling), and the common application. there are similar qualifications for fee waivers from each organization. if you’ve received an sat fee waiver, you’ll also qualify for college application fee waivers. you can also qualify if your family income falls within certain eligibility guidelines.

because fee waivers are meant to be used for top-choice schools only, you’ll only receive around four from each organization. but if you obtain waivers from many different places, you may be able to waive the fees for all of the schools on your list.
 

colleges with no application fees

in efforts to offer access to a greater pool of applicants, some of the schools on your list may not require any fees at all. this means you can apply to more schools without the cost being a problem. great colleges like tulane and oberlin have decided not to charge fees. so you won’t even need to worry about fee waivers for these schools!

now that you’ve figured out how to deal with college application fees, check out this post to remind yourself what other parts of the process you still need to complete.
 

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don’t panic

you’ll probably be upset, but if you get too agitated, you won’t be very productive. try to calm down so you can do what needs to be done in order to start your day.

stay calm but go fast

efficiently go through the necessary tasks you must complete in order to get ready. try not to think about how much you’ve missed or how much trouble you’ll be in. instead, focus on the specific goal at hand and you hopefully won’t get too stressed.

keep things in perspective

don’t beat yourself up too much. oversleeping one day is not the end of the world. it happens to the best of us. you’ll have plenty of chances to catch up with whatever you’ve missed.

take advantage

utilize that extra sleep to your advantage. you’ll probably be able to stay up later and get more done. although oversleeping isn’t necessarily ideal, it has its perks.

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you’ll get great writing experience.

if you’re a student, you probably have to write a ton of essays. one of the best ways to improve your writing is to write as much as possible. reporting for the newspaper will allow you to enhance your writing skills without the stress of having to turn in graded work.

you’ll get great work experience.

being a reporter looks good on both college applications and resumes. many school newspaper offices are pretty similar environments to professional newspaper offices, especially in college. therefore, listing your experience on the school newspaper is somewhat similar to listing experience as a reporter at a real paper.

you’ll learn a lot about the world.

reporters get access to lots of information that no one else does. when you’re writing a story, you’ll learn so much about your school and about the world in general. it’s an opportunity to educate yourself in many different ways.

even if you don’t like writing, you can still join the newspaper’s staff.

you don’t necessarily need to be a reporter. there are so many approaches to getting involved. if you’re more artsy, join the photography or layout team. you can also get involved in the business department, where you’ll do things like communicate with companies whose advertisements appear in the paper. if you’re obsessed with facebook and instagram, you can help start social media initiatives. you can totally personalize your experience based on your interests.

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isolate yourself

in order to really focus on studying, it’s best to be by yourself. if you really want to study with someone else, pick a friend who is very productive and usually tends to stay on task. definitely don’t pick your most talkative friend.

turn off your phone

i know it’s hard, but if you really want to refrain from checking instagram, the best thing is to turn off your phone. if you leave it on, you’ll tell yourself you won’t check it. but you always will anyway.

set rewards

set rewards for yourself if you complete a task in a certain amount of time. that way, you will stay focused because you’ll be motivated to get the reward. for example, every time you complete a page of reading, eat a chip.

pick a good study environment

figure out which type of environment you like to study in, whether it’s a silent library or a busy café. if a certain study spot isn’t a good fit for you, then you won’t get any work done there. so personalize your studying to your preferences.

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clubs/student organizations

include any groups you are involved with in high school. you can list larger organizations such as student government or the student newspaper. you can also put down any smaller clubs you are involved that are based around shared hobbies or culture. another great thing to add is involvement in competitive academic teams such as debate, mun, or mock trial.

sports

involvement in sports teams shows both leadership and teamwork skills. you can list sports whether you play on a team inside or outside of school. you can also list if you train privately in an individual sport such as tennis. solo sports still show that you are committed and hardworking.

volunteering

do you read to kids at the library or volunteer at a homeless shelter? these are great activities to include in a college application. if you show that you were a productive, generous member of your home community, colleges will believe that you will also be able to contribute in the same way to their school community.

arts

you should definitely list activities like theater, dance, orchestra, music lessons, and visual arts, whether you do them inside or outside of school. even if you don’t plan on majoring in an artistic field, you will still be able to contribute to the cultural community of any college you attend. every school wants their campus to be an artistically vibrant place, so show them that you can help create that atmosphere.

jobs/internships

start practicing resume building now. no matter where you work, it will look good on a college application. this includes jobs in retail and fast food. babysitting can also count if it’s something you’re committed to and do very frequently.

family commitments

don’t list any chores as activities on your application. colleges don’t care if you wash the dishes every night. however, if you spend a substantial amount of time caring for an older relative or helping your family out in a significant way, then definitely put it in your application. you’ll show that you are responsible, organized and mature.

remember: quality over quantity

it’s better to have a few impressive activities on your application than a dozen random clubs that you didn’t really contribute to. try to think about how you spent most of your time in high school, what you care about the most, and what you love the most. these activities will show admissions officers who you truly are.

worried about how you’ll balance all of those applications with your homework and extracurriculars? read this post for some tips.

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