waitlist/deferred decision

($) How schools make decisions off the waitlist (and how much hope should you have?)

April 5, 2023 by EssaySnark

Being waitlisted suuuuuuuuucks. We totally understand the urgency of wanting to get answers. There’s unfortunately no way that someone can sit there on the outside and prognosticate about what your errors in execution might have been based solely on looking at some core stats from your profile or a few ideas in a post on...

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.

Oh, woe, the waitlist. :-( Some perspectives.

April 4, 2023 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

In times of uncertainty, buy gold. Or if you’re an MBA admissions director: Put everyone on the waitlist. Some BSers are in the “abundance of riches” category but certainly not everyone is — and if you’ve landed on the waitlist, then the most important thing we can say to you today is IT’S NOT YOU. […]

Waitlisted? What not to do.

March 14, 2023 by EssaySnark

This is reblahgged from the ‘snarchives because unfortunately it’s apparently needed advice again at this time of year… We talk about the waitlist being a glass-half-FULL thing and nobody believes it. Yes, it’s true that being put on the waitlist is not an offer of admission — yet! However, it is up to you whether...

($) Letters of support for your waitlisted application.

March 3, 2023 by EssaySnark 2 Comments

Today’s post was inspired by a couple of questions we’ve received from Rd 1 waitlisters — and it’s such a tough spot to be in, especially at this stage! Not because you may not get in (hopefully you do!!) but because the seemingly endless stretch of time from the waitlist news to today can really […]

($) How to mention a personal or “convenience factor” reason for choosing a school

February 22, 2023 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

There are gobs of reasons why you might have fallen in love with School X. Unfortunately, School X has heard all of them before. Some admissions consultants even spoonfeed their clients on what to say as a reason. That means that there are oodles of applicants citing the same things all the time. So how […]

($) What to do (and not do!) in waitlist update letters

February 8, 2023 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Being on the waitlist can be a very stressful place to be, and yet it offers real opportunity to change your fate! How you handle the waitlist update might be the make-or-break chance, when you’re on the border in the adcom’s eyes between an admit and lingering longer in the limbo state. Some schools don’t […]

($) What to do if you landed on the waitlist

January 5, 2023 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Of course…. this is not what anyone wants or even expects. Most Brave Supplicants who worked their patooties off in their essay-writing process had hoped that that effort would turn into an admit. However, given the uncertainties of this process, it’s likely that a lot of applicants ended up in that limbo state of waitlistness […]

($) How to get off the waitlist

December 15, 2022 by EssaySnark

Along with the many frothy and celebratory emails that EssaySnark gets around this time — beyond the ones wishing holiday cheer, we’re talking here about ones where our clients are reporting acceptances by their schools of choice — we also get a few that feel like they come loaded with bricks: “They put me on...

($) Be prepared for this to take awhile

October 20, 2022 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

This is an unfortunate post for us to have to write — and it’s the kind of thing that, for the people to whom it likely most applies, the reaction to reading this is likely to be denial, or at least a brush-off or sense of disregard. You might not be that worried about what […]

($) When informing the adcom about a new GMAT score (waitlist, optional essay)

May 2, 2022 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

If you’re just starting the process of applying to bschool for the first time, this post is not for you. Today we’re mostly talking to those who are either still on the waitlist, or who will be reapplicants, and who will be informing the adcom about an updated GMAT score either in a waitlist update […]