The Lo-o-o-o-ong Wait

Sixth Formers and their parents always approach April with great trepidation—a time when colleges, at last, communicate their final admissions decisions.  Students clamor around the mailboxes, hoping for a fat envelope, a sign that maybe, just maybe, the letter contained inside will begin with the word “congratulations.”  Parents sit nervously at home, waiting for that phone call, the screams of joy, the tears.  Any decision, it seems, is better than all this waiting…
 
April is now upon us, and all that dreaded waiting is over.  Overall, the Class of 2006 has fared extremely well in what has proven to be the toughest admissions year on record.  Colleges across the country are reporting record numbers of applications, and the quality of applicants continues to be on the rise.  As expected, girls have experienced the toughest scrutiny at the majority of selective colleges and universities because of the sheer volume of female applications. Jennifer Delahunty Britz, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Kenyon College, published an interesting Op-Ed piece in the New York Times on March 23 referencing this important trend.  See: Op-Ed Contributor:  To All the Girls I've Rejected
 
Despite such a competitive climate, we at Westminster are happy to report that all of our Sixth Formers have earned a place at one of the nation’s selective colleges, and most students in the Class of 2006 have several strong options from among which to choose.  Though inevitably some students are disappointed, the class is in good spirits and navigated the college process extremely well.  Now that the waiting is over, students face the difficult task of making decisions, and we stand ready to assist them as they weigh their options and, in many cases, consider financial aid packages.  Many colleges host comprehensive revisit programs throughout the month of April, offering students a chance to meet other prospective freshman and see the college in action.  Sometimes our students prefer to revisit on their own, opting to forgo a manufactured program in favor of an overnight with a former Westminster student or friend.  Because getting time away from classes is always a challenge, and most sixth formers are loathe to leave campus during their last spring term on the Hill, Sixth Formers need to select carefully those campuses they wish to visit.  But visits this time of year are extremely important.  So often a place looks different through admitted eyes, and students, for the very first time, can actually begin to picture themselves on a particular campus, mingling with a particular student body.
 
May 1 is known as the National Candidate Reply Date.  Students must deposit at their first choice college no later than May 1 in order to reserve their place at that school.  Late deposits are not accepted.  Those students who choose to remain on a waitlist or two still need to deposit at a college that has offered them a place in their class; should a student accept a place off of a waitlist, that student may withdraw from the school to which he/she deposited but must forgo the deposit sum.  Typically no waitlist movement happens before May 1, at which time colleges have a better sense of how many students have accepted their offers of admission.  We will talk to Sixth Formers at length about waitlist strategies and considerations mid-month.  Those students who have earned spots off of waitlists have, in the past, been those who have committed to attending the college if admitted; very few financial aid candidates end up winning spots off of waitlists, because colleges have usually expended the majority of their institutional budgets by May 1.  Certainly we will work closely with all Sixth Formers as they make decisions about this important next step in their education.  What an exciting year it has been!