I know that many of you who have been placed on the waiting list are very anxious about the whole process, and hopefully I can answer a lot of the questions that you have in this posting. Please remember that we will be sending updates via e-mail, so it is very important that you have listed a current e-mail address (that you check on a regular basis!) on your Waiting List Response Form. In addition, if you have any additional questions, you are always welcome to do any of the following: (1) post them here, and I will do my best to pass along the answer; (2) contact your specific admission counselor by e-mail (click here to see who the admission counselor for your area is); or (3) call our office at any time to speak with an admission counselor.

With regard to the time frame, I understand that it is difficult to have to wait late into your spring semester to find out if there will be spaces available here at PC, but remember that the students who have already been invited have until the national reply deadline of May 1 to enroll. That is why we are unable to let those of you on the waiting list know if there are spaces until after that date.

Each year, we receive many more qualified applicants for admission than we have spaces in the freshman class, and therefore many talented students are placed on the waiting list. This year, there are approximately 2,600 students who have been placed on the waiting list—which certainly seems like a big number (and it is!). However, if spaces in the freshman class do open up, the committee on admission will consider only the students who have chosen to remain on the waiting list, not the entire group of 2,600. We anticipate that about 1,000 students will choose to remain active on the waiting list.

Provided that there are spaces in the freshman class for next year, the selection process will take place around May 1. First of all, it is important to note that the waiting list is not numbered or ranked at PC. Once we have determined that we will activate the waiting list, we will determine the number of available male/female bed spaces and also take note of any majors that no longer have any space available. Then, the Committee on Admission will review all of the applicants who have returned their Waiting List Response Form and expressed their desire to remain on the list. The committee will undertake another thorough review of both the academic and personal qualifications of all of these applicants, so that we are able to select the most qualified students to fill the available spaces in the freshman class.

Our use of the waiting list varies from year to year, and it is very tough to predict at this point how many students (if any) will be admitted from the waiting list. Last year, for example, only 13 students were invited from the waiting list but in the previous year, 177 students were enrolled from the waiting list. Again, for those of you who are on the waiting list, make sure that you check the e-mail account you have given to us starting in mid-April for updates.

What should a student on the waiting list do now? Well, first and foremost is to return the Waiting List Response Form to us by April 15. As I have mentioned, only the students that return this form will remain in active consideration. Other things you can do include writing an additional personal statement to the Committee on Admission expressing your specific interest in PC, submitting other additional information (any new honors or activities that may not have been on your original application), and asking your high school to send along third quarter or second trimester grades. Sending this additional information is always very helpful to the Committee on Admission during the review process.

I hope that this information has been helpful to all of you who have been placed on the waiting list. I know that it is a difficult decision to receive and that waiting for more information can be stressful as well. Again, if you have additional questions, please feel free to post them here or call our office to speak with an admission counselor at any time.