<p>Very interesting. One of the few industries in which a glut of clients can pose a potential catastrophe, so the corporation is "breathing a sigh of relief" when a sufficient number of their potential customers decline! My D was accepted RD at both H and Y this year - one brief call and one letter from H during April, but calls, letters, e-mails, t-shirts every few days from Y. Clearly, H was concerned about too many students, Y was bracing for too few.</p>
<p>Here's something that, if true, is fascinating about the H waitlist. I've read in the past on CC that the waitlisted students are not in any priority order; they're there to provide a pool of talent from which H admissions can draw to maintain the balance of skills in their handcrafted class. The next person who backs out doesn't open a spot for the "top" person on the waitlist. The loss of a soprano opens up a spot for a soprano, the loss of a debater makes them seek another debater, etc. Can anyone confirm that that's true?</p>
<p>I don't know if that is necessary true. There are plenty of people who went onto the waitlist merely because it was a click away, literally. It was a means of keeping their options open in case they did have a change of heart. I'd say that most people who get off the waitlist would go, but there's a rather larger number who wouldn't merely because clicking "yes, i'll remain on the waitlist" isn't exactly the ultimate manifestation of desire.</p>
<p>^^ Having too few is a much easier problem to solve - just keeping pumping the handle on the the waitlist well until you've got what you want. Having too many will create problems that will last all year. And having WAY too many will put the school in a world of hurt.</p>
<p>gadad,</p>
<p>I posted previously this comment. My son is a new admit and his very good friend is on the waitlist for Harvard. I was doing some searching for him trying to find out what the waitlist was all about at H, because schools do it differently (according to a Stanford adcom). I googled lots of different titles into the search heading and found an article from H that stated this. Maybe it was an old crimson issue. I'm not sure. I will try to find it again and post where I found it. </p>
<p>Best of luck to those waiting</p>
<p>"Fitzsimmons said that at Harvard, unlike at Dartmouth, each waiting list case is reviewed individually during the final consideration period. Dartmouth, in contrast, typically asks each regional admissions officer to recommend three to five students to their joint committee"</p>