<p>If I may be so bold, may I ask what distinguishes a candidate for the waitlist from an equally competitive candidate for rejection?</p>
<p>I don't think there's a pat answer to that question.</p>
<p>Just look at the decision thread -- lots of very competitive people were accepted, waitlisted, and rejected. Candidates on the waitlist shone in some way that made Ben and Matt et al really like them, even if they couldn't offer them an immediate spot in the class.</p>
<p>I've heard that a waitlist at MIT is akin to rejection, and that no one in the past two years has made it off the waitlist. Is this true?</p>
<p>In the past two years, a few (very few) people have made it off the waitlist (see the Common Data Set for exact numbers). That doesn't necessarily mean anything for this year, though -- the number of candidates admitted off the waitlist is dependent upon the number of acceptees who decide not to come to MIT. If yield this year is lower than it has been in previous years, more candidates will be let in off the waitlist.</p>
<p>Gotcha- That hidden "X Factor" that every applicant strives to show ;) </p>
<p>So does that mean that some candidates on the waitlist just got their applications read later, or are they are more like reserve players on an NFL team?</p>
<p>As not many people get in from waitlist, I'd think it's something like the reserve players on an NFL team</p>
<p>I guess our waitlisted to acceptance chance is very slim. They must have ranked us on the waitlist? How would you know is you're #1 or #600 on the waitlist? =(</p>
<p>I am under the impression that they don't rank (although admittedly I have no idea how else they'd do it). </p>
<p>Aha! Found a relevant quote on Matt's archives from last year:
[quote=<a href="http://matt.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/03/march_questions_1.html">http://matt.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/03/march_questions_1.html</a>]
The waitlist is unranked, so you can't really "move up the ranks," butstudents who are interested in being admitted off the waitlist should stay in touch with our office. After May 1, if you still prefer remaining on the waitlist instead of being happy with the college at which you've enrolled, you should send us a letter reaffirming your interest. You do not need to send in new essays or teacher recommendations.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I thought he had a full entry last year dedicated to the waitlist, but I can't seem to find it. Nosing around Matt and Ben's archives from last year would probably be useful at this point.</p>
<p>Archives can be found at x.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/03 (or whichever month you want to see).</p>
<p>Hmm, but does "You do not need to send in new essays or teacher recommendations" mean you shouldn't, or just that you don't have to?</p>