<p>I was deferred EA then waitlisted. any known advice, statistics, personal insight, etc? IMPT: **When are waitlistees notified generally? Id really love to have a discussion about the Waitlist.</p>
<p>I am interested in these stats as well. I was really expecting a rejection, but was delighted to have been put on the waitlist - gives me some sense of false hope :D.</p>
<p>Bump–any insight??</p>
<p>I don’t think they release the number of people on the waitlist. </p>
<p>It looks like this year they waitlisted a lot of people. Given the switch to early action, I think they are uncertain about their yield. My own guess is that they were conservative with acceptances (which is what Fitzsimmons said) and compensated by having a larger waitlist.</p>
<p>Also, you can see that the number of perople taken off the waitlist has varied significantly - last year only 30 because yield exceed expectations but previous years have done better.</p>
<p>The most frustrating part is that we have no idea what type of spot opens up. Will they need more boys, more girls, more minorities, more artists etc…</p>
<p>I’m just hoping they’ll need more wisconsinite, Asian, photographer, musician boys…</p>
<p>Harvard does not release the size of the WL but from Yale and Princeton we know that they usually WL a number about equal to the size of the class so they can cherry pick individuals with similar traits as the students who chose to attend another school. About 1/3 chooses not to accept a space on the WL. However, this year Harvard believes that the early decision yield will be over 92% compared to about 77% for the RD last year. That’s why it also accepted RD about 170 students less than the consultants expected. Also, do not forget that some students on the WL are legacy/big donors who are basically rushed in through the back door so it wont be visible that they were unqualified. I saw the breakdown somewhere, I believe they accepted slightly more men than women. Usually the students that have the lowest possibility to move from WL are internationals, (especially requiring full ride since they are not eligible for federal aid/loans) because their percentage is fixed to 10% of the student body, and from those students accepted RD, the internationals have the lowest probability not to accept because Harvard has an extremely high brand recognition overseas, even among other ivies/SM and name/prestige is more important than fit/quality of life as is for US students. PLus, that’s where highly influential international alumni play a role. Higher probability of moving out of WL are UM and other special cases that have lower tests scores than average.</p>
<p>The WL is in cycles, the first one will be after mid-may to allow about 2 weeks for postmarked acceptances to come in. So they should start calling around May 20 those who accept and send letters to those they permanently deny admission. Students accepted from WL have about a week to reply Y/N. Then a second cycle starts and usually are done by end of June/early August. Some people are send to the z-cycle, which means they are guaranteed admission but they must matriculate the next year, class of 2017. These are usually legacy or something and that’s an easy way for the school to admit them but let them decide themselves to attend another school as the majority of students are not inclined to be forced to a gap year for Harvard, or just naturally drop out. BTW, when the school states that they guarantee full ride even to WL students, look carefully the financial package that you have received from other schools, minus the merit aid so you can have realistic expectations and do not assume that just because Harvard has a large endowment, it will shower you in money, in contrast to the school you are currently accepted. Also, make sure that if you decide to accept a WL spot that you enroll in another school by May 1st, male decisions about housing, courses and start loving your school and do not have it a sure thing that you will get in from WL because a classmate or someone you know had worse scores/gpa/EC than you and was accepted RD. WL acceptance is too murky and the probabilities are against you.</p>
<p>thanks Ana1. very informative</p>
<p>if the yield is expected to be so high, then why are more people supposed to be taken off the waitlist this year as iv heard around CC?
i applied RD and was waitlisted</p>
<p>^Because they were conservative in the number they accepted RD.</p>
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<p>Like Governator said, it’s because they were conservative in their acceptances given the uncertainty of yield. This is good news for waitlisters, because it means that it’s unlikely Harvard perfectly or over-estimated the number of acceptances and will need (as I’m sure they planned) to move to the waitlist. In other words, it won’t be a year they never even touch the WL.</p>
<p>If someone of a similar “niche” (i.e. same URM race, co-leadership role, same special hs magnet program) as yourself at your high school denies Harvard’s acceptance does that improve your chances of getting in off the waitlist?</p>
<p>If people look around the Harvard page, there have been a number of threads, both this year and years past of WLers some of whom have excellent insights. For those of you who are WL such a thread (and I believe there is one started already) creates a community in which one can vent and commiserate. However, it also becomes a hotbed of rumors (both founded and unfounded) so take things with grains of salt (as you should anyway) knowing the poster and her or his predilections. All in all I think most WLers find the thread to be a very positive thing.</p>