Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the single 3 stars out of 5, saying that "While enjoyable, 'Wasting All These Tears' exemplifies the difference between a pop-country song and a country song performed by a pop singer."
Giving it 3.5 stars out of 5, Matt Bjorke of Roughstock said that "While "Wasting All These Tears" is clearly a modern Country/Pop song, there's nothing here that says that it couldn't crossover into the pop realm, something Pope and her label likely had in their minds all along. Still, despite the crossover nature of the track, Pope delivers a strong sense of attitude and connects with the lyrics and that's more than enough to suggest the birth of a potential star."
It received a "B" from Jon Freeman of Country Weekly, who praised Pope's voice and said that the arrangement was "Avril Lavigne plus banjo".
Ben Foster of Country Universe wrote of the song, "The didactic, heavy-handed treatment all but kills off whatever potency the song might otherwise have carried" and gave the song a C-.
Newsday's Glenn Gamboa was critical commenting that "Cassadee may want to claim a country base, but her vocals are still closer to Avril Lavigne than Carrie Underwood" and that "songs like "Wasting All These Tears" feel hollow and misplaced".