If you were waitlisted by Princeton, you aren’t alone. Princeton is one of the most sought-after admissions in the country, with an acceptance rate, most recently, of only 4.5%. Like most colleges, Princeton uses a waitlist as a way of ensuring the first-year class is filled. If their yield rate, or the number of accepted students who enroll, is lower than predicted, they can pull from the waitlist to fill the class. Princeton is in such high demand, though, that the waitlist isn’t heavily used. That doesn’t mean that they don’t use the waitlist at all, though.
For fall 2023 admission, Princeton offered a spot on the waitlist to 1,302 students. Most accepted the offer, with 1032 applicants choosing to stay on the waitlist. 52 were ultimately accepted. This makes for a 5% acceptance rate, or just about the same as the overall acceptance rate. This shouldn’t be seen as the norm. One year earlier, 1,348 students sat on the waitlist, and no one was let in. Literally zero.
The number of acceptances off the waitlist has nothing to do with the strength of their candidacy. Sometimes, spaces simply don’t open up because the yield is so strong. If spaces do open up, however, whether you are one of the chosen few does depend on what you do now. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to know — and do – next.
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First, the waitlist is unranked. So you aren’t somewhere on a literal list, but rather being offered the chance to swim in a pool. First, you need to jump in.
Step 1: Accept Your Spot on the Waitlist
This is when you jump into the pool. Accept a spot on the Princeton waitlist, and don’t panic if it took you a few days to decide. It literally doesn’t matter as long as you respond by the deadline they gave when they made your waitlist offer. Again, this isn’t a race. Don’t forget to do it, though, as that’s like sitting by the edge of the pool and not even getting in.
Step 2: Confirm with a College
Next, you need to line up a school for the fall. Your chances of getting off the Princeton waitlist are somewhere between zero and unlikely. So, you absolutely must accept a spot at a school you were accepted by. This will not sabotage your chances of getting into Princeton. It will, however, give you very valuable insurance. You need to go to college in the fall. Choosing to apply again next year isn’t a strong plan. So, yes, pick a school.
Step 3: Write a Letter of Continued Interest
After you have a school lined up for fall (including placing the deposit, which is not refundable), you need to write a short Letter of Continued Interest, or LOCI, to Princeton reinforcing that you will attend if accepted. Princeton has not historically asked for this, but we’ve found that students who remind Princeton of their commitment, beyond simply joining the waitlist, and who give them a brief update, have a higher success rate than those who wait patiently without saying anything.
When it comes to LOCIs, more is not better. Just like how a resume must be one page (seriously, ask us more about this if you’re confused), a LOCI must be compact, clear, and direct if you want it to be successful. Ideally, it will ring in at less than 400 words.
Start your LOCI with a formal opening directed towards the regional representative in the Princeton admissions office for your geographic area. “Dear Mr/Ms/” is a reliable start for a reason, and anything less formal doesn’t sound “friendly” or “relaxed,” it sounds chummy in a bad way.
Next, you want to clearly reaffirm your interest in Princeton. Say that Princeton remains your first choice, and that you will attend if accepted. This is not actually a binding commitment, so saying that you will go doesn’t mean you actually are required to if accepted — but it is important to say regardless.
After that, you’ll give a brief academic and extracurricular update. This should only include things that are both new and that are not in the application you submitted. It’s crucial to keep your update centered on what you highlighted in your application, as well. Telling the admissions office about a sports success is irrelevant to whether they’ll admit you off the waitlist. A recognition for academic success in the area you hope to major in, though, is. So, stay focused and remember that what you emphasize is what they’ll see most clearly. Only include what you want them to prioritize about you.
And then, finally, you are going to reiterate (yes, again) that Princeton is your first choice and that you will attend if accepted.
Close with “Sincerely,” or similar, followed by your full name and the name of your current school. For example, this would be “John Smith, Rye Country Day High School”
Read through your letter a few times, edit, and submit via email to your regional representative or, if requested, through the online applicant portal. Then, move on.
Step 4: Move On
Seriously, you need to move on. Bothering the admissions office is one of the best ways of ensuring that they won’t pick you off the list if a space opens up. You want them to think of you warmly, not as the annoying teenager who did the equivalent of holding a boom box outside their office window playing ballads on repeat. Don’t be that person.
This means being patient. You need to wait until well into May to hear anything, so let yourself enjoy the remainder of your senior year, celebrate your successes, and focus on the future.
If you want to increase your chances of getting off of the waitlist, contact us. We help students write compelling Letters of Continued Interest the help them defy the odds.