Getting Off the College Waitlist

Nine colleges have offered Sarah Simon, of Wellesley, Mass., a spot in their class of 2012: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Princeton, Stanford, University of Chicago, Vassar and Williams. But she's a dancer--ballet six times a week, modern twice, jazz once--and Columbia University in New York City would give her access not only to an exceptional ballet program at its sister school Barnard but also to the epicenter of the dance world. Unfortunately, Columbia has put her on the waitlist. Though she's not whining about her wealth of options, Simon, a senior at Noble and Greenough School, is holding out hope for...