Here’s a round-up of our some of most popular posts on selecting a school if your child is admitted, what to do if you child is wait-listed, being denied admission and hiring an educational consultant to help get your child off the wait-list. Please note that Porcha Dodson, Beyond The Brochure co-author tells us that schools only use email to send good news acceptance letters or wait-list letters. Most schools don’t send declined admission emails, but prefer to send letters by regular mail.
Waiting For Admissions Letters by Jenny Heitz
0/X: What’s Next When You Don’t Get In?
Confronting Rejection: When Your All Isn’t Enough
Tips For If Your Child Is Wait-Listed
Hiring An Educational Consultant To Go From Wait-Listed To Accepted
Choosing A School: Every School Tells A Story Part 1
Choosing A School: Every School Tells A Story Part 2 by Jenny Heitz
Wait-listed at Wildwood by Samantha Goodman
Is a good financial aid package still an option if you have been placed on the wait list and then later offered a space?
Hi MP, that’s a good question and I’m not entirely sure, but I’d imagine that if a school knows you need financial and and they accept your child (wait list or not) they would offer you the financial aid to make it possible for you to attend. Otherwise, they would be offering you a space you can’t pay for. – Best, Christina
Soooooooo glad the wait is over! We applied to 5 schools for 2 children . We were accepted at 3 and waitlisted at 2. I feel so fortunate that things worked out for us. I had my doubts, attempting to transition from public school, but it all worked out! Thank you for your insight!
Hi Christina! I just wanted to thank you for your blog. I have been reading it for a couple of years now. It is truly helpful when you are trying to maneuver through this stressful process. My child was waitlisted at our #1 school and we only applied to two. But we did get good news recently and got accepted to our 1st choice! I beleive we were extremely lucky considering I had no one to write letters of recommendation ( because I just recently started meeting families that actually went to the school), I didn’t use an educational consultant, and it’s very political sometimes. We are extremely happy and would just like to thank you for starting this blog! Very awesome!
Hi Terri, thank you for the nice comment! I’m so thrilled your family got a spot at your first choice school. Congratulations! It’s so exciting to get the good news after such a long process. Have a great summer! -Christina
Hi Christina,
This blog is so helpful! It’s been my bible throughout this process. Admissions letters have not gone out yet, but I received some advance news from my preschool director that my child will be waitlisted at our first choice. She said they do want our child, but they have to accommodate others first (which doesn’t sound very nice, but I guess that’s the process…) Is there anything I should do during this last week before D Day? Or should I wait until I receive the official letter and then reiterate to the school that we would accept if offered a spot and also have a board member/friend (who already write a letter for us) give an extra nudge? Would love to know what you think!
Hi Anonymous, Anne thinks you should try to have your board member friend “innocently” call whoever their contact is (AD, Head of School) just as a check-in before letters go out. I also think that since you have a great contact on the board and it is your first choice school, you should definitely make the effort. You might ask your friend what he/she thinks is the best approach for this school and whether you should communicate that it is your first choice. Perhaps the wait-list message you’re getting is due to a lot of siblings or maybe the school isn’t sure whether you’ll accept a spot. But, anything you can do to prevent being wait-listed is worthwhile. Good luck!
Thanks so much, Christina and Anne! I will do that.
We started this process with such high hopes for our daughter. We had her IQ tested and scored very high. We were recommended to three schools with fabulous academics which were also my choices from my own research
I felt really in line with what was best for our daughter and a good fit for our family.
We applied to four schools and have been wait listed by all of them. It has been a difficult couple of weeks. We have reached out to our top choices, had our preschool director reach out to them and tomorrow we are speaking with a consultant. I feel naive because I was completely blindsided by the lack of an acceptance. We are keeping my daughter in mind and continuing the process.
I didn’t plan on anything but a private school and now I feel a little lost.
Your blog has been a great help.
Hi Jen, you’re definitely not the only mom who is dealing with wait-lists. But, that’s no consolation when it’s your kid, I know. Trust me, I’ve been there. I don’t know where you applied, but it may be very possible to get a spot off the wait-list at one or more of the schools. You just never know what can happen. Some schools have wait-lists that open up! Hang in there!–Christina