Surveys of admissions officers show that fewer than 30 percent of the students who agree to stay on a college’s wait list are eventually accepted. At many elite schools, the chances are even slimmer. In recent years, for example, Massachusetts Institute of Technology has accepted anywhere between none and 40 students from its wait list of several hundred.

But admissions officers say there are a few steps students can take to ease the anxiety and improve their chances:

• Choose among the colleges you have been accepted to, and send a deposit and commitment by the May 1 deadline. At the very least, you should arrange to enroll in a local community college. Admissions officers say the single most important action for all wait-listed students is to be realistic about the low acceptance rates for those on the wait list and make sure they have some other college alternative lined up.

• Don’t automatically ask to stay on a college’s wait list. Colleges typically ask wait-listed students to mail a card or letter stating their continued interest in getting a shot at admission in May, June, or even later. “If they are happy with their other choices, please don’t say, ‘Yes’ to the wait list,” says Eric Kaplan, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. “They could effectively be taking somebody else’s spot.”

• Ask the school about your chances. Some schools rank their wait-listed students: Lower-ranked students have lower odds of getting accepted. But many schools don’t rank. They instead look to the wait list to replace the kind of student they had been counting on with a similar student—such as someone to fill a spot in an orchestra, a team, or a major. This system makes any individual student’s chances much harder to predict.

• Ask the school about criteria for getting on, and off, the list. Emory University in Atlanta says that the students on its wait-list are typically those with academic credentials matching those of students who were admitted but who didn’t demonstrate any special interest in or affection for Emory by, for example, visiting the campus or attending a local recruiting session.

• Be eager and creative, but not scary or desperate. There’s a fine line between admirable persistence and stalking. Most admissions officers say students can help their causes by obeying the school’s instructions and perhaps sending one well-written letter updating their achievements and explaining why they still should be admitted. Creative stunts can sometimeshelp. Jean Jordan, dean of admissions at Emory, remembers admitting a student who rewrote the words of the school song to argue her cause. But Jordan’s pretty tired of getting mailed shoes from students who “want to get their foot in the door” and is a little leery of any gift of food. “Don’t come down here and make a big plea; and hounding us can be super-destructive,” she adds.

Here are some parenting ideas for bringing out the best in your teenagers.

Listen:  You should listen more than you speak so you can discover what motivates your teen.

Lead by example:  you can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.

Don’t give them the answer, show them the answer:  Parents shouldn’t give away the privilege of earning something.  Yes, you can give your child too much.

Communicate the rules up front:  Tell teens what you expect and then stick to what you say.

State things in the positive:  Instead of saying, “Why is your room such a mess?” try “I know your room can look better than that.”  It’s neither an insult nor a direct order.

President Bush this month signed an emergency law that will make it easier for students and parents to borrow more this fall.  Congress raised by $2,000 a year the maximum students can borrow through the federal Stafford program, which charges no more than 6.8 percent (with an additional 2 percentage points in fees).  And it fave a break to parents, too, by allowing those struggling with mortgage bills to still get a PLUS loan and allowing all new PLUS borrowers to defer repayment until the child leaves school.

The changes to the federal loans will very likely succeed in steering many students and parents away from expensive private loans, says Rick Vonk, who heads education lending for Key Bank.  But hose who need more than federal loans still may have trouble.  The credit crunch has caused many lenders to suspend their student loan programs altogether.  — Kim Clark

So it turns out that playing board games can turn your child into a math whiz.  According to research published in the March-April issue of the journal Child Development, number-based board games similar to Chutes and Ladders can help children, especially those from low-income families, develop number skills necessary to do well in math classes.

Disadvantaged children tend to lag behind affluent students in math at the onset of school, and this study found that most low-income children don’t have board games at home.

The children in the study, 124 preschoolers in the federal Head Start program, used a board game with a spinner and took turns moving pieces along a row of numbered squares.  They played four times, for 15-20 minutes each session, over a two-week period.  At the end of the study, the preschoolers who participated could better identify and county numbers and had a sense of which numbers hold a greater value.

“Parents and preschool teachers should know that playing number board games increases young children’s numerical understanding and lays a solid fountain for future learning of mathematics as well.” says Carnegie Mellon Prof. Robert Siegler, coauthor of the study.  –Eddy Ramirez

Keep your summer memories alive by creating a summer scrapbook.  Personalize it with your own photos and our cool graphics.  Sponsored by Sears!