A wait list is sort of the purgatory of college admissions. When you end up on a wait list, you're in the twilight zone; you're not in but you're not out. You're sort of on-call. 

Wait lists are a kind of hedge against the unpredictability of accepted students enrolling at a college. From many years of experience, colleges know rather precisely what percentage of the total number of students offered admission will enroll. That percentage is called yield.

For example, if a college is looking to admit a freshman class of 1,000 students, they may offer 2,000 students admission. That's because they know their yield is almost always around 50 percent. If their yield were historically 25 percent, they would offer 4,000 students admission, and so forth. Even Harvard only gets about 70% of their accepted students to enroll. Guessing the yield is a difficult task—especially since students seem to be applying to more schools each year.

Sometimes, however, the actual yield flies in the face of history. When more than the expected number of students enroll (exceeding historical yield), temporary housing has to be acquired and there is a strain on college resources. When fewer than expected students enroll, colleges go to their wait lists and offer admission to those who are "in waiting." This way, the college makes certain that the incoming freshman class is the right size.

The wait list can serve other purposes. At super-selective schools, where there are many more qualified applicants than can be accommodated, applicants are wait listed as a consolation. Instead of being turned down for admission, they are put on the wait list, the implication being, "We wish we could have admitted you, but there wasn't room." Diplomacy lives.

The likelihood of being admitted from the wait list is small. Some schools wait list 500-600 applicants. No matter how you look at it, your chances of moving off a wait list is small. If you were waitlisted at your dream school, speak with your counselor.

According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the percent of colleges that maintain wait lists has held steady at around 33 percent for the last 5 years. The percent of colleges with wait lists that report increases in the number of students being placed on the wait list has hovered around 50 percent over the last five years. Roughly a quarter of colleges with wait lists reported that they placed about the same number of students on the wait list, while another quarter reported fewer students on the wait list. The percent of students who opted to remain on wait lists that were ultimately admitted has also declined, from just around 38 percent three years ago to 29 percent. Some students who were given the wait list option were also admitted at a school they preferred more and do not elect to remain on a wait list.

If you were put on a wait list it’s probably best to accept the fact that you "almost" made it and then get on with the business of enrolling in another quality school. If you get the call to come off the wait list you should think of it as winning the lottery. It doesn’t often happen, but once in a while it will. 

Until early May a college will be unable to give you any information about the possibility of you coming off the wait list. Once the admitted students have decided whether or not they will enroll, and the other students on the wait list have decided whether or not they want to stay on the list (perhaps they were admitted outright to a college they liked more), there is nothing to do except wait. 

Remember, if you're on a wait list you must make plans to attend one of the schools that admitted you. The reality is that odds of coming off the wait list are poor. Wait lists are complicated concepts. This is one of those times when you really should seek the advice of your counselor.