Wellesley is a small, all-women’s college grounded in the liberal arts tradition on a 500-acre campus in Wellesley, Massachusetts 12 miles west of Boston. It is, however, far from traditional.
Madeleine Albright, Diane Sawyer, Hillary Clinton, and Ophelia Dahl are all graduates of Wellesley. They continue to seek women who want to change the world and challenge convention, and are home to about 2,400 students pursuing 50 different majors. The average class size is about 18 students, and over 90% of students complete at least one internship.
Last year, in the 2022-2023 application cycle, Wellesley received over 8,000 applications and admitted just 1,138 students for an acceptance rate of only 14%. The enrolled freshman class that year clocked in at 573, so they admit about twice as many students as they can actually accommodate, aiming for a 50% yield rate (or the percentage of admitted students who chose to enroll).
When they miscalculate, they turn to their waitlist. That same year, in the 2022-2023 application cycle, they offered 2,389 students a place on the waitlist — which is a massive percentage of applicants (nearly 30%). 1,180 accepted a spot on the waitlist, and 19 were eventually admitted, or .8% of the students initially offered a spot on the waitlist, and only 1.6% of the students who joined the waitlist. What’s the takeaway? It’s really hard to get into Wellesley off of the waitlist.
But, at the same time, it can be done. They estimate that between 15 and 100 students have been accepted off of the waitlist each year for the last 10 years, and there’s no reason why you couldn’t be one of them. This post will be your step-by-step guide to what to do next to make yourself one of the few who gets into Wellesley off of the waitlist.
If you’ve received a waitlist decision and are feeling overwhelmed, send us an email. We help exceptional students gain access to outstanding colleges.
Get on the Waitlist
Wellesley takes a different approach to their waitlist than most colleges. They want to give students time to really consider their options before deciding whether to try their ‘luck’ on the waitlist, so they don’t even open the waitlist response form until April 1st. And you must complete the form before May 1st, so we recommend doing it on or soon after April 1st to avoid things slipping through the cracks. This will also give you time between receiving the waitlist decision and completing the form to pull together the documents that will be the make-or-break of your waitlist experience. We’ll go into them further down in this post.
Line up an Alternative
Before you can even access the Wellesley waitlist response form, you need to line up a back-up in case you don’t get in. Look through the acceptances you’ve received, and pick one that you’d be most excited to attend in the fall — because you might have to. Then you need to enroll and place the required deposit to secure your spot. You will almost certainly lose this deposit if you get into Wellesley and choose to enroll, but that’s just the cost of playing the waitlist game.
Reinforce Your Interest
Once you have your back-up all set, you need to do the real waitlist work. Now, none of this is technically required. You could just submit the waitlist response form and then…wait. But that’s a terrible idea. “If Wellesley remains or becomes your first choice college,” they say, “we encourage you to log into your application portal and upload a letter expressing your interest.” While this is positioned as optional, it really isn’t. They want students who want them, so you need to give them confidence in your commitment to Wellesley. If you don’t, you are basically saying that you aren’t all that serious and don’t really care. Luckily, we’re experts at writing this letter, which is often called a “Letter of Continued Interest” or LOCI.
This is how it should be structured:
Opening: Start with a formal but general opening, like “Dear Wellesley Admissions,” and a sentence reminding them of who you are and what your objective is in the letter. Namely, to reinforce your interest in Wellesley and provide them with a few brief updates to your application.
Reinforce Interest: This is the meat of the letter, and it needs to be right at the top so it’s entirely clear what your priority is. In no more than 250 words, you need to underline and bold why you want to be at Wellesley — without using underlines or bolded text. Remember, this needs to be professional. Share what it is specifically about Wellesley that draws you to the school, and be as specific as you can. You should share precise reasons why you want to study your prospective major at Wellesley, as well as one or two on campus communities that you plan on joining or contributing to. Show that you really know the college, and that you will thrive there.
Short Update: Next, you want to provide a few short updates to your application only if you have genuinely new information to share with the admissions officials. Sharing something trivial is worse than having no update, but of course we’d prefer if you can find at least one thing (but no more than three, and no more than 250 words total) that is worth them knowing when they look at your application again. This could be an award, recognition, new leadership position, or an update to an activity you are heavily involved in.
Closing: Wrap up your letter with a final sentence or two underlining again (yes, you fill feel a bit like you’re repeating yourself) that you’re committed to attending Wellesley and that you will enroll if accepted. Then close with a simple “With Gratitude,” or “Sincerely,”.
Wellesley also accepts additional materials that were not part of your original application via email to the Office of Admissions. This could include an updated grade report, or a document related to an award or recognition, but we recommend including most updates in the LOCI so that you don’t risk making the admissions office feel like you’re spamming them.
Follow Instructions
Once you’ve completed and submitted your updates and waitlist response form, you need to back off. Wellesley does not offer interviews for waitlisted students, and they don’t want you to show up on campus asking for an explanation or trying to advocate for yourself in person. Respect the boundaries they set and use the tools they provide to make the strongest case you can for your application.
Be Patient
You’ll hear back from Wellesley sometime between early May and August 1st. They like to offer spots to waitlisted students over the phone first, so make sure your voicemail message isn’t embarrassing. This will be followed by an online notification, so also check the applicant portal regularly. Students accepted from the waitlist are provided with on-campus housing like all other first-year students, so don’t stress yourself out too much if it takes longer to get word than expected.
The secret to a successful waitlist experience is to control what you can and let go of what you can’t — so do your best, make a strong case for yourself having a future at Wellesley, and then let the admissions office do their thing.
If you’re torn up about a waitlist, get in touch. We’re pros at navigating tough admissions situations.