Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Waitlist Strategy

Waitlist Process
When the admission results are announced, some people are either suprised or frustrated to find themselves on the Waitlist. After all the effort, all you get is a waitlist! Don't despair. If you are really interested in that school, there's many ways you could demonstrate that to the school and convert your waitlist entry into a admission. This is what I found out when I was trying to convert my MIT Sloan waitlist into an admit, but ultimately sent a different letter to them, because I decided to goto W.

The bschool generally wants to admits those students from the waitlist, who will accept their offer. Therefore, you have that you really want to be there.

1) Get in touch with the school and find out their waitlist process. Most schools will ask you to send an additional letter or an essay indicating your interest in the school. Some might also permit an additional recommendation letter or a reference letter from an alumni. Follow the school's guidelines.

2) Visit the school, if you haven't yet visited the school. Meet the students, professors and see what you like. Did you find a good match between your interests and what the faculty does? Or are you excited by some programs that the school has? Mention that in your letter.

3) What have you done since the admission decision? - any new projects, charity work, or anything that adds to your leadership - mention about this in your letter to the school. The school wants to know about these updates.

4) Some other interesting things that I found while reading these blogs - one student made a support group from a set of current students, whom he knew, to make a case for him and send a recommendation letter for him.

5) Be creative - the more you learn about the school, the more you could write about what impact you could have on your classmates and the school community if you were admitted to the school.

Finally, be persistent about the waitlist and interacting with the adcom. But like any other, if you don't make it, it is not the end of the world. You could apply next year with whatever you have learned through the experience, or decide to move on, to work on your goals without doing an MBA.