Hopes Dim for Kids On College Wait Lists - WSJ article

Hopes Dim for Kids On College Wait Lists
Many Schools Take Fewer Backup Applicants
Because of Higher-Than-Expected First-Round Yields
By ANJALI ATHAVALEY
May 16, 2007; Page D1

For a while, it looked like this might be a good year for wait-listed college applicants. But that is turning out to be wrong.

Instead, many colleges are taking few students off the wait list -- and sometimes none at all. Elite schools such as Stanford University, the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College aren't admitting any students from their wait lists this year. The University of Pennsylvania expects to admit about 25 students, down from 42 last year. State schools such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Delaware, too, are taking fewer students than last year.

The reason, many colleges say, is that they underestimated their yields -- the percentage of students accepted who decide to attend. With unexpectedly high numbers of acceptances, these schools are filling their slots quickly.

The yields surprised many schools, which had been preparing for more wait-list activity after a couple of years of tight admissions. Though it has always been a long shot to get in off the wait list at many schools, the odds have become worse in the past few years. This year, with applications pouring in, and students applying to multiple schools, admissions officers had anticipated more overlap so they were especially conservative in their yield forecasts. Many increased the number of slots offered on wait lists, expecting to then fill out their enrollment from the bench.

WAITING GAME



Plans for wait-listed students at selected schools:
• Admitting no students from their wait lists: Stanford University, University of Chicago, Amherst College

• Accepting fewer wait-listed students than last year: University of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania

• Accepting more than last year: Princeton University


(For more wait-list numbers, see below.)But at many selective schools, that scenario hasn't played out. The University of Pennsylvania had expected that 65% of the 3,614 admitted would accept -- slightly lower than last year -- because it was the first year the university switched to the Common Application, which makes it easier for students to apply online to multiple schools. But the yield came in at 67%. "Conventional wisdom...is that students are less serious with the Common Application, but that has not proven to be true for us," says Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania.

Yields are highly important to schools, and are closely watched by competing colleges, potential donors and status-conscious applicants as indicators of a school's appeal. But they have become harder to predict in recent years. For one, the number of seniors graduating from high school has been rising for more than a decade, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Admissions deans and high-school counselors also say students are applying to more schools because they are uncertain of where they will get in. Some counselors also point to the growing popularity of the Common Application, which makes it possible for students to fill out one application and submit it to many schools. But overall the number of applications per student has remained relatively stable at 3.9 compared with 3.6 five years ago, according to Common Application Inc., the nonprofit that administers the process for about 300 colleges.

Even a few percentage points in yield can make "a big difference" in policy, especially at small elite schools that don't admit many wait-listed students, says Christopher Avery, a professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and co-author of a book on college admissions. Amherst College, which had expected a 36% yield, had anticipated more wait-list admissions this year. But the Amherst, Mass., college, which saw a yield of 40%, is taking no one.

Yields will become even more volatile in the future. The Education Department predicts that the rise in the number of high-school seniors will continue until at least 2013. And next year more schools -- Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Virginia -- will drop so-called early admissions, the system that asks students to promise to attend if they are accepted early. That will add a fresh crop of students to their regular-decision pools.

The University of Delaware, which eliminated early-decision applications last fall, has already found it harder to manage yield without the security of early admissions. Delaware admitted more students initially this year, compared with last. So now it is taking a mere 25 students off the wait list, down from 262 last year.

Next year, says Louis Hirsh, director of admissions, the university will accept fewer students initially so that it can take more students off the wait list. (Colleges generally want to be able to use the wait list to adjust the freshman class for characteristics they are lacking, such as certain majors.)

"We didn't quite know what to expect," says Mr. Hirsh. "You have to assume that the kids who would have applied early decision are still going to apply. The problem is you don't know exactly which ones they are."

To be sure, the unpredictability of yields can have the opposite effect and result in more wait-listed students getting a shot. Princeton, which took zero wait-listed students last year, says it expects to take 30 this year -- a result of a slight drop in yield, to 68% from 69% last year. Princeton is expecting to enroll a slightly larger class in 2008 as part of a long-term plan to expand the size of the undergraduate student body.


For students who were wait-listed, the uncertainty can be hellish. "I like to call it purgatory," says Katie French, a senior at Stamford High School in Stamford, Conn., who applied to five schools. She was wait-listed at Boston University, her top choice. She was admitted to Emmanuel College in Boston and rejected from the other three.

Two weeks ago, she found out she got into Boston University. But because she didn't receive financial aid, she says, she had to settle on Emmanuel. "I was an absolute wreck," says Ms. French, who later missed an Advanced Placement English exam because she was so upset.

This year, Ohio State University is trying to make the process less painful. The university decided not to have a wait list this year, after two years of admitting no one. Since the university has rolling admissions, it is easier to forecast in the spring whether it will reach its targets, says Mabel Freeman, assistant vice president of undergraduate admissions. If need be, it can take people who applied late. "There are a number of ways you can try to deal if you suddenly find that you are short," says Ms. Freeman.

At this point in the admissions cycle, students who remain on college wait lists can do little to sway their school of choice. The process will be largely over by the end of the month, though some schools admit students into June. If you haven't sent in a letter expressing your interest already, you should do so, says Jon Reider, director of college counseling at San Francisco University High School. But he says to avoid contacting the college repeatedly. "You don't want to seem too pushy."

Write to Anjali Athavaley at anjali.athavaley@wsj.com1

Schools, Students Play The Waitlist Game - WSJ article April 11, 2007

Schools, Students Play The Waitlist Game
In Year of Record Applications, Many Colleges Offer More Spots
On Their Lists but Some Step Up Pressure for Commitment
By ANJALI ATHAVALEY
April 11, 2007; Page D1

The college-admissions battle is shifting to the waitlist.

After issuing a grisly round of rejection letters this year, many schools have increased the number of spots offered on their waitlists in a bid to better manage their "yield" -- the percentage of accepted students who actually decide to attend. As a result, in a year of record applications, many students who applied to multiple colleges are getting offers for multiple waitlists.

COMING OFF THE BENCH


For waitlisted college applicants:
• Do send a letter expressing your interest and noting any recent accomplishments.

• Do ask your high-school counselor to convey your interest if the school calls.

• Don't say the college is your first choice if it is not.

• Don't visit if it would cost you a plane ticket, since chances of acceptance are still low.

• Don't do anything over the top, such as camping out in front of the admissions office.

The overlapping waitlists will make the next phase of the admissions process trickier for both colleges and students. Just as with the first round of acceptances, colleges don't want to make offers to students who are unlikely to accept because it will drive down their yields, which are important factors in college rankings. So they use a number of tactics -- from calling students directly to seeking early promises to attend -- to narrow down likely candidates.

In recent years, the waitlist has become "almost like a second early-decision process" as colleges grow more savvy about measuring students' interest before making offers, says Ken Fox, chairman of the admission-practices committee at the National Association for College Admission Counseling and a counselor at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis. Already, students who have accepted slots on waitlists say they are feeling pressure to show a firmer commitment, in order to stand out when schools turn to their waitlists next month.

That can pose ethical dilemmas: Alisa Rudnick, a senior at San Francisco University High School, was waitlisted at half of the 12 colleges to which she applied. She chose to stay on the lists at two -- Reed College and Skidmore College -- but is also considering enrolling at Bard College, where she has been accepted.

"I'm in a really weird position because it's hard to declare one as your first choice," says Ms. Rudnick, who plans on writing a letter to each college to show interest. But she says she doesn't feel right telling each school it is her No. 1 option -- which is what schools want to hear when deciding who will get offers.

The waitlist has become an increasingly important part of the admissions process as schools seek to maximize their closely watched yield figures. About 35% of colleges and universities maintain a waitlist, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and the number of students offered slots on the lists has been rising. The proportion of waitlisted students actually admitted averages around 35%, according to the NACAC, but schools say it fluctuates as they make adjustments depending on how close they came to their expected yield with the first round.

Admission offers to waitlisted students will start going out in May, after schools receive "yes" or "no" answers from their first round of admissions by the end of this month. So students are encouraged to decide which waitlists they want to stay on as soon as possible, which will demonstrate interest to the schools.

Colleges say they are more uncertain than ever this year about their yield as they see more applications per student and are forced to vie for the same pool of talent. A few years ago, students applied to about six to eight colleges, but students and high-school counselors say the typical range is now 10 to 12.

To broaden its options, Amherst College offered 1,450 spots on the waitlist this year, up from 1,258. With students likely to be on multiple waitlists, "we know we are going to lose a bunch," says Tom Parker, dean of admissions and financial aid.


Northwestern University offered waitlist spots to 2,700 students this year, an increase from 1,750. "We find it more challenging than usual to model how many of the admitted students will enroll," says Keith Todd, director of undergraduate admission at Northwestern, which saw its applications increase by 19% this year to a record 21,949.

The University of Pennsylvania -- which offered waitlist spots to 2,800 people, an increase from 1,800 last year -- says it calls a handful of candidates on the waitlist and their high-school counselors after May 1 to gauge the likelihood that students will accept offers. Last year, the school made such calls to the 42 students who were admitted from the waitlist, says Lee Stetson, dean of admissions. "When you go to the waitlist, you want to have students who really want to be here," he says. "You don't want to go through the selection process all over again."

To be sure, just because a school offers more spots doesn't mean that they will take more students off the waitlist in the end. And not all schools are offering more spots. Georgetown University, for instance, offered waitlist spots to 1,774 students this year, down from 1,820 last year.

Efforts by colleges to measure commitment can be frustrating for students who are uncertain where they want to go. Alex Graber-Tilton, a senior at Wall High School in Wall, N.J., received a letter from Carnegie Mellon University offering him a spot on its priority waiting list -- which the school says is meant for students who definitely know Carnegie Mellon is their first choice. When making waitlist offers, the school promises to go to the priority list first, before its regular waitlist. But to nail down students' commitment, the school asks those accepted to make a decision quickly.

If you get an acceptance, you are expected to send a $600 deposit by May 8 to secure the slot. Since waitlist offers typically roll in throughout the month of May, that could mean committing weeks before the student hears about offers from other schools.

"It's like you've been pushed aside for someone else, but they still want to know if you want to go there," says Mr. Graber-Tilton, who plans to turn down the priority-list slot. He wants to study engineering and was also waitlisted at Rice University, as well as Harvey Mudd College where he hopes to ultimately go. Otherwise he plans on going to Case Western Reserve University, where he was accepted.

The priority waiting list "allows students who really, really want the place to come forward," says Michael Steidel, director of admission at Carnegie Mellon, which had a record 22,422 applicants this year.

For some students, losing an enrollment deposit to a school that accepted them is a no-brainer if they are later admitted from the waitlist to their top choice school. "Forgoing that is not a big deal to me when you pay thousands of dollars in tuition," says Scarlet Neath, a senior at Lamar High School in Houston. She was accepted to the University of Texas, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Southern California. She was waitlisted at her first choice, the University of Virginia, and plans on holding out until the end.

For those who are on the waitlist and want to stand out, deans of admissions recommend that students write a letter expressing interest and updating the school on any recent accomplishments. Many colleges say they don't advise spending money on a campus visit, given the rather small chance of being admitted.

And going overboard won't help. "Two years ago, a kid pitched a tent outside the admissions office in an effort to show his interest," says Charles Deacon, dean of undergraduate admissions at Georgetown University. Unfortunately, it rained on the third night, and "the next day, the tent was gone," he says. The student wasn't admitted.

Write to Anjali Athavaley at anjali.athavaley@wsj.com2

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