More waitlist use on the horizon

In the past, acceptance into college was, for the most part, a black-and-white issue: The letter started with either words of congratulations or a regretful "We are sorry to inform you."

But this year, things didn't always end there. Many colleges - including Penn - accepted a large number of students off their waitlists, a trend some experts say is likely to continue in the near future.

Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said 174 students were accepted off of this year's waitlist, adding that the admissions office was "active into the summer to finalize the class."

That number represents a substantial jump from the 65 students accepted the year before. It is also an increase from former interim Admissions Dean Eric Kaplan's May projection that Penn would accept about 90 waitlisted students for the class of 2012.

About 1,000 students were on the waitlist.

Some experts have cited the decisions of Harvard and Princeton universities to abandon their early-acceptance programs as a factor in the general increase in the number of students accepted off waitlists.

"There was more waitlist action this past year than I've seen in two decades," Sally Rubenstone of College Confidential wrote in an e-mail.

She said the growth was due in part to the proliferation of high-school seniors sending out more applications than ever before.

The impact of those applications was felt by colleges around the country, many of which used their waitlists more extensively than in the past.

By the middle of May, Princeton had already accepted 86 students from their 1,000-student waiting list. Just two years ago, no students were accepted off the list.

As many schools found yield rates hard to predict this year due to colleges dropping early-action programs and initiating new financial-aid initiatives, they turned to waitlists as a way to control their numbers.

"Schools wanted to be conservative - no one wants to look 'easy,' and it's a competition between who has the lowest admissions rate," Michele Hernandez, founder of Hernandez College Consulting, wrote in an e-mail.

Such factors might that colleges will use their waitlists heavily for several years.

"I do expect waitlist activity to continue as part of the total enrollment landscape," Furda said.

Steven Goodman, an educational consultant from Washington D.C., said two of his 50-plus students were accepted off Penn's waitlist and are now enrolled in the class of 2012.

"From Penn's perspective, having more students come in off of the waitlist is actually helpful because . you are getting students who really wanted to come to Penn," Goodman said.

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