Auto waitlist in Avela

Overview

Auto waitlist is a rule you can configure on forms. It automatically moves a student's school to Waitlisted the moment it reaches a status you've defined. This is useful in the post-lottery period, when new applications are submitted intermittently and need to be processed without delay.

This article walks you through how to set up Auto waitlist and manage it over time.

Set up Auto waitlist

The Auto waitlist rule is configured on a form and can apply to one or many schools.

1. Open the form you want to configure.
2. Go to the Rules tab.
3. Click Add Rule, then select Auto waitlist.
4. Give the rule a name and description.
5. Choose one or more source statuses. These are the statuses that will trigger the move to Waitlisted:
   • Submitted
   • Verified
   • Lottery Ready
   • Admissions (with no substatus)
6. Select the school(s) this rule applies to. If no schools are selected, it will apply to all schools.
7. Click Save. The rule is active immediately.

How it works

Once the rule is active, you don't need to do anything. Avela handles the rest.

When a status is updated: If a student's school status changes to one of your configured source statuses, that school is automatically moved to Waitlisted.

When a school is added mid-process: If a staff member or a parent (during late edit) adds a new school to a form that's already in a configured source status, the new school is immediately moved to Waitlisted.

Waitlist order: After each automatic move, waitlist order is recalculated using your existing dynamic waitlist rule so rankings stay accurate.

Admissions substatus: The rule only fires for Admissions applications with no substatus. If a student is already in Admissions with a substatus (e.g. Offered, Declined, or Removed), the rule will not change their substatus.

Form history: Automatic status updates are logged in the form's history as "Avela admin API".

Manage Auto waitlist

Pause a rule

You don't have to delete a rule to stop it from running. You can mark it inactive so it stays saved, but won't execute until you turn it back on. This is useful for parts of the year when you want to pause automatic waitlisting without losing your configuration.

1. Go to the Rules tab.
2. Find your Auto waitlist rule.
3. Toggle the rule to Inactive.

To resume it, toggle it back to Active.

Clearing a waitlist: If you need to clear a waitlist, make sure to pause the Auto waitlist rule first. Otherwise, students may be automatically re-added to the waitlist right after being removed.

Edit or delete a rule

From the Rules tab, click into any existing rule to edit the name, description, or configurations. To remove it entirely, click Delete.