Think you know how to write an effective wait-list letter? Test your knowledge with the following quiz:

1. Wait-list letters may be three or more single-spaced pages long:  (a) when the applicant has a lot of accomplishments to talk about, (b) they should never exceed two pages, (c) only for law school wait-list letters, (d) if you are not enclosing an additional letter of recommendation.

2. Expressing some frustration or disappointment in the wait-list letter is: (a) OK if the school is really your number-one choice, (b) appropriate if it reflects how you honestly feel, (c) never a good idea, (d) useful in the letter's conclusion to elicit sympathy.

3. During the wait-list process, you should generally aim to contact the wait-listing school: (a) every other day if it's really your number-one choice, (b) weekly by email or letter, (c) only when prompted by the school, (d) every three to four weeks (if the school allows contact).

4. The main topics of a wait-list letter should be: (a) your recent professional achievements, (b) new reasons why this school is a good fit for you, (c) developments in your community work since applying, (d) any substantial recent examples that offset the weaknesses of your application, (e) all of these.

5. It's acceptable to repeat wording from your application essays in the wait-list letter: (a) never, (b) if you run short of time, (c) if it was an especially strong part of your application, (d) if you think it's important enough to reinforce.

Answers:  1b,  2c, 3d, 4e, 5a.

Today is a big day at Accepted:

1. My birthday ebook sale ends tonight at midnight. You can still save 50% on all ebooks and info-products today.
   
2. The 2009 MBA Admissions Telethon starts today at 10:00 AM PT (1:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM GMT) and runs for two hours. You still have time to register for your free, 15-minute MBA admissions consultation. But do so ASAP.

We have tried to make it easy for you to bookmark Accepted posts by using the AddThis bookmark manager

, but frankly I found it to be a little slow. Going forward, we are going to try the "ShareThis" bookmark manager.

 

If you have a preference, please leave a comment or email me.

A couple of important product announcements:

The Nine Mistakes You Don't want to Make on an MBA Waitlist, our most popular ebook ever, is on special this month -- 20% off. If you are waitlisted, this is the ebook for you. Short, concise, and to-the-point.

All ebooks are going up in price on February 1.

General Admissions

• Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips to Help You Get Accepted
  

College:

• How to Write Great College Application Essays and Stay Sane

MBA Ebooks:

• Best Practices for MBA Admissions
• MBA BlastOff: 45 Terrific Tips to Launch Your MBA Application to Acceptance
• MBA I.V. - Mainline to Top MBA Programs: MBA Interview Questions & Tips
• The Nine Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make on an MBA Waitlist
  
• The Consultant’s Guide to MBA Admission
• The Finance Professional’s Guide to MBA Admissions Success
• The Techie’s Guide to MBA Admissions
• Create a Better Sequel: How to Reapply Right to Business School

Medical School, Residency & Fellowship Ebooks:

• The Nine Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make on a Med School Waitlist
• Write Your Way to a Residency Match
• Write Your Way to a Fellowship Match

Law School Ebooks:

• The Nine Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make on a Law School Waitlist

Click on the links to gain access to this library of admissions info. Then beat the price increase. Buy the ebooks of your choice by January 31. That's this Thursday.

The Wall St. Journal reports that higher-than-expected yields mean that colleges are turning to their waitlist less than in past years. The title of the article really says it all: "Hopes Dim for Kids On College Wait Lists: Many Schools Take Fewer Backup Applicants Because of Higher-Than-Expected First-Round Yields" Basically, top-ranked schools anticipated lower yields because of increased use of the Common Application. They aren't seeing their yields drop at all. A few results:

• Stanford University, the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College aren't admitting any students from their waitlists this year.
• Penn expects to admit about 25 students, down from 42 last year.
• Amherst College had expected a 36% yield; it saw a yield of 40% and is taking no one from its waitlist.
• The University of Delaware, which dropped its early decision program this fall, is admitting a mere 25 students from the waitlist, down from 262 last year.
• UNC took 116 applicants into its class last year from the waitlist. This year: 99.
  

Princeton was an exception. It accepted zero waitlisted students last year, but expects to take 30 this year. It also is slightly increasing its class size.