@Flurite, yes, but they only have a few spots to give, and that deposit would be given to the school by everyone who accepted right after RD and ED too. And if you attend, I believe they subtract the deposit from your tuition bill. So at most, this would net CMU a few hundred or few thousand more dollars.
Do you honestly believe that CMU gives a d*** about a few thousand dollars?
Numerous people compared the priority waitlist to the ED/RD process. You mentioned it was “waitlist ED.” I did my best to clarify that it is not at all like “waitlist ED” by arguing that there though there is favoritism towards ED candidates, RD candidates have a shot. In the priority waitlist situation, those NOT on the priority waitlist will not get in.
I have no proof to definitively tell you that “CMU gives a d*** about a few thousand dollars” but from my experience in this world, every money-making institution cares about any form of money it can get.
That is an odd rebuttal btw.
I see, maybe a few others got off the waitlist as the summer went on. Maybe 4 was an unofficial number that was reported by somewhere I read on this forum. I am fairly certain that they were only filling spots in SCS though. Regardless, the number was very small.
What do you mean by your last question? What does “accepted other ways” mean? If you are on the priority waitlist, once they offer you, you are committed to send the deposit.
What you must realize is that what you present is opinion, not fact. As in “Diet Coke doesn’t taste like regular Coke”.
It is not possible for opinion to be “downright incorrect”. And you can’t “clarify” someone else’s opinion, no matter how much you disagree with it.
True, it is an opinion. I was probably wrong to call it downright incorrect, but there is certainly a misled notion that priority waitlist is very similar to ED when there are extraordinary differences between the two. The two are as similar as apples and oranges.
You say that bc in ED the leftover spots are available to RD. Whereas in PWL there are no leftover spots and thise who won’t commit have no chance. But the binding commitment part is what is similar.
Do you really need this explained?
Ways other than the waitlist. Regular decision, Early, etc. Are deposits due from them AFTER they are due from the wait-listed students?
I don’t mean to speak to for @PurpleTitan , but I read it to mean that it seems likelike CMU, with their 1.739 billion USD endowment and ability to fill every seat with a full paying student if they want, would engage in some Machiavellian plan to separate a "very small number " whom they accept from the waiting list but elect to go elsewhere out of their deposit.
You realize that if they only admit 7 from the list, then that is the max they can “money grab” from, right? And probably all 7 they admitted enrolled, so they money grab was likely $0. Am I missing something there?
Thank you.
It’s a money grab because it plays safe on CMUs part, but it punishes students who don’t have room to sacrifice that sort of money. Plus, CMU isn’t known for giving great financial aid and 1.739 endowment isn’t that impressive compared to its peers.
The deposits will be due after others have placed their deposits. After May 1st, CMU checks its enrollments and then fills from the priority wait list.
The binding part is only similar in that you have to send the deposit. However, there that “contract” is not at all like the ED contract, where you must go. In fact, nowhere in the emails to the priority waitlist did they even ask you to actually go to CMU. They just said you had to place the deposit and there was no ramification if you just forfeited your deposit. If you are accepted ED, you have to place the deposit AND go. Now looking back, I guess nobody is forcing you to go, so this might make my argument weak now.
Yes and no. At least in ED you have time to see the financial aid before depositing and committing. if it’s not good enough you don’t have to go.
How does PWL enforce the deposit? Do you sign up with your credit card and they auto charge you?
Well it was misled and it comes from someone who has no experience with the priority waitlist. It’s frustrating when people are favoring the opinion of someone does not have experience with the priority waitlist over someone who does.
This is from the email when I signed up for PWL: “If admitted from the Priority Waiting List on May 4, an $800 non-refundable enrollment deposit must be submitted online within 48 hours (further instruction will be given to you at this time).”
Also, looking back $800 is actually a lot more money than other schools as far as I know.
It sounds like you could just not send the deposit and they move on down the list?
Uh, I’m fairly certain that once you sign up for a waitlist, you are committed to a terms of agreement. I am quite positive that the PWL terms mentioned that clause.
Plus when they use the word “MUST be submitted online within 48 hours” that makes it quite forceful. Also, FA packages will only be shown after the kid deposits.
None of my kids WLs were binding or required a deposit. Though when they called, generally you had a limited period to accept and deposit before it was void.
@Flurite, CMU, like all the elite privates, are not money-making institutions. They’re non-profits.
You seem to not only have a problem separating opinion from fact but also get facts wrong.
@Flurite I understand your point, but I disagree with your conclusion. CMU wants to make sure that students who they take off the WL are going to commit, so they give you the option of a committed WL so to speak. After all, by May 4 you know where you’ve been accepted and can make the decision whether to go somewhere else or to CMU if taken off the WL. The only thing you give up, your opportunity cost, is waiting for other WLs–but that’s usually a fool’s errand anyway if they are highly selective schools, and chances are they are more selective than CMU otherwise you would have been accepted to them. So in my D’s case, there was so little chance of getting off the WL at places like Chicago or Cornell so those WLs were basically a polite “you’re good but we don’t have space”. The reason she didn’t go for the CMU priority WL was not because she wanted to hold out for the other WLs (and avoid “wasting” the deposit) but because she decided not to go to CMU even if accepted, having received a better financial offer from elsewhere. All that to say, I think it’s a fair process.
A non-profit still is a money-making institution. Sure, it may technically not be their primary goal, but how do you justify the fact that colleges constantly seek to acquire the greatest endowments and constantly solicit donations? Colleges want money just like any other institution.
Where am I getting the facts wrong? I hope you can do better than just criticize me for saying 4 instead of 7 admitted WL applicants. That would be pretty ruthless considering the fact that the difference between the two numbers is pretty insignificant out of almost 4000. But then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where your attack is coming from.
The nature of the priority waitlist is for students to provide the deposit money given an offer.
I was admitted into multiple schools off the waitlist. Fortunately, CMU was never one of them and my parents were willing to pay that fee. I am not doubting whether the process is “unfair,” it’s just that it’s a fairly blatant attempt on CMU’s part to make some money at the expense of applicants.
You are getting criticized because your attitude is combative and defensive. You are dismissive you and accuse others of attacking you unfairly or not reading your posts, rather than considering that people just… you know, disagree with you.
You said: " it’s just that it’s a fairly blatant attempt on CMU’s part to make some money at the expense of applicants"
And I disagree with you. What it is is a fairly blatant attempt to get you to commit to accepting an offer quickly so that they can finalize their class with people they like rather than spending the rest of the summer waiting to learn who is coming. A few thousand dollars in deposits is meaningless to CMU. Having a group of people to draw from who are firmly committed to coming to CMU if there is space - that is extremely significant to them.
In other words, it’s not a money grab. Its a committed students grab.
@Flurite, you’re wrong because a non-profit, by definition, is not a money-making institution. They do not return a profit.
And yes, they are constantly growing their endowment and looking for donations because they want to do more stuff with the money brought in by donations/fundraising drives. Those drives, BTW, bring in 8/9/10 figures. If you believe that they instituted their WL policy because they want to make, at most, a few thousand dollars, then you really don’t know how the world works or how people think.
Also, answer me this: If the reason for CMU’s WL policy was merely to make money, then why didn’t they deliberately leave hundreds of spaces empty after RD and admit hundreds from the priority WL. Would that not net them more money?