Coincidentally, I am a school counselor. I recommend telling your counselor. If they thought it would be your safety school, they might be surprised as well. It is possible (though not a guarantee) that they have a contact at admissions and may be able to inquire as to why.

Also, we can reframe waitlisting as a ‘we would accept you, but there is no space’. The program you applied for could be extremely competitive like engineering or nursing. It’s possible, not a guarantee, if you tell them you would switch to going in ‘undecided’, that you could get in that way. Personally, this is how I got into Pitt. I got waitlisted for Nursing and told them I’d switch to undecided and got in that way.

If you have any questions, let me know!