Waitlisted? Here is what students at Stanford and USC had to say

This week some of our interns shared how they felt and what action they took if they were waitlisted. Here is what Isle, Brian, and Matthew had to say:

Getting waitlisted definitely has its pros and cons. From one point, I felt excited that the university hadn’t exactly said “NO” to me. However, on the other hand, I felt really anxious since my decision with that university wasn’t certain. It was also hard to plan around being “waitlisted” because, in a way, the university had me on “hold.” -Isle from Stanford

I got waitlisted at William and Mary and was accepted at the University of Southern California to start in the Spring (one semester later than everyone else). I really didn’t care that much about William and Mary—I only applied there because of a friend’s recommendation, but never visited. Being accepted in the Spring at USC was huge deal because it was my dream school. I really wanted to go there but I did not know what I would do for my first semester of college. I contacted USC to see what my options were and to see if I could be moved to fall admittance and what were my options if I did not do that. They said I could not be moved up but said I was free to do whatever I wanted; I could study abroad, sit on my couch for 6 months, take classes at another 4 year university, go to school at community college, or whatever my heart desires. What I decided to do was attend University of California, Santa Barbara then transfer over to USC in the spring. The only problem with this is that UCSB was on a quarters system and I only got partial credit for my classes, but other than that it was a fantastic decision. -Brian from USC

I only got waitlisted at one school, Cornell University. I felt that being waitlisted was more of a slap in the face than being denied because it meant they were holding out for candidates who could be more qualified than myself. My reaction was to convince myself that I did not want to go there anyway. I looked up online news about Cornell and found that perhaps it was not the school for me after all. I don’t completely recall the process, but if I was supposed to respond to the waitlist notification, I did not. I felt that I did not want to be a part of a school that had to think twice about accepting me. After getting that mail, I no longer concerned myself with Cornell. -Matthew from USC Marshal School of Business