Along with those letters of acceptance and rejection comes that dreaded letter, known as the waitlist. But in this crazy year of college admissions that letter may indeed be good news. Here’s why.
Colleges manage their enrollment through something known as “yield management.” Using a combination of mathematic predictions and guesswork, they admit a certain number of high school seniors knowing that only a certain percentage will actually show up on campus in the fall. Generally, college admissions offices get pretty good at predicting what that “yield” will be. And then, every once in a while – like this year – the economy goes kappooey, and all those predictions are up for grabs.
Continue Reading »
(Or how I learned to stop worrying and almost love the college admissions experience)
Twenty-five years ago, I was widely recognized as an “expert” on college admissions. That’s because I had just co-authored a best-selling book on the subject: Getting In! I had written the book with my good friend Paulo DeOliveira, who really was an expert, having spent five years as a senior admissions officer at Brown University. I, on the other hand, was the “evil genius” who had convinced him to tell-all; to explain what really went on behind those closed doors. And to really cement our spot in hell (according to a few admissions officers,) we would share the secrets about how kids could truly improve their chances of getting in.
Continue Reading »
