Managing your waitlist
For the first round of placements, RSCO makes offers only for a family’s first-choice school or district. So even if you don’t receive an offer in the first round, your child still has a chance for an offer in later rounds. Read on for more information about how the waitlist works and how to increase your likelihood of an offer.
Managing your waitlist
For the first round of placements, RSCO makes offers only for a family’s first-choice school or district. So even if you don’t receive an offer in the first round, your child still has a chance for an offer in later rounds. Read on for more information about how the waitlist works and how to increase your likelihood of an offer.
I didn’t receive a placement offer. What happens next?
If you don’t receive a placement offer, we’ll notify you by text and/or email that your child’s application is on the waitlist for the schools and programs you selected on their application. Applicants who apply during the late application period are automatically added to the waitlists of their selected schools and programs.
The waitlist process is designed to increase the chance of a placement for:
- On-time applicants who did not receive a placement in the first round of placement offers; and
- Applicants who apply during the late application period.
Magnet and Open Choice placements continue throughout the spring and summer, typically every other week.
What are my chances of an offer?
After the first round of placements, we assign all schools and programs on your application an indicator based on your child’s position on the waitlist. Log in to your RSCO account to view the indicators for each of your school and program selections.
Waitlist indicators
Other things to know about the waitlist
Maximize your chance of an offer in the next round
Now that you have a better sense of your child’s likelihood of an offer, you have the option to adjust your on-time application to increase your chances of a placement.
Add new schools
When you add new schools, your child will be placed on the waitlist after on-time applicants. The waitlist indicator in the school directory lets you know how many applicants are currently on the waitlist for the school or district.
After adding selections to your application, the indicator will update in real time to show your child’s likelihood of a placement if a seat becomes available. The indicator may change depending on choice order and the number of other applicants also adding the school to their application.
Change the choice order of your original selections
Based on your choice order, the system will attempt to place you in your preferred schools or districts first before moving to the other selections. Since choice order is prioritized, adjusting the order of your selections could change your waitlist size.
Missed the on-time application deadline?
You can apply to schools and programs during the late application period beginning in March 2025, but you may have fewer choices. Because new applicants are generally added to the waitlist after on-time applicants, open schools and grades will be limited based on waitlist size.
