<p>"There are about 10 students on the waitlist.?The waitlist is not ranked.?Whether or not we select students from the waitlist depends on responses to a rather large group of initial offers of admission. "</p>
<p>How could they decide when people withdraw their offers?</p>
<p>I apply to graduate program.</p>
<p>Where is that from?</p>
<p>And, I think it means that they go back into selection with the people on the waitlist.</p>
<p>It is from the Graduate Administrator.</p>
<p>Then they will make decisions as many times as the number of people who withdraw the offers?</p>
<p>Schools usually say that they go through all the waitlist applications when positions open up and re-evaluate who they should accept next.</p>
<p>Each school has a target class size, and the amount of offers for admission is greater than this target as MIT knows that all students won't necessarily attend. If the amount of students that choose to attend MIT is less than expected, than MIT will go to the waitlist. </p>
<p>The waitlist isn't ranked as accepted applicants fill a particular niche in MIT's profile. For example, if a school badly needs a bassoon player and the one bassoon player that was accepted does not attend, then they be the 1st choice on the waitlist. For another school - one that doesn't need a bassoon player - this same person may be much luch desirable.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Note that the original poster has applied to MIT for GRADUATE admissions this year and has been placed on a waiting list for his desired department.</p>
<p>Graduate school admissions are very different from undergrad, and from what I've learned from molliebatmit, it's more a matter of the research work you've done as an undergrad, the professors who've recommended you, your undergrad transcript, and the space in the department to which you are applying, rather than some of those other aspects that may be considered as part of undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>It's also entirely possible that they may be expecting to admit either all or none of the waitlist -- if the number of students who accept offers is low by ~5, they might accept the entire waitlist, while if it is high, they may accept no one.</p>
<p>It might not be a situation where they are expecting to accept only one or two people from the waitlist.</p>