wait list ... now what?

[lhrmum]

We got the dreaded letter today - wait list for our top choice. Not bad news, but not good news either.

Would love some advice from mums that have shared the news with their DS. Obviously we are so PROUD of him to have made it through the exam & interview. How did you put the right spin on wait list so he feels good but we set expectations that he might not get in??

Also, an email from the school said 'The wait list is not ranked.' What the heck does that mean??

I don't know what it means by not-ranked. I would expect it to be ranked somehow, but I guess they don't want everyone phoning up to see what number they are?

It's impossible to tell. Some schools never touch their waiting list. Some go down them. Some years this reverses. So difficult to tell.

I would opt for the -you didn't get in approach, maybe mention there is a tiny possibility of getting in later but keep it as an unlikely and small probability.

We got wait list on our first choice. Form offer on our 2nd choice. Awaiting third choice result due tomorrow.

Wasnt surprised about wait list and dont feel overly gutted by it. Will sit it out for then next few days and see if there is any positive movement and how we feel about it when everything settled. Really am surprised by my reaction tho.

thanks for the replies. on the advice of the headteacher, I told my ds this morning with a hearty congrats for making it this far in the process. he did not seem bothered that he would need to wait a few more weeks until he had a firm yes/no from that school. I am gutted ... but that's my issue :)

best of luck to you on your choices!

Hi
Im just wondering if anyone has been offered a place from the reserve list on their preferred school yet or is it really too early for much movement?

Hi SinandTonic, I had an email exchange with the school this week. They said it would be 29 Jan or later before they could come back to us with any news. It must be really stressful for admissions people too - such a chess game for everyone. We have 2 other offers that we need to accept/decline this week (b4 the 29th) so trying to figure out how to handle them. What are you planning to do? Our top choice where we were waitlisted is likely a backup school for some students looking for offers from Westminster, StPs, etc so I am hoping there will be some movement on the list. I think it is just a longer waiting game for us.

Hi lrmum we are in similar situation to yourself and also have 2 offers we need to accept/decline - the problem we have is its not a level playing field between the schools and their accept/decline dates with our preferred school saying the earliest theycwould notify us of a place from the reserve list being 3 days after deadlines for other schools. No idea how to play this at all - its so stressful.

SinandTonic, completely understand! Good luck. It seems the only way to handle it is to accept that we will lose a nonrefundable deposit as the price of getting our 1st choice. Good luck to you! I am soooo ready to put this process behind us and start looking forward.

LHRmum: there is a lot of waiting list action (for schools that end up using it) in the 1-2 days before and after the acceptance deadline. To improve your chances of not losing a deposit, you may well plan to hand in the acceptance form and cheque in person on deadline day, with a phone call to the registrar at the waiting list school explaining that you would love to bring your chequebook there instead, if a place has opened up... Good luck!

I would expect movement when the state school offers come out as some will choose grammars over private

lhrmum - check the small print on your offers, some you will lose the deposit plus owe them a terms fees if you don't take up the place

Does anyone have any experience of getting a wait list place with certain schools?