<p>I'm interested in taking some courses at Cal this summer. Do they usually add students from the waitlist above the enrollment cap? Do I have to wait for someone to drop? Do people drop off?</p>
<p>Any relevant information would be happily considered.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about Cal’s waitlist process but assuming it’s the same for every school more or less:</p>
<p>(1) They admit more students than their freshman class can hold making predictions based on their yield.
(2) If more students than they predicted decline their offer and it turns out that less than their expected class size is left, they will go to the waitlist. So yes, you wait for people to drop off.</p>
<p>It depends on the course but usually they’ll open up new sections to accommodate most people. A lot of people also drop classes within the first two weeks so you have a good chance of getting into a class if you’re in the top 10 to 20% of the waitlist.</p>