College wait lists are something you may have to deal with when you are applying to college, but many students who are planning to take distance education programs often wonder if online schools have wait lists too. A wait list does not necessarily mean that you have been rejected by a school, but it also does not give you the reassurance that you have a school to attend in the fall. Knowing the procedures of online schools and also the steps that you can take to avoid falling into a wait list purgatory is a must. Read on find out what you need to know as you apply to online school.
What is a College Wait List?
A college is not able to accept every single student that applies to the school every year. Instead of just offering the number of students that the school is able to accept an offer for admissions, the school uses data from the past and the trends to determine the percentage of students that go from an offer to enrolling. This percentage is used when deciding how many acceptance letters to send out. For example, a school with a 50% enrollment rate that has 3,000 spaces available will offer 6,000 students admissions. Beyond that, the school will offer students the chance to be put on the wait list in the event that enrollment quotas are not met. This is why many college experts call the college wait list the purgatory of admissions.
How Do Online Colleges Use Wait Lists?
In the past, only traditional schools with in-class courses worried about wait list procedures. Now, with the growing popularity of online schools, all institutions need to have some sort of policy in place to ensure seats are filled and students get a quality education. Some online colleges with very competitive admissions will use wait lists during the admissions process and others will use it as kids enroll for classes. This benefits both students and the institution by ensuring the school can collect fees from the maximum number of students and by showing the student how many students are in front of them on the list.
What Can Students Do to Avoid the Wait List Abyss?
If you do not like the thought of being in limbo when it comes to your admissions, you should take the proper steps as you are choosing colleges. The first step will be to choose several different online colleges. You can choose competitive colleges, but also choose a few that are not so popular and that have higher admissions rates. This will give you backup options so that you can attend your second or third options if the first does not come through.
If you are wait listed, you should always be sure that you let the school know whether or not you want to stay on the wait list as soon as you can. By telling the school that you are interested, you can get an edge on being admitted for the upcoming semester. You may be able to transfer in from another school if you do not gain admittance the freshman year. If you do show you interest and continue to followup, there is a good chance that you will go from college wait lists to the upcoming class.