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<p>This really isn’t true, unless you mean certain states in the midwest like Iowa or something. </p>
<p>Sorry to say that chances look pretty slim, and transferring is tough too. It’s typically a 6% or lower admit rate from the waitlist, and the waitlist is a MIT-caliber pool unlike in general admissions. My feeling is that transfer admissions is based more on academic performance (and primarily on performance in college classes), but I have no proof of this.
If I were in your son’s position, if I didn’t get in off the waitlist I would try to crush my classes at whatever university I ended up at and then try to transfer.</p>