When Yansong Pang from China applied to nine MBA programs for fall 2017 admission, he was surprised to discover he was placed on the waitlist by five — Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, London Business School, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
“I was extremely happy and proud when I received interview invites from HBS, GSB, Wharton and many other great schools. And I felt sadly funny and confused that I kept being wait-listed one by one,” Pang says.
When a student is placed on a college or graduate school waitlist, it means he or she has not been formally accepted but may be offered admission as spaces become available. For the fall 2017 undergraduate admissions cycle, 40 percent of schools reported using a waitlist and accepted an average of 25 percent of all students who chose to remain on waitlists, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
Pang says he was eventually denied admission to four of the schools. However, he gained admission to Wharton, his dream school, and will graduate in May 2019.
As prospective international students prepare applications for admission to U.S. universities, here are some things for them to know about waitlists.
[Read: How to Get Admitted Off a College Waitlist: 6 Steps for Success.]
University enrollment targets. International applicants may worry about being at a disadvantage if they eventually find themselves on a waitlist that includes domestic students. Experts say schools don’t typically differentiate between wait-listed international and U.S. students but may have varying enrollment goals that have an impact on admissions decisions.
“No preference is given to domestic students over international students. The academic record, interests of the student in relation to the available capacity in the majors and makeup of the class all contribute to who is offered admission from the waitlist,” says Clark Brigger, assistant vice president for undergraduate education and executive director of undergraduate admissions at Pennsylvania State University–University Park.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says while undergraduate domestic students are not given priority over international students, it does consider whether admitting international students from the waitlist would put it over its international student limit, according to the school’s website.
Not all universities use waitlists each year. Gareth Fowles, vice president for enrollment management at Lynn University in Florida, says the school has had to use a waitlist in the past. And due to a greater interest in the university, the admissions office expects to implement a waitlist for fall 2019.
“We have received the largest number of applications in Lynn’s history, and in order to maintain a small, personalized environment, we cannot accept all students who apply to the university,” Fowles says.
[Read: Why International Student Growth in the U.S. Has Slowed.]
Fowles says Lynn does not treat international students differently from domestic students and all applicants are evaluated equally through a holistic admissions review, which considers all aspects of a student’s application, including essays and letters of recommendation.
Student visa considerations. Prospective international students may also be concerned that being wait-listed means they may not have time to secure a visa once they are off the waitlist.
“With regard to the turnaround time for issuing a visa for a wait-listed student, embassies typically can issue visas up to 120 days prior to the start of a program in the U.S. Colleges usually offer wait-listed applicants (admission) after the May 1 regular decision deadline, thus making the visa turnaround time tight but doable,” says Drew Carlson, educational consultant for McMillan Education in Boston.
“Most colleges and universities, including Penn State, admit from the waitlist in time for international students to obtain their visas,” Brigger says.
Pang says he applied to every MBA program by round one, except for Duke; so although he was wait-listed by multiple schools, he received the eventual decisions early, around March or early April. Pang says this gave him enough time to prepare for the visa application process.
Financial aid. Experts say prospective international students should be aware that if they are placed on a waitlist and eventually admitted, they can still get financial assistance and scholarships at schools that offer financial aid to international students.
“All international students are considered for merit-based aid, even coming off a waitlist. Once a student is admitted to Lynn, they will be notified if they qualify for a merit scholarship,” Fowles says.
[Read: 10 Universities Where International Students Receive Aid.]
Pepperdine University in California says students admitted off the waitlist who qualify for financial assistance will receive financial aid if the budget permits, according to the school’s undergraduate admissions website.
Carlson says separate from the admissions decision communication, financial aid offices will deliver financial aid and scholarship offers to qualified wait-listed students.
“It is important that a student who is offered financial assistance is familiar with the package, given that admission offices often require for a commitment within 48 hours after they have offered a wait-listed student a spot,” Carlson says.
Though Pang was offered scholarships by other graduate schools he applied to that didn’t place him on the waitlist — the University of California–Berkeley Haas School of Business offered him $50,000 — he says he started saving for business school once he started working. He says by the time he applied, he already saved up for a year’s tuition, and his family is paying for his second year.
Pang says prospective international students may find placement on the waitlist frustrating, but there is still hope.
“My father always tells me, ‘Everything will be OK in the end. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end.’ Just give your best effort and leave no regret. And if the school rejects you, it’s their loss,” Pang says.
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What International Students Should Know About U.S. College Waitlists originally appeared on usnews.com
