Q. Waitlist Letter - What Does it Mean to Get a Waitlist Letter?

A. Colleges only have a certain number of places in each incoming class. But they can't just accept that exact number of students, because many students who get into a college eventually choose to go somewhere else. Over the years, colleges have gotten very good at knowing how many students will accept (and reject) their offers of admissions. They might accept, for example, 8000 applicants, knowing that approximately 2500 will choose to attend. But still, it's hard to be as precise as they need to be to properly allocate professors, housing, and other resources.

Enter the waitlist letter. By putting borderline students on a waitlist and sending them a waitlist letter, colleges are able to get close to the exact number of students they need to fill the class. Each admissions committee only accepts the number of students that will at the most lead to a "full" class. Then, they wait to see how many take them up on their offer of admissions. If there are still spaces available (there usually are), they'll accept still-interested applicants from the waitlist until the class is just the right size.

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