Very confused as to what being waitlisted even means. I was pretty good but not good enough? Or I just had bad luck during my review?
Btw I’m OOS (from CA), so it was probably harder for me to get accepted in the first place.
I’m a little worried because I applied to a lot of schools that are much more selective than Georgia Tech, but I feel like at a certain point admissions to these schools just comes down to luck.
Anyone else here waitlisted? What do you think?
I got waitlisted too. I think if people who were already accepted decide not to attend and go to another college that people on the waitlist can take spot they had “reserved”, but how many people actually get in from the waitlist? At least it’s not a NO though, so there’s still some hope for us! 
Last year, around 20% off the waitlist was accepted. But the year before that, only 2% was admitted from the waiting list. So it’s really random. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope.
But like you said, it wasn’t a rejection, so there’s still a possibility.
Same here. Apparently they don’t use a ranking system, the wait list is based on “institutional need” so I guess it comes down to spots available in your major and your residency. Waiting until May for a phone call that might never come is really an inconvenience, but hey, at least we weren’t rejected.
Waitlisted
Electrical engineering
SAT: 1440
SAT 2: 750 Math 2, 780 Chem, 750 Physics,
GPA: International, CBSE, 91% in class 11
International
Essays were decent, recs were decent
EC’s are decent, nothing tech related
I’m surprised I even got waitlisted considering I’m an international applicant. Anyways I did read the faqs and they said that I can pay for my second choice uni and then forfeit that money later if I get accepted into gatech in may. So we’re not at a loss exactly as long as we have atleast one acceptance with us
So it says that Tech doesn’t rank the wait list, but it also says they try to shape the class to meet institutional needs and priorities. But you can’t have both, can you? If there’s not a slight form of ranking/preference bias then the wait list would be a lottery which I don’t believe it is.
Another question, in the FAQs it says for finding out if we will be admitted that they “likely will not know” and that they will inform us as soon as they know space is available. Does that mean that we could POSSIBLY know before the May 1st Deposit Deadline?
I think it works like this. If a school has 5,000 freshman seats to fill they may admit 5,200 students because they know all won’t attend. So they won’t even go to the waitlist until 201 or more students turn them down. If 4973 students accept, they’ll have 27 seats to fill. How they fill them depends on the school’s needs, but they can’t rank the waitlisted students because they won’t know where the holes are until students start rejecting their offers.
If they’re a school that admits by major, then waitlisted students who applied for undersubscribed majors may be offered a spot. If they need geographical diversity, then they search the waitlist for kids who can fill those holes. What each school needs at any given time will vary and chances of making it off the waitlist are probably small, especially for lower income students. Accept a spot and hope for the best.
^^ And if they need more revenue, they will offer spots to out of state students. Universities are a business. There are a lot of great articles about “the waitlist”, and common sense tells you, find another option that loves you as much as you love them.
My son is in waiting list too. SAT 1448, ACT 33. Is it possible to be picked up, offering financial aid later? I do not expect any surprise at this moment, thought :((
As @austinmshauri explained, the waitlist is simply a way for colleges to use your application to manage their final enrollment number.
Unfortunately, the best case scenario for the college is accept zero from the waitlist. This means they got the numbers correct on their first try…or it means they over-enrolled and will be turning lots of double bedrooms into triples.
Good luck!
@TommyCD He may yet be accepted, but the only financial aid he’ll be eligible for is whatever the FAFSA offers him. Tech already did their merit competition.
@yankeeinGA Thanks! We almost decide to go to Boston Univ. because of $32,000 grant plus $6000 loan=$38,000.
BU is an expensive university.
So do we have to write some sort of Letter of Continued Interest, or just wait it out until May 1st and see if we got lucky??? And we should already deposit for another school in the meantime?
We didn’t write any letter. The final decision could be longer than May 1. Yes to SIR at another school just in case.
@JuicyMango I will make a deposit for BU first. The worst result is loosing this deposit, right?
Anyone heard back anything yet?
@Arabergro Nope :(. The lastest they can respond is June 1st, so we may have a while before we hear a response from them.
I sent 2 very sincere love letters during the month of April, and I think the AO was very happy about my continuing interest.
I am an international applicant from China, applied math major, SAT 1480, TOEFL 114, GPA 4.47, go to a private Catholic high school in MA. I am also on the waitlist of UCLA, CMU, U of Rochester, Brandeis, and BC.