One of my professional organizations is having its yearly convention in DC. With it comes the opportunity to go on one of five college tour trips. Out of the five, one was my favorite by far. It’s only one day long (difficult to be away much in June) and was to George Washington and Catholic Universities. The former makes it on my students’ lists on a regular basis, and the latter is a school that I have a growing interest to explore. These schools were relevant. The trip had everything I desired; it was a good fit.
It was full, and they waitlisted me, enrollment management.
These college tours are limited to fifty people, and as a matter of fact, they want to have exactly fifty people, not 49, not 51. It’s the sweet spot for college tours. That number of participants makes our visit to each campus worth the school’s time without being overwhelming. They often provide breakfast or lunch, and a campus tour led by student volunteers, followed by an admissions information session. They really roll out the red carpet for us. Fifty people also fit nicely on a tour bus, it’s a manageable crowd for the coordinator, and things tend to run smoothly.
Why was I not good enough to have lunch at George Washington University? The answer, as always, is “enrollment management.”
Does any of this ring a bell? So ironic to be waitlisted as a college consultant in the spring when the words, “I got waitlisted,” keep popping out of the mouths of my seniors. Colleges use waitlists for enrollment management. They need to accurately predict the number of people who will accept their offers of admission in order to yield a freshman class that is a predetermined and precise number. Implementing waitlists allows them to fill in the gaps if they under-yielded (fewer people opted to enroll than they predicted) thus precisely hitting the sweet spot. We don’t know these prediction models, and they change every year. That is why looking at data of how many got off a waitlist one year is not an indicator of what could happen this year. The total number in the freshmen class is not the only responsibility that enrollment managers have. They manage the college’s needs as determined by an assortment of stakeholders and work to meet these institutional priorities during the admissions cycle. Are they growing their science profile and need more STEM students? Did nursing over-enroll last year creating a squeeze for clinicals? Are there too many women and not enough men? Questions such as these explain why waitlists are unranked; they will draw from the pool of applicants that best fills any gaps in the class.
Your takeaway should be that XYZ University does think you are admissible, and they know you would thrive at their college. They want you; they just don’t have the room. I am moving on by looking at other options for college tours and getting excited about the prospects. I suggest that you do the same.