Since March 10th, my firm has been inundated with continuous inquires (phone calls and emails) from stunned and stressed-out parents because their children are wait-listed. Many of the inquiries are from parents whose children have been wait-listed from ALL schools to which they applied!
More families are choosing boarding schools for their children; thus, the competition has increased. Boarding schools that were competitive are now hyper-competitive and schools that were marginally competitive are now competitive. We have observed an increase in applications (and therefore waitlisted applicants) in top U.S. boarding schools. Choate, Andover, Ext
WAIT-LISTED means that “we love your child, but we don’t have spot available today, tomorrow or perhaps never”. Two factors are important to consider:
- SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT in your child’s application process. Parents make a lot of mistakes on their child’s application.
- In this hypercompetitive environment, in many cases, wait-listed may be “forever”. Top schools rarely “reject” students outright. The outcome, however, remains unchanged…a perpetually waitlisted student has not been accepted and will not have a place in their private school of choice.
Many parents are mistakenly drawing from their skills as corporate executives, tiger moms, financiers, etc. rather than accepting the benefits of a consultant’s professional skills and years of experience in private admissions diplomacy. An understanding of real-time changes, as well as nuances particular to each school at a particular point in time are important for successful outcomes in private school admissions to top schools. Many parents also fail to fully appreciate and understand the human element of diplomacy in the selection process and decisions in private school admissions. As a result, after the waitlist, they reapply again only to be waitlisted AGAIN.
When parents call our firm to inquire about our services, they engage us because they understand the importance of investing in their child’s educational future. The successful outcome is invaluable and preferable compared to the prospect of their child being waitlisted again and again and again.
Paul Reginald Lowe is the managing director and lead admissions expert at Pinnacle Educational Center Admissions Advisors Group’s Boarding School Admissions Consultants, an affiliate of Private School Admissions Advisors. Dr. Lowe specializes in providing exclusive concierge-type admissions advisory services for U.S. and international students who are interested in applying to top U.S. boarding schools. Dr. Lowe helps U.S. and international students gain admissions into top U.S. boarding schools even after they have been wait-listed and rejected.
Dr. Lowe and his team of diverse admissions experts provide unrivaled, unmatched and unparalleled admissions advisory and educational research services for their clients. Most importantly, you work DIRECTLY with Dr. Lowe and get the benefits of his entire team. By working with Dr. Lowe, one-on-one, you work with his reputation, his expertise, his experience and his success!
Dr. Paul Lowe - Admissions Expert 