<p>So I posted this on the Davis thread, but does anyone know whether or not they tell you where you lie on the waitlists? Just wondering if it’s random or if they have a pecking order.</p>
<p>According to the official UCD Waitlist FAQ:</p>
<p>Are students on the waitlist ranked?
No, the UC Davis waitlist is not ranked. After May 1, if any spaces are available in our entering class, we will review all waitlist applications and admit those students who are best qualified for available spaces.</p>
<p>Source: [UC</a> Davis : Waitlist FAQ](<a href=“http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/waitlist/]UC”>http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/waitlist/)</p>
<p>That is a convoluted answer by UC Davis. They say the waitlist isn’t ranked (therefore, I assume meaning random), but when they need to go to the waitlist for students “we will review all waitlist applications and admit those students who are best qualified for available spaces”. Isn’t that ranking?</p>
<p>RS, of course it is a form of ranking</p>
<p>Since UCD has a point based admissions system, like all the UCs except Cal and UCLA, they determine acceptances after setting a point level that yields the desired number of offers. That number floats up and down because it is determined after rating every application, then they can know what point cutoff gives them their desired quantity. At UCD, it is also set by major, such that the same point score that allows entry into major A could result in a rejection with major B. UCSD sets its point cutoff in common for everything except engineering which has a higher bar. </p>
<p>In the past, the UCs had an excellent idea of their yield. Issue 1000 offers, get xxx SIRs filed. With all the turbulence in higher ed, the economy and in the UCs, they aren’t as confident. Thus, they will pick a lower number for outright acceptances, count up the SIRs, then drop the point value to bring in people off the waitlist. The quotas might be managed down to major, as is likely for UCD, but might just be as simple as engineering vs everything else or impacted majors vs everything else. </p>
<p>Anyway, one should think of the waitlist as ranked, since the point scores assigned to applicants continue to be the basis for admissions decisions even off the waitlist. Once a campus identifies a particular gap in enrollment, they will move the point cutoff downward until it produces a reasonable number of additional admissions that might yield enough new SIRs. They have no experience with this, and thus may inch their way through the waitlist in small steps of point reductions. They don’t know how many or few might register if pulled off the waitlist, nor do they know if those applicants are going to be pulled off a waitlist at another school which they prefer more than the UC.</p>
<p>I know it’s ranking. I just think it is a disingenuous response by UCD.</p>
<p>It would be too complicated for them to explain that a student applying for an English major may have a different cutoff than for History or Engineering, and that they might release from the waitlist for certain colleges or majors at any given time, thus the person with the highest point score is not necessarily called first. </p>
<p>It is also true to the extent that if there are 300 applicants who have the same point score just below the initial cutoff, those 300 are not considered in any particular order or ranking. Doesn’t matter, since the huge number of applications processed have driven the UCs to use this point based system. Thus, if they lower the cutoff to clear from the waitlist, they are pretty likely to just issue offers to every applicant that fits the new point level, in the artificial case above, all 300 receiving an offer.</p>
<p>UCD is requiring an essay from waitlisted applicants explaining why they want to attend Davis. I’m assuming the essay is a device for UCD to weed out waitlisted applicants who are not that serious about enrolling. This would explain why UCD is claiming the students are not ranked right now. When the time comes to fish students out of the waitlist pool, those with good stats and *demonstrated interest *will be taken off the list first.</p>