Boston College is a private, Jesuit research university in (you guessed it) Boston or, to be more specific, Boston’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood. There are about 9,500 undergraduate students, and most of the students at BC come from the Northeast region of the United States — although they are hungry for geographic diversity. Last year, in the 2022-2023 application cycle, the accepted rate was just 15%. This marked a record low for the college, as it’s grown increasingly popular as a mid-size liberal arts college grounded in Jesuit principles of scientific and philosophical inquiry. BC is especially well-known for its Business program, but also for being in one of the best college cities in the world. There are more than 40 institutions of higher education in the Boston area, and the city is alive with new ideas and perspectives, and cultural opportunities. It’s also a great place to be if you love college sports, as BC fields 31 Division one teams.
But chances are that, if you’re reading this, you already know all this. In fact, we’re guessing you recently received a waitlist decision from Boston College and are trying to decide what to do next. First, though, let’s get the ‘lay of the land’ for the BC waitlist.
Looking back at past waitlist statistics for BC can help inform what to do next, especially as BC doesn’t offer waitlisted students much (if any) guidance on proactive action they can take to increase their chance of admission. In the spring of 2021, over 13,000 students received a waitlist decision from BC. No, you did not read that incorrectly, and no it wasn’t because someone hit the wrong button. For some wild reason, that decision made sense to them. Then a little over 8,019 students accepted the spot on the waitlist. Just 13 were eventually admitted — .1% of those offered a spot.
The following year, for fall 2022 admission, it was reported that about 4,500 students were waitlisted. Much better, one would think, than the previous year’s 13,000+. But that doesn’t mean any more actually ultimately got in. After all, 4,500 is still nearly twice as many as the entire first-year class — and they’d already accepted and enrolled half of the class through Early Decision I and Early Decision II. BC didn’t end up sharing how many students got in off of the waitlist that year, but we think it’s fair to guess that it was around the same number as the previous year, or about a dozen.
Which is all to say that it is very hard to get into Boston College off of the waitlist. Not impossible — but extraordinarily hard. This isn’t unique to BC. Historically speaking, waitlists are a hard place to be. Still, someone is likely going to get off the waitlist and it might as well be you. So here is what to do next:
Get on the Waitlist
The first thing you need to do is secure your spot on the waitlist. It’s not a given. So, definitely make sure you log in to the portal and accept. But you also need to accept a spot at your next choice school where you were accepted. This is not optional. While you technically can roll the dice and not secure a spot in a freshman class, you really, really need to. Yes, you will lose the deposit if you get into BC and choose to go, but you need a back-up ready to go.
Make Your Interest Clear
Next, you need to write an update to BC, reminding them that they are your first choice, that you will go if you are accepted, and that you are awesome. We recommend doing this through a Letter of Continued Interest, or LOCI. This is your last shot to communicate with BC and to help them understand why they should accept you, so it must be perfectly crafted. Lucky for you, we’re pros at this (and we can give you 1:1 help, even).
Formal Opening
Before you write a single sentence, you need to figure out who you’ll be sending this to. Go to the Boston College Admission Counselor search page (here) and find the admissions counselor assigned to your school or region. That’s who you’re writing to. Next, start with a formal opening. We don’t recommend assuming the gender or pronouns of the admissions counselor based solely on the scant information BC provides (name, title, and email), so search for the counselor on LinkedIn using their name to determine how they should be addressed. For example, Jordan Papula covers many private schools in Connecticut. Based solely on the name, we wouldn’t know how to open a letter formally, but by looking at LinkedIn we can determine Jordan uses He/Him pronouns. So, carrying on with this example, we’d start the letter with, “Dear Mr. Papula,”. This isn’t a casual note to your uncle. It’s a professional email. Treat it as such.
Express Your Interest (Again!)
Next, in no more than 200 words, remind them who you are and why you really belong at Boston College. Reinforce the idea that you really want to be there and talk about why. We recommend our students focus on a particular program that’s a natural extension of the academic niche they’ve been developing throughout high school. Most importantly, though, you need to make them 100% certain that you will go to BC if offered a spot. BC cares a lot about yield, or the percentage of students they accept who choose to enroll. This is why they admit so many students ED I and ED II (over half the first-year class). They want to keep their yield rate super high, so they will not accept you if they aren’t certain you’ll enroll.
A Short Update
Next, you need to provide an update. They’ve seen your application and will look back at it to refresh their memory, so don’t repeat anything. Do, however, provide them with some new information that augments your application. This could include awards, recognitions, new leadership positions, an internship you’ve been pursuing or a breakthrough in a favorite activity. Keep this short, maybe 200 words, and remember that less is more. Sharing three really important updates is far more impressive than diluting your successes with a bunch of trivial small things.
Closing
Finally, write one final sentence reinforcing (yes, again) that you will go to BC if accepted and sign off with a polite, professional closing. Something like “With gratitude for your consideration, xx name.”
Waiting
Waiting to find out if you’ll get into your top choice school can be agonizing. Once you send in the letter, we recommend putting it out of sight and mind as much as possible, and enjoying your senior spring. For your own sanity, assume you’re going to the school whose offer you already accepted. If you get off the waitlist it will be a pleasant surprise.
We understand being on a waitlist can feel like limbo. But you’ve put your best foot forward and done all you can to make sure you’re an eligible candidate at BC. Keep in mind that college admissions are unbelievably, historically competitive these days. Back in your parents’ time, it was much easier to get into the Ivies, and every other school on down. Give yourself a little grace amidst the application process.
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