Q. Waitlist Chances - How Can You Determine Your Waitlist Chances?

A. This is a tough question with no good answer. The very nature of the waitlist makes it impossible to know how many people--if any--will eventually be accepted. After all, if the college knew they were going to accept at least 50 people from the waitlist, they'd just accept those applicants during the regular admissions process!

Unfortunately, if you've decided to stay on a waitlist you're just going to have to brace yourself for the uncertainty that entails. It's possible that the class will be overfull after acceptances come in and that no one will be accepted from the waitlist. Sometimes--especially when there's been a recent change in admissions policies or class size--as much as a third of the entire class can come from the waitlist.

The common wisdom is that the odds are against a waitlist acceptance, and you should probably prepare yourself to go to another school. But anything's possible, and there are usually plenty of people at any college who weren't accepted until May, June, or beyond.

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