<p>My d knows someone who applied to a college early action and was waitlisted.</p>
<p>Is this common? It seems strange to waitlist students before all the admission decisions have been made (the school is not rolling admissions, and there is a regular decision round).</p>
<p>I bet the person means they were deferred. (I guess that's a kind of "waitlist"; you're put on the regular applicant list, and told to wait for the school's decision). It would make no sense to "waitlist" early applicants because there are plenty of spots in the class still open. Wait for what?</p>
<p>are you sure they were waitlisted, and not deferred?</p>
<p>I just heard a young man we know was waitlisted too.</p>
<p>I don't know of any school that "waitlists" in the EA/ED round. It's just not logical, since the class is obviously not full yet and there is no need to waitlist.</p>
<p>These people are probably using the term "waitlisted" incorrectly and really mean "deferred." I guess, to them, being deferred seems a lot like being on a waitlist because they are still waiting for a decision from the school. (Or maybe it's just wishful thinking?)</p>
<p>I dunno, my d specifically asked me whether it was better to be deferred or waitlisted, so it appears the student in question knows the difference between the two.</p>
<p>usually when one is waitlisted it means that if they would be accepted if there was enough room. When one is deferred, their application usually goes into the RD pool to see how they stack up against the rest of the pool. I would tell D to have GC give the regional admission rep a call to find out where exactly this waitlist status places her (it could be some sort of yeild protection because they don't think she would come. If the school is really at the top of D's list she could let the school know that if accepted, she will attend (but then that is almost making it binding, wouldn't it :confused: )</p>
<p>This happened to an acquaintance of my d's, so I'm really asking out of curiosity more than anything else.</p>
<p>I'm wondering if they set aside a certain number of acceptances for the early round, and thus are waitlisting some over and above this number.</p>
<p>Peterson's description of waitlist during early round equates it to deferral. Seems like semantics to me.</p>
<p>However, it may be possible that some schools are waitlisting ED kids and will perhaps let them know before RD letters are sent if they are accepted. Worth asking the school that uses such terminology what they mean, whether it is different from referral or the same, and what the differences are if it is different.</p>
<p>Oops, my bad.</p>
<p>Have D's friend ask the GC to find out from the school what exactly does this waitlist mean.</p>
<p>Could it be that the school has say, three slots for admits from Montana, or for classics majors, and filled all three early? That's the only way I can imagine putting an early applicant directly into the wait list.</p>