What if you're waitlisted?

Happy Friday! It's been a good week in our office. Today, we saw a preview of the new software we'll be using for recruitment next year. It looks great, and it should help us communicate with students more effectively. We also had some school counselors over to campus for lunch on Tuesday. They were here doing a financial aid workshop, so we were able to tag-team with that event and talk to them about our STEM majors (science, technology, engineering and math). And a couple of our counselors are taking off for Milwaukee this weekend for the National College Fair. Check us out if you're in the neighborhood. Finally, here's a shout out to Keith from Ohio!:) Awesome to talk to you this week.

We are getting through our applications pretty quickly, but there's always a group of students whose decisions we need to "postpone." And they always call wondering what it means to them. So, this post is for you. I hope after you read it you'll understand how we evaluate our postponed students.

Our postponed list isn't technically a waitlist, but you can kind of think of it that way. See, the deal is that UWEC receives over 8,000 applications for our freshman class of 2025. We just don't have room to admit everyone, and we often need to turn away some really good students. So, this is what we tell some students who are close to meeting our guidelines: Let's see a new ACT/SAT if that's the issue (it often is) and let's see your grades from the first half of your senior year. Then when we know how much room we have left in the freshman class, and you've had one more semester under your belt to build a case, we'll get back together with an admissions decision.

Then in late February, we look through all the applications again, see who sent grades, and then make decisions depending on how much room we have. Now, let me be real about numbers....last year, we had over 900 students in that boat, and we admitted only 50. It was really tight! The year before that, we had 700, and we admitted 100. So, it really varies. I have no idea what it will look like for 2009. Too early to tell.

So, what should YOU do if you're on the waitlist??

a. If you only took the ACT once, try it again. Often you'll see your scores go up.

b. Make sure your senior year classes are solid. Rigor of senior year is one of the most important factors we look for. Electives are fine, but we prefer to see English, social studies, science, math, and foreign language classes.

c. Make sure you're doing WELL in your senior classes. Senior slide is rampant. Showing us poor grades will send a powerful message to us that you're not ready for college. On the other hand, if you're really rocking in your classes, that increases your chances of coming off the list.

d. Make sure you aren't dropping any of your classes. This goes for admitted students, too!!:)

e. Keep in touch with us. Don't sit back and wait for something to happen. Send us an email telling us about how you're doing this year. Give us a call (you, not your parent) to talk through the process and your options. Make sure to send us your grades and follow up with us. We like to hear from you.

f. Think "options," not admitted/denied. Even if we find we don't have room for freshman year, we can work with you to transfer in. There are always options if you're willing to work with us. Getting waitlisted is a bummer, I know. We really wish we could admit everyone. But we just don't have space for all 8,000 applicants. So, if you are in this position, talk to us. We are happy to walk you through your options.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Kris