When an applicant is put on the waitlist they are being told by the admissions committee that they are qualified for the program but that they have not quite distinguished themselves from other admitted or waitlisted candidates.
Therefore, now is the time to quickly take some action to distinguish yourself! Here are some tips on what steps to take next. Whatever action you take, such as getting a higher GMAT/TOEFL score, taking a Calculus course or leading a new community service project — the key will be to craft a persuasive essay that clearly explains your actions and improvement.
We read many waitlist essays that are a little bit off the mark and would like to provide some tips on how to write a very effective waitlist essay. The key to a waitlist essay is to highlight the improvement the applicant has made. Therefore, simply mentioning the new project you have worked on is not enough; the essay should explain how working on such project has helped you improve. The essay should clearly highlight the critical knowledge gained and the skills the candidate has enhanced. Then the final and most difficult step (that people typically omit) is to explain why this new knowledge, or the enhanced skill allows them to make a stronger contribution to the program. The most persuasive waitlist essay will make clear connections to the specific aspects of the program where they they might make an impact. Thus, the logic flow of a waitlist essay should include: recent actions taken -> explanation of improvement -> potential impact to the program.
Another major goal of the waitlist essay is to convince the admissions committee that the candidate is 100% committed to attending their program. To do this, the candidate should list the actions they have taken to connect with the school’s community, and highlight something new they have learned about the program that really excites them. Doing so can display a candidate’s commitment and passion to attend the school.
After reading the waitlist essay the candidate will want the admissions committee to come to the following conclusions:
– The candidate is making a diligent effort to improve;
– They are now a stronger candidate than they were when they submitted the application and better able to contribute to the program; and
– The candidate is very knowledgeable about the school, and will likely enroll if given an admission.
We hope this information is helpful for all of you waitlisted applicants out there! Keep pushing and improving, and if you do, you just might be one of those people sharing a success story in the near future.
If you have any questions about the waitlist or would like help crafting the most persuasive waitlist essay possible, please reach out to us at transcendadmissions@gmail.com.