Some students found out as early as December. Most learned of their fate in April. And inevitably some couldn't make up their mind until the May 1 deadline. But for a few high-school seniors, the college admissions process will continue into the summer as they wait to hear if they have been taken off of a waitlist.
When decision letters were mailed in April, applicants could receive one of three different responses from the College. The vast majority of applicants will receive a rejection letter informing them that they have not been offered admission -- at Dartmouth this year nearly 75 percent of applicants received rejection letters. For the more fortunate -- approximately 17.7 percent of all applicants this year -- the traditional thick acceptance envelope appeared in their mailbox. However the remainder of the students will receive neither an acceptance or rejection, but instead were informed that they have been waitlisted.
Colleges place students on a waitlist in the event that they receive a yield lower than they expected. Consequently, if fewer accepted students choose to matriculate then expected the college can fill in those spaces in the incoming freshman class with qualified students from the waitlist who are itching to get in. But Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg sees another benefit to the waitlist process.
"'You were close.' That's what the waitlist tells you," Furstenberg said. "Some of these students just really shouldn't be rejected, but there just wasn't enough space. I think it is more honest and straightforward to use the waitlist and give people and understanding of where they actively rank in the applicant pool."
University of Pennsylvania Dean of Admissions Less Stetson concurred with Furstenberg.
"We consider a waitlist letter a letter of admission without any space," Stetson said.
In recent years, waitlists at the most selective institutions across the country have been growing as schools begin to use them more as a consolation prize for the best students who didn't receive admission.
Dartmouth is no exception, as 1100 to 1200 waitlist letters were sent out this year, totaling the highest number in recent history, according to Furstenberg.
Of that number approximately 800 chose to remain on the active waitlist, Furstenberg said.
With just under 10 percent of all applicants receiving waitlist letters, Dartmouth led the Ivy League in percentage of applicants waitlisted.
While many college admissions officers would contend that it is better to be waitlisted than rejected, likening a waitlist letter to honorable mention acknowledgement, high-school seniors, parents and college counselors are becoming increasingly concerned that the growing waitlists give a false sense of hope to students.
Those concerns may be grounded considering the number of students accepted off of the waitlist. Dartmouth plans to accept approximately 20 students from its expansive waitlist this year -- a mere 2.5 percent of those students who chose to stay on the list. Last year only 15 were taken off the waitlist for the Class of 2006, though the list was smaller, Furstenberg said.
Though waitlists at most other competitive institutions were not nearly as large as Dartmouth's, most have comparably low waitlist acceptance rates.
Harvard, which boasts the highest yield in the country, hovering around 80 percent, rarely needs to dip substantively into its waitlist. This year the waitlist tallied "several hundred" students, according to Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis, with approximately 80 percent of those choosing to remain on the waitlist. "Very, very few" will be accepted from the waitlist, Lewis said.
University of Pennsylvania chose to waitlist 700 to 800 students this year, said Stetson. 350 to 400 remained on the active waitlist, Stetson said, noting that "it appears we are not going to use it this year," after having taken 15 to 20 from the waitlist last year.
Cornell, the largest school in the Ivy League, also waitlisted the greatest number of applicants, adding 2,349 to the list. Of that number 1,545 chose to remain on the active list, and none will be taken, said Associate Provost of Admissions Doris Davis.
Princeton, Yale, Brown and Columbia have not yet released their waitlist numbers, though Princeton and Yale reported high yields which usually results in limited waitlist usage, while Columbia and Brown reported lower yields, which would usually contribute to more substantial waitlist usage.
