What To Do When Youˆve Been Waitlisted - 工管

QUESTION:

I just got Waitlisted at Kellogg. I know itˆs better than an outright ding,
but is it? Do people really get off the waitlist? And how?

ANSWER:

Okay gang, tis the season…to be WAITLISTED. So many new folks have reached
out to us, asking what to do if they have been waitlisted. Now to be sure,
there is an ART to waitlist management. Some schools know this, and they
have hired special STAFF to manage this process. Ha, can you imagine? Wild
stuff.

Luckily, we have friends on the inside. If we had to boil it aaaall down,
there would be THREE things that you can do to get yourself in off the
waitlist. Letˆs get into it.

1) Write an additional essay. Have a fresh look at your application (or,
better yet, ask someone else to do it for you). What have you missed? What
did you leave out? Anything good? Letˆs come up with 500 words if we can.
No more than 750. Has there been any significant improvement since you
submitted? Get promoted? Do anything cool? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO BOAST!
You should be in touch with the adcom every 3 weeks or so with an
interesting update. So donˆt let it sliiiide, my friends.

2) Submit an additional LOR. Is there an aspect of your background that
perhaps your recommenders left out? Approach someone for an additional
reference. Perhaps someone connected to the school–faculty, alum, or
current student. Would you make an AMAZING fit? Well, letˆs come up with
something and SAY so. An additional LOR can go a long way, especially if you
MISSED something elsewhere in your app. And again, ask a third party to read
your materials with a fresh set of eyes to identify this kind of gap.

[Get more of Jon's LOR advice right here!]

3) VISIT! I was once chatting with a friend who sits on the adcom of one of
the leading European schools. Our conversation was FASCINATING. She
explained that she expected EVERYONE who applied to her program to have
visited. 〃How could an applicant know that it is a good fit, if he hasnˆt
ever been?〃 And it is a fair question. I asked, ¨but what about visas,
the cost to visit?〃 She wasnˆt fazed at all. Compared to the cost of an
MBA, she said, a visit was peanuts. If youˆve been waitlisted, above and
beyond all the stuff we just listed, you can go and prove all of these things
…in person. Howˆs THAT for proving your dedication to the program?

One parting thought, folks: the only BAD thing you can do while waitlisted is
to NOT follow directions. Wharton is VERY clear that they donˆt want ANY
additional contact. So…follow directions! You must do EXACTLY what these
folks say, especially at this sensitive moment. But if there is room to be a
bit…creative, use our guidelines above.

Again it is an ART form; but if we had to boil down the main points, now youˆ
ve got ¯em. Good luck to everyone!

– Jon Frank
HBS 2005
Founder PrecisionEssay

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