<p>not sure if this help or not. </p>
<p>I remember reading this in a book written by former Duke admission counselor, and she said that they (adcom) actually put students' names into three different list: would accept, maybe accept, prob no chance accept. And if you give the school a call, they would (I guess) imply to you your chances of being accpeted.</p>
<p>I thought that the original post was an Algebra problem. Tarheel: Stanford may not be taking anyone from their waitlist. I believe that noone was admitted from Stanford's waitlist last year, and applications are up this year.</p>
<p>man...that sucks...that means i have to try 2nd semester...oh well</p>
<p>citymom, Waitlists are the purgatory of college admissions. You're not in; you're not entirely out. As others have explained colleges often waitlist *hundreds *of applicants. They use these lists to lessen the blow to otherwise qualified students (especially legacies) and to help with their admissions management. </p>
<p>You can usually find out how many are on the list and how many got off in recent years but I don't know of any school that will actually assign a rank. That's the whole point. They often don't know whom they will accept off the waitlist until all the acceptances come in. For example, if their pick for quarterback or violinist turns them down then they're going to be admitting another quarterback or violinist.</p>
<p>There are just enough success stories of kids getting off waitlists (I know several myself) to keep the fires of hope burning. Taking a proactive approach in contacting the school and sending supplemental material can be very helpful.</p>
<p>I think the best approach is to give yourself a reasonable time period -- say till the end of May. After that the chances diminish exponentially and, in my opinion, it's more productive to mental health to let the waitlist go and focus and getting excited about the college that did accept you.</p>
<p>If one were a well-qualified legacy at a USNWR top 3 LAC and were waitlisted would it be of any benefit to have his or her parent, the alum, who was a classmate of the DoA, write a letter on his/her child's behalf?</p>
<p>Yes.......If it's a real life situation, write to the DoA now to get admitted RD.</p>
<p>Thanks, but I have spoken with her extensively. Thoughts about the waitlist, should I be waitlisted? I can PM you my info, if you are interested.</p>
<p>Oh, and to be clear, I'm the legacy, not the alum!</p>
<p>I read in a thread that if you get deferred, you can't get waitlisted. Is this true?</p>
<p>I know people who were deferred and then waitlisted. The possibility probably depends upon the college.</p>
<p>^ I think I'd have to join a self-help group or get a therapist or something if that happened to me. How ridiculous is it to apply in say November and have to wait until after May 1 to get a decision? (assuming you accepted the spot on the waitlist)</p>