Respond to school that waitlisted me?

[Warthof]

Hi all,

Just wondering if it's worth giving a push to a school that has waitlisted me. It is my top choice, though I have one other acceptance. So I'm wondering if an email saying that the school is my top choice is a good idea, or if it will just annoy the adcom. Would be especially interested to hear from anyone who has had success getting off of a waitlist. Sorry if this is a common question.

[Pamphilia]

What my mentors told me: make it clear that this is your top choice and explain why to sound credible. If they ask you, tell them about your admits.

For the record, I was just admitted off a waiting list. As I learn more, I suspect that my situation was very unusual and wouldn't apply to most waitlisters, but I believe that the above is probably still solid advice.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Pamphilia

[genotype]

Hi all,

Just wondering if it's worth giving a push to a school that has waitlisted me. It is my top choice, though I have one other acceptance. So I'm wondering if an email saying that the school is my top choice is a good idea, or if it will just annoy the adcom. Would be especially interested to hear from anyone who has had success getting off of a waitlist. Sorry if this is a common question.

I'm sure the adcom would appreciate hearing your enthusiasm for the school -- if anything you will have an advantage if it comes down to you or another applicant that hasn't expressed such interest.

[res2135]

I've been waitlisted at my top choice too, and made sure to tell them that it was my top choice, and am also going to visit. (They invited me to, I'm not just randomly going.) But I don't see how telling them you definitely want to go if given the chance could possibly be annoying. Maybe if you told them 80 times but once or maybe even twice (later on) can't hurt.

[nenanubes]

Does it matter if you got waitlisted at your top choice and have no other admissions offers? Will that hurt your chances of moving from the waitlist into the program?

[jkppkj]

Hi all,

Just wondering if it's worth giving a push to a school that has waitlisted me. It is my top choice, though I have one other acceptance. So I'm wondering if an email saying that the school is my top choice is a good idea, or if it will just annoy the adcom. Would be especially interested to hear from anyone who has had success getting off of a waitlist. Sorry if this is a common question.

Last year I was waitlisted at one of the schools I applied to, and I sent an email that said: "I am writing to reaffirm my interest in being a part of the XYZ program at XYZ university. While I am dissapointed that I was not among those initially offered admission I am still very excited about the possibility of studying at XYZ University. Please let me know if there are any question of my that I may answer and I have attached my updated CV which now includes blah - blah - blah that I have engaged in since the time of my application in December."

Within 24 hours of sending the email I received a phone call and was scheduled for a conference call/phone interview with 3 faculty from the department. My situation was a bit different as I did not have any other offers, and I ended up figuring out during the course of the interview that the labs I was interested in were wildly popular and plenty of offers were already extended so my chances were slim. However, I've had nothing but positive results when making contacts of any kind with schools, perhaps because I err on the side of not being pushy/annoying so my contacts tend to be few and far between. I would say that it is definitely a good idea to remind them that they are your top choice and try to push your way up the waitlist by also letting them know that you have another offer to respond to.

[Warthof]

Thank you all for your excellent comments. I'll definitely send the note. I have no hesitation in doing it now.