The Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled “The Only Thing Harder Than Getting Into College Is Getting Off the Wait List.” As conveyed by the title, the article states that at some schools the waitlist has become more selective than a school’s overall acceptance rate. The WSJ surveyed students, consultants, and former admissions officers to discuss how schools turn to the waitlist to fill specific gaps in each class, depending on whether they’re looking for an oboe player, a student from a particular major, or someone who can pay full tuition. The piece also addresses that the waitlist creates a trickle-down effect—”A student who accepts a wait-list offer will then renege on their original commitment, sending that school to its own wait list to fill the spot.”
So, what exactly is it about the waitlist that has created such a buzz? And how should a student maximize their chances of getting off it?
What Do Admissions Offers From the Waitlist Look Like at Top Schools in 2026?
You might be curious how waitlisted applicants have fared in the latest cycle. Here is a look at the number of students waitlisted and the percentage of waitlist admits at a few colleges for their Class of 2029 (i.e., students who started college in the fall of 2025):
School Number of students on the waitlist Percentage of students admitted off the waitlist
Amherst 740 5.90%
Carnegie Mellon 4,937 13.90%
Cornell 5,800 0.40%
Georgia Tech 4,875 13.40%
Harvey Mudd 439 0
MIT 561 1.80%
Swarthmore 675 5.20%
UCLA 20,563 7.40%
UC Berkeley 9,101 0
University of Michigan 18,435 9%
University of Notre Dame 1,475 3.70%
Williams College 850 2.90%
As you can see, the percentage of students admitted from the waitlist truly varies. These are also all just the reflection from one application cycle; year-to-year waitlist admit numbers from a specific school also vary based on what the admissions team might be looking for, or how much space remains in the class at the May 1 deposit deadline. Take a look at the numbers at Amherst College over the years below:
Year Number of students on the waitlist Percentage of students admitted off the waitlist
Class of 2029 740 5.90%
Class of 2028 623 1.30%
Class of 2027 599 7.80%
Class of 2026 902 4%
Class of 2025 788 0
As you can see, there’s no guarantee how many (if any!) students will get off the waitlist. However, if you’ve been placed on the waitlist at a school that’s still very exciting to you, it’s important to follow the school’s instructions and do your due diligence to make sure your chances are as strong as possible.
How to Get Off the Waitlist
To start, ask yourself if you want to stay on a school’s waitlist in the first place. Compare the school that’s put you on the waitlist to schools that have admitted you. Are you just as excited—or more—about some of the schools where you’ve already been offered a spot? If so, there may be no need to hold out for a decision from a school where you’ve been waitlisted. If you feel strongly that it’s the best school for you, though, it might be worth the continued uncertainty.
Accept your spot at a school that has admitted you. When students are admitted during the regular decision cycle, they have until May 1 to decide whether they’ll attend. If you don’t submit an enrollment deposit somewhere by May 1, you might end up with nowhere to go! Carefully review your acceptances and determine which of those schools is the best fit for you. Try to be enthusiastic about the schools that accepted you. You applied there for a reason, so get excited!
If you do want to keep your spot on the waitlist, it’s important to let the college know. There will be an official procedure for doing so, explained in the waitlist offer letter. Make sure you follow that procedure! If a college allows you to send additional materials, you should strongly consider sending a “letter of continued interest.”
A letter of continued interest lets colleges know that you’re committed to attending if you’re admitted and updates them on any important achievements or circumstances since you submitted your original application. Below are some quick tips for writing your letter, and you can find a more in-depth guide here.
- If the school that waitlisted you is your first choice and you would definitely attend if admitted, you should say so in your letter. It can be reassuring to colleges to know that they’re making offers to waitlisted students who are very likely to accept.
- Give them new information. If there’s anything that can bolster confidence in your application, let them know. This might be an improvement in your grades, an award you won, a new project you’re working on, or something exciting you did in one of your extracurricular activities.
- Keep it brief. Your letter should only be about half a page long and definitely no more than a full page. Some schools have specific word count limits for letters of continued interest, so be sure to check!
- Don’t be repetitive. It can be a good idea to reiterate why you believe a particular school is a good fit for you, but again, keep it brief. If you already wrote a supplemental essay about why you want to attend, you don’t need to repeat that information in the letter of continued interest.
- Address the letter appropriately. Your waitlist offer letter may tell you where and to whom you should send a letter of continued interest. If you’re not sure where to send it, check the admissions website or call and ask the admissions office so you can be sure your letter gets to the right person.
Colleges admit students from the waitlist for a variety of reasons, usually tied to their institutional priorities. Sometimes schools are candid about what those priorities are, and other times the reasons aren’t shared publicly. No matter what, make sure you’ve followed the right steps. Depending on the state of the college’s waitlist, things might end up working out. Good luck!
Leave a Reply