<p>Hi there!</p>
<p>I have a dilemma here.</p>
<p>Cornell wants me to respond to my acceptance offer by May 1st. However, I'm on the wait list for Harvard...which only releases its decisions in late May.</p>
<p>What the hell do I do??</p>
<p>you NEED to send a deposit at another school. the whole point of the waiting list is that if Harvard does not get enough people who accept spots at the college next year, they use their wait list to fill up the remaining spots. if they offer you a spot, you are allowed to accept and withdraw from the other school. however, you will lose the deposit you paid to reserve for the other school. you can choose not to remain on the wait list at all at Harvard too.</p>
<p>I concurr. It is ok to put in a deposit with Cornell while on Harvard’s waitlist. It is also ok, if offered admissions to Harvard, to accept Harvard and immediately withdraw from Cornell. Waitlist is the one major exception to the 1 deposit rule.</p>
<p>Remember, Cornell has its kids that it has waitlisted. Cornell knows that those kids have accepted to other schools while waiting to hear from Cornell. That’s the way the system works.</p>
<p>Here’s a quote for the Harvard waitlist letter:</p>
<p>“We recognize that you must make plans at another college while you await our final decision. Please be assured that all colleges will understand your situation and that we will proceed as quickly as possible to reach a decision.”</p>
<p>He’s telling you to be sure to commit to another school while you wait on Harvard. It’s the way these waitlists are supposed to work. No school goes to their waitlist prior to the commitment date of May 1st. Until then they don’t really know what their yield is.</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>What a relief, haha.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone else who replied too. I guess I rushed through Harvard’s letter when I realized that I actually wasn’t rejected. o__o</p>
<p>I was thinking exactly the same as you to begin with :D</p>