While there are moments of celebration for many students at this final stage of the process, there are also many emotions experienced by students and families during the last month of the admission process. As the current admission process leans heavily on yield conversations, final decisions are increasingly more complicated for families and students to digest. To compound the stress of the application process, schools have begun to stagger the release of their admission decisions over two to four days depending on where March 10 falls on the calendar. As the process comes to a close, students and families are having a difficult time making decisions. We are seeing an increasing number of families pursuing waitlists until the bitter end and beyond. We feel strongly that through ongoing collaboration, secondary school counselors and admission officers can thoughtfully improve the experience of students and families through the final phase of this process.