Getting on a law school’s waitlist can feel like a double-edged sword. On one hand, you still have a chance at getting into the school. On the other hand, the admissions process is already stressful enough, so having to wait even longer for a decision can prolong that stress.
Despite the frustration that can accompany being on a waitlist, you should view it as an opportunity. After all, the school could have just rejected you, and it would have if the admissions committee did not see any reason to admit you. Therefore, not only should you not give up hope—you should use this opportunity to increase your chances of getting in.
Here are three actions you should take when you are waitlisted:
Evaluate the situation.
It is important to take a step back and look at why you might have been waitlisted. At first glance, this might be easier said than done. You cannot read the minds of the admissions committee, nor are they going to tell you why you are waitlisted.
Generally, there are three main reasons people are waitlisted. The first is when someone applies to a “reach” school. They were a longshot to get in, so getting waitlisted is a better result than a rejection.
The second reason is something similar. The school had a competitive admissions process and a low acceptance rate, so many people were rejected for a variety of reasons, even if they were strong candidates under the school’s criteria.
Finally, sometimes a school does not believe an applicant is really interested in attending. This can happen when someone applies to a school and their LSAT score and/or GPA are well above the average statistics for that school. Sometimes an applicant has average statistics for a school but the admissions committee might just think the applicant was not that interested.
As noted earlier, you cannot know for sure why you did not gain admission, so it is good to take a multi-tiered approach to cover your bases.
Take stock of what you can control.
Before pursuing a strategy to get off the waitlist, you should look at what you can control. Are you taking the LSAT again? Are you in school and have another semester of grades coming? For most situations, anything you can do to increase your statistics can improve your chances of getting off the waitlist.
Additionally, you should consider whether you have the means to visit the school. Has anyone at the school reached out and made themselves available to speak with you? Doing whatever you can to express your continued interest can help increase your chances of getting in.
Pursue a strategy.
Once you have analyzed the situation and have seen what is in your control, you should pursue a multi-tier strategy focused on getting off the waitlist. First and foremost, you should maintain continued contact with the school. Although you should not bug the admissions committee by constantly asking if you got in, you should take one or two opportunities to update the school on your continued interest.
When you receive a message that you are on the waitlist, the school will typically provide a portal for you to share any updates on your application. If you do not have any updates, you should still write a letter expressing your continued interest in the school. This letter should focus more on why you want to attend precisely that school rather than why you want to be a lawyer, but it will likely include elements of both. If you have no other information to share after that, do not reach out to the school until you receive an update on your application.
If you receive new grades or achieve a higher LSAT score, you should update the school on these new statistics. If you have these new numbers when you receive the waitlist decision, you should include them along with your letter of interest. If you did not have this information when you sent your letter of continued interest, it is okay to update your application a second time with these numbers. When you receive notice that you are on the waitlist, if you know these numbers are coming, it might still be best not to wait for them. If the school says you have until a particular date to update your application, and the new grades or LSAT score are coming before the date, you can wait. If not, it is best to get a letter in right away so you do not risk the school making a decision before your new numbers arrive.
If you submit new information after receiving notice that you are on the waitlist, and in the next wave of decisions you are informed that you are still waitlisted, you should submit another letter sharing any new information and your continued interest. You will want to make this letter different from your previous one but still drive home why you are interested in this school in particular.
As discussed earlier, you should also consider visiting the school during this time or taking advantage of any other extended lines of communication with the school to express your interest. If the school provides tours and/or the Admissions Office accepts visitors, you should go. During your visit, you should not ask about your potential admission; you should just emphasize your interest in the school.
During the waitlist process, you should consider the bigger picture beyond the school for which you are waitlisted. If you would be fine attending another school that accepted you, you should move ahead with the process in that school’s stated time frame. Generally, schools will require you to answer their offer and put down a deposit by a particular date. If you are still waitlisted at a school you prefer, you could say yes to an alternate school and pay the deposit—but just know that if you ultimately attend the waitlisted school, you will not receive your deposit back. You will owe tuition by a certain point, but often by then, you will have received a final decision on your admission from the waitlisted school.
Alternatively, if you only want to attend the waitlisted school, you could always try for this cycle and then work to increase your LSAT score by the next application cycle.
Although it is stressful to be on the waitlist, the worst thing you can do is sit around and do nothing. You wanted to attend the school for a reason, so you should do everything you can to gain admission. Request a free consultation with one of Stratus Admissions Counseling’s experts today.