Chances on the Waitlist?

<p>ten characters</p>

<p>Regarding the waitlist process and the issue of yield, as posted above, Wash U traditionally calls selected people off the waiting list and gives them 24 - 48 hours notice to decide if they want to accept an offer of admission. If they say “yes” they are sent materials and have a week to get them back in. I realize that many people believe the phone call aspect of it is simply an attempt by Wash U to raise their yield rate, which may or may not be true. Yield probably motivates the actions of all schools to some degree. However, from a practical standpoint, for students remaining on the waiting list as well as those newly admitted, it benefits everyone to have these decisions made more efficiently and to complete the process of taking people off the waiting list earlier. When they make the initial contact by phone, they can determine the status of many people in one day, or at least within a day or so and can continue down the list until they find people who do want to attend. If they did it all by mail--sent a letter and waited the 10 days time to hear back from those offered a spot before they could offer the spot to someone else--the whole process would drag out for months as many people don’t eventually accept a spot off the waiting list even if it is offered. This prevents the school and the new admits from getting a lot of preparations made earlier in the process such as dorms assignments, opportunities to join the special weekends during the summer, register for classes, sign up for pre-orientation, etc. I think it is easy to see everything that Wash U does through the filter of their “trying to make themselves look better in the ratings,” yet from my experience, most of what they do appears to simply be the most efficient way to do it.</p>

<p>wait...so are you guys saying that they are offering spots as they become available..i thought they would contact you in june...im so confused...i am the first to go to college in my family...and I don't know anything...</p>

<p>ahhhhhhhh,</p>

<p>I'm sorry if my post was confusing. Since many schools do not require regularly admitted students to accept or decline their offer of admission until May 1st (it varies by school), schools don't really know how many slots, if any, they will have open to fill with wait-listed students. Some years they have more students than they need and they don't call anyone from the waiting list, other years they have more slots open. Once they hear from all regularly accepted students by the deadline, they assess how many slots are open and start calling people from the waiting list, usually around the middle to end of the first week in May. They continue to contact people until they have enough people to fill the freshman year class.</p>

<p>Since you indicated you were new to all this, as are many people, just remember that the most important thing you can do when you are on a waiting list is to accept a spot (by their deadline) at your favorite school that accepted you in addition to the waiting list school. You may lose your deposit at that school if you end up getting off a waiting list, but at least you will have somewhere to go this fall in case you are not called. I would also send them a letter indicating how much you like the "waiting list" school, why it is a good match for you, etc.</p>

<p>Good luck! I hope you get in. If you don't, I'm sure you will end up being happy wherever you go. Most people are, even if they don't believe it now.</p>

<p>Accepted students are supposed to accept or deny their spot by May 1. After that, depending on how many students are planning to matriculate, additional spots are offered to students on the waiting list.</p>

<p>WashU begins contacting people anytime after the middle of May. May 1 is the official deadline for accepting initial offers of admission. Once WashU determines how many people accept their initial offer, they know how many spots they still need to fill. This process usually begins 2 to 3 weeks after May 1. They then begin offering admission and continue untill they have filled their freshman class.</p>

<p>am writing to inform you that the Admissions Committee has decided to offer you a place</p>

<p>and then im all excited then all of a sudden</p>

<p>on the wait list for the freshman class entering next fall at Washington University</p>

<p>-- that is just cruel</p>

<p>Cornell does guaranteed transfer after freshman year, I think it's worst.</p>

<p>^^what is "guaranteed transfer after freshman year"??</p>

<p>They accept you after the freshman year at other school, they are mostly legacies.</p>

<p>It's amazing how many people have been waitlisted...... I've also been waitlisted even though I'm not that great of an applicant. I wonder if they have turned anyone down:P?</p>

<p>Cosmin04, are you sure about these "wait listers"? people lie in these forums, no one likes to post "I was rejected by Wash U", and there are thousands of rejects every year.</p>

<p>I don't know newhere. I don't believe that people will lie about something like this. I think that if they didn't get in they just wouldn't reply. If you like to see here is the link to where we posted who got waitlisted: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/473819-count-waitlisted-6.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/473819-count-waitlisted-6.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Only six waitlisted people said before the results they were applying to Wash U, the rest never mention it...smells fishy! (see stats profile colleges), I don't believe in that list either.</p>

<p>But why do you guys think that students would lie about getting in? It doesn't make any sense.</p>

<p>for the same reason people ask for "chances" posting fake stats</p>

<p>oh really..people put fake stats...i didn't know about that...lol...</p>

<p>so does anyone know how many people were waitlisted? any estimates?</p>

<p>some say 1000...some say 10000...don't know what to trust...</p>

<p>lol i was thinking about asking an admissions counselor, but they probably wont say....</p>