The time has come. Acceptance letters from colleges are in your mailbox. You notice the word “wait-listed” from one letters of your top colleges; your heart starts to sink and your mind paces. You may not know what it exactly means or what to do or how to react. Fortunately, tips and bits of advice are available to help students make the most of being wait-listed.

“To be waitlisted for a college means that they have reviewed your application. They feel that you would be a great student on their campus; however, you didn’t make the initial cut for an admission,” said Director of Counseling at Cathedral Catholic High School, Mrs. Ashely Bascom.

Being waitlisted has both positive and negative qualities to it. Mrs. Bascom adds, “It is good that they see the potential in you and that you would be successful in their campus. If they had more spots, they would give you an offer. The bad side is that they usually don’t pull from a wait-list until after the May 1st deadline,” she said.

Since the colleges usually will not pull from a wait list until after May 1st, students would have to accept the wait-list offer at School A, the wait-listed school, but also accept an admissions offer and put a deposit down for School B, the less preferred school. A student still may not hear from School A until the summer. Many schools are competitive and have different wait-lists, which may vary year to year and are ultimately dependent on the number of students applying and accepting their spot. It is difficult to predict the wait-list since more students are applying to many schools, but they could only accept one offer and go to only one school. The most common schools that people are wait-listed include the Ivy Leagues, the normal Boston colleges, and the UC’s.

For example, according to Mrs. Bascom, while the UC’s are starting to expand their wait-list, they are not pulling as many students from it. “Our top highly competitive students are committed into a lot of schools and are usually offered one or two wait-listed positions” said Mrs. Bascom.

According to Mrs. Bascom, here are some tips to make the most of your situation:

1. Accept the wait-list right away. Being offered the wait-list, does not mean you are put on it. You have to respond to the college and let them know you want it.

2. If you have additional information like another test score or an extra activity or something else that will make you stand out or improve your chances, send it in. It never hurts.

3. Understand what the wait-listed instructions are and follow directions to a T. Some colleges will ask you to send in a third quarter grade report or to send in an updated statement. If they say specifically don’t send anything, follow directions. Don’t send anything.

In the end, Mrs. Bascom offers some final advice concerning a senior’s future college. “So while you accept that spot on the wait-list, get excited about the school that wants you right out of the gates. Put your deposit down, make sure you got everything set up by May 1st, and get excited for that. And if an opportunity comes up in June or July, then you have a fun decision to make over where you want to go. A lot of times, students would end up not wanting to accept the wait-list offer because they’re so far into the process of their other school that they found out that really it is the right school for them. Never be disappointed in the admissions that you get,” she said.