Ellen, a freshman at UCLA, shares her experience of getting waitlisted and what she did to get in!
I still remember the nervousness with which I checked my application status on the day admissions were revealed. I also remember the disappointment I felt upon seeing the word waitlisted on my application. There was some unease at knowing that while all my friends would be knowing where exactly they would be going next year by May 1st, I would still be, in a way, undecided, until I knew my final decisions from the schools I applied to. Yet, I understood that I did have a shot at admission, unlike many of my friends who received an acceptance.
With this knowledge, I did everything I could to continue appealing to the school. I continued achieving high grades into my second semester of my senior year, and constantly had a 4.0 GPA throughout the quarter. I also emailed the admissions office and let them know of my current situation and updated accomplishments since submitting my application in November of the year before. I believe that this persistence put me in good standing within the waitlisted applicants, and believe it or not, a week after May 1st, I was emailed with an acceptance from my waitlisted school!
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