My friend got wait-listed to her first choice of college. What do I say to her?

Answer 1

That sucks.
I'd help her to move on. The reality is, most students are not accepted off of a waitlist. The best thing anyone can do if they are on a waitlist is "set it and forget it." That is, accept a place on the waitlist and send a letter to the college reinforcing that it is your first choice, that you will come if accepted, and telling the admissions office anything new that they should know--recent awards, accomplishments, etc.
Then, "forget it." Put it out of your mind. Since it's so unlikely that you'll be accepted, the best thing to do is to get excited about choice #2, then be pleasantly surprised if you get into choice #1.
It may be hard for your friend to hear, but it's the truth. As her friend, try to get her excited. Invite her over to work on that letter ASAP. Make cocoa, act goofy. Then, get her excited about choice #2. As in, visit the Web site. Scour online message boards for information that makes it sound cool.
"Hey, I was just peeking around, and did you know your choice #2 college has a ____ club that looks super cool? And I read the town that it's in has a ____."

Hopefully, your friend has options to choose from. If she doesn't have a clear #2, have an Internet session where you both scour the web sites of the schools to get excited.

There are so many great schools out there. There is no one perfect fit for each student. IF she lets go of #1, no matter how hard it is, she will move on to being excited about high school graduation and moving on to the next fabulous stage of her life.

You are a good friend to be concerned.

Answer 2

At least it's not a "no." Just make sure you have a Plan B in case your first choice takes too long.

Answer 3

Congratulations?

Answer 4

Tough beans.

Answer 5

ask her about her othe choices and if she has considered yet another option