Behind the Decision

Are students admitted from the wait list still eligible for financial aid?
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Yes.  It's Colby's policy to meet 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every student accepted, whether by Early Decision, Regular Decision, or from the Wait List.

--Dory

After receiving a wait-list letter from Colby (and rejections from other places) I have to say, I feel really blindsided by this whole application process. Being academically strong, I figured I would get into a "good" school. I still had my doubts however, and expressed them quite often. My peers, relatives, and most importantly my teachers and guidance counselors assured me not to worry. I've been vacillating between diffidence and confidence for a few months now, and as the rejection letters and wait-list letters come, they deliver the final crushing blow to my mercurial emotional state. Despite the euphemisms most colleges use, the letter still reads like, "Sorry, you weren't quite good enough for us."

I was hoping I wouldn't be as disappointed as I am, but as you said, the wait-list letter does seem to prolong the agony; especially when my future seems precarious. And I do not want to seem ungrateful for the opportunity I have been given, yet I cannot help but feel a bit depressed by my current situation.

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No one can blame you for feeling somewhat depressed by the whole situation.  The stakes in the college admission process seem extraordinarily high, which makes students feel as if life is over, or at least permanently altered in the negative, if they don't get accepted by the "right" schools.  

But the fact is that no one can take away from you the success you've experienced in life thus far, and building resilience only adds arrows to your quiver.  As difficult as it may be, please try to bear in mind that this is not a personal decision.  Being wait listed or turned down by Colby is in no way a reflection on you as a person.  College is what you make of it and if you have been a strong student in high school, I'm betting that wherever you go, you'll get the best out of it.

Best of luck to you,

Dory

Ok, so now he's in...... we are moving from that long anticipation phase of waiting to hear from the small number of colleges to which he applied, with Colby being that last one. We now enter the decision phase.

As there are a few questions that may still be lingering out there for my son about Colby as he makes this final decision (and a big one in his young eighteen year life), should those questions be directed through admissions?

I must say, that I don't know what his final decision will be, but I am addicted to this blog, Mrs. Streett! You make it real and it is such an interesting and intimate way to connect to Colby as a prospective parent. I love reading your perspective each week.

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Thank you for the compliment and I am truly pleased that the blog has been helpful to you and your son. Congratulations to him on his acceptance. He can certainly direct any questions our way, and he can also communicate directly with a Colby student through our "Ask a Student" feature on the insideColby.com website. Here's the link:
http://www.insidecolby.com/studentprofiles.php?mode=askastudent
Best,
Dory

My only concern with the wait list is that by the time I found out whether or not I was admitted from the wait list I probably will have already told another school that I'm attending there instead, even though I reallyyyyyyyyyyy would rather go to Colby. What can I do about that?

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It is very important for you to choose another option for enrollment for this very reason.  Most colleges do not know whether they will be able to offer admission to any of the students on their Wait Lists until about May 1 since accepted students have until that date to notify their colleges of their intention to enroll or not. 

We understand that this is problematic for you since you will have to pay a deposit to another school which you then would have to forfeit if you are accepted from our Wait List.  For many families, this is a significant consideration.  But don't worry about being "disloyal" to the other college should you decide to do this.  All colleges, Colby included,  expect that a few students who pay their enrollment deposits will ultimately choose not to come in the fall, either because they were accepted elsewhere from a Wait List or for any number of other reasons.

Good luck with this complex decision.
--Dory

Thank you for the post - we too are on the waiting list and the above post will make it so much easier.

My daughter appreciates this article as well - even more than those previously posted. She has drafted her "I want to wait " letter several times this weekend, and is still not satisfied! It's hard to put into words the emotions the college search engenders, but you have done a wonderful job! Thank you for your wise words!

Thank you so much for the post. This really helps me feel better.

I was devastated to learn that I had been waitlisted at Colby and now I'm really hoping that the admissions committee does offer me a place.

Colby is a dream college for me and if I'm granted admission, I would accept it with my eyes closed.

I am an international student from India, and I've been wait listed.

I've sent the wait list card back to Colby, stating my desire to still be considered for a place in the class of 2012.

I know that my card would reach Colby much later than the rest of the people who've applied from USA. I'd like to know how that would affect my chances to being granted admission.

I did send mails to the admissions office about my wish to remain as a contender for a place at Colby and I'd like to know if that would help my case.

Lastly, since I am an international student seeking financial aid, how would it affect my chances to be at Colby?

I'd really appreciate if you could take some time out of your busy schedule and answer my queries.

Please do help me out with the steps that I should take to be considered for admission to Colby...I am reallllly looking forward to being there...

Thanks.

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Thanks for your questions.  Don't worry about the arrival of your response card; we encourage students to carefully consider their decision about whether to remain on the Wait List, and we know that some people may not make up their minds for several weeks.  We will not be assessing our need to use the Wait List until late in April when we have a firmer idea of the response to our offers of admission.  [By the way, your e-mail response is already in your file -- I saw it there yesterday :-)  ]

Colby is committed to meeting 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every student whom we accept to the college, whether by Early Decision, Regular Decision, or Wait List, and regardless of international or domestic status.  What we will not know until later in the process is how our budget for financial aid weathers the responses of those already accepted. 

I hope this helps, but please let me know if I can answer further questions.  You definitely are not the only one who is trying to figure out this complicated process.

Best,

Dory

Wow, thanks very much for this blog. My situation is very similar to the one that one of the anonymous comments described: I've been on pins and needles since July and have been getting rejection and waitlist letters. The fact that I just came over from Russia and had to learn about the whole college system from scratch didn't help. This blog just showed that not all is lost...

Dory: 

Terrific advice throughout the Blog. I will discuss with my daughter who anxiously awaits moving from the wait-list to accept. 

John

Hi, Dory,
I'm also one of the waitlisted students. I heard people say that by the time the colleges start looking at the waitlist pile, there will not be enough financial aid available, is this true for Colby? And also, when I will know if I get into Colby or not?
Thank you
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Colby's policy is to meet 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every student we accept, no matter when that student is accepted.  We will not know how much financial aid will be available until we have received responses to our offers of admission, which will be late in the month of April.  At that time, we will determine if we will make offers from the Wait List, and if so, how many.  We try to complete the Wait List process by the end of May at the latest.
--Dory

Hi, Dory

I'm also waitlisted. Should I put off the date of my deposit for another school to the end of April, in case that I heard anything back from Colby before May 1st. Will this work or happen?
Thanks
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It is always a good idea to secure a place at another college since we cannot predict exactly when we will be in a position to know about our use of the Wait List.  It is likely to be very close to or after May 1, and you want to be sure that you'll have a college home in the fall.
Best,
Dory

Hello, Dory,

If I don't get admitted off the Waitlist, will I be informed by a rejection letter? Or do I assume that I wasn't admitted if I do not get a reply by a certain date? I thought there would be a letter, but my parents want me to double-check ;-)))
Thank you :)

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You will be informed by letter, and if you are an international student, you will also receive an e-mail message.

Thanks,
Dory

Disappointed but not surprised by the waitlist outcome I have to say that I feel the online notification site is poorly set up. Whne one logs onto mycloby you come to a page that says welcome to the portal for the class of 2013 and on it goes. I can't believe we are the only ones that would read that and think yea! ...but then where is the actual decision?! After poking around ALL over the page and finally looking under enrollment there is where you find it.
I think there should be directions as to where to look for your deicision and NOT a warm welcome by the President encouraging you to visit the website as a Colby student.

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Point well taken. I will make sure that your comments reach the appropriate people and perhaps we can make this a bit easier for future applicants. Meanwhile, that's of little help to you, but I do appreciate your philosophical outlook, and I wish you all the best.

--Dory

As you wrote, will letting Colby know that you will go to Colby when you are accepted help a student on waitlist to get off from it?
I mean not just sending a letter back to remain on the waitlist; but to 'commit' to Colby, although it may sounds awkwardly.

By the way, your posts have been incredibly helpful us prospects!

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It is generally helpful to us to know which students are most likely to come if offered a place. Therefore if you send a letter to the admissions representative who oversees the territory where you go to school, that person will make note of your sincere interest for use when and if we are able to offer further places from the wait list. You can figure out who your representative is by going to the "Ask Our Staff" page on the Admissions website.
Good luck!
--Dory

hi! my name is TINASHE EDWARD NYANHETE from Zimbabwe. i am really looking forward to coming to Colby and i was disappointed when i got waitlisted but i am still happy though because at least i still have a chance of making it into the class of 2013. i confirmed my desire to remain on the waitlist via the electronic response because i have not yet received the paper version. i wanted to ask whether you got my confirmation. i also wanted to ask when students on the waiting list get their final decisions. please if there is anyone out there who knows what one has to do so as to get off the waiting list please do tell me.

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Dear Tinashe,

I will also send you a personal message, but I want to let you know that we have indeed received your electronic response to stay on the wait list. We have also received some supplementary materials that were scanned and sent to us electronically. These updates are helpful to us if and when we can offer further places from the wait list. As you probably know, we will not be able to assess whether we can take any more students until we have received the enrollment figures from the acceptances we have already made, usually about May 1. At that time, we will assess the number of remaining places, if any, as well as the state of our financial aid budget. At that point, we may be able to offer some additional places. Most offers from the wait list are made in the first half of May, but in some years, it has been later. We know that the prolonged waiting is difficult, and I am sorry that this is so non-specific.

Best of luck to you, and thank you for your patience --
--Dory