<p>…and I didn’t say anything definitive, either. you said something mildly negative, and I said something mildly positive.</p>
<p>pointless conversation ensues</p>
<p>you were in my thoughts as I wrote that last post</p>
<p>I don’t really get it actually. Either you’re qualified (accepted) or not (rejected) right? How does wait-listing come into all this? Like, was I a really a competitive applicant then? If I was, then why wasn’t I accepted?</p>
<p>Caltech, like all top schools, does not have the space to admit close to the number of people who are qualified enough to attend. Where did you get the idea that only unqualified people got rejected?</p>
<p>^idk…as much as i hate to say it, it can’t be crapshoot, can it? there must have been some personality defect with those 2400 SATs with 4.0 GPA who got rejected.</p>
<p>What is a “personality defect”? A lot of times it’s just that the adcom who pulled your file doesn’t like you. Or s/he has been reading apps all day and you unluckily got pulled late in the day. Or they want this other kid more because he was funny in his essay and rides the unicycle.</p>
<p>It’s not a total crapshoot–we call it that because short of eavesdropping on the deliberations, none of us can ever really know what causes a school to take one kid over another. People are fickle and not always logical, and adcoms are no exception to that.</p>
<p>You were waitlisted: that means they thought you were qualified and wanted you in the class…they just thought 600-odd people were more qualified/wanted them more. Don’t read into it too much.</p>
<p>I looked at USNWR</p>
<p>Wait List<br>
Does the school have a waiting list? Yes
Number of applicants placed on a waiting list: 556
Number of students on the wait list accepted: 339
Number of students enrolled from a waiting list: 12</p>
<p>So the actual numbers may not be as bleak as it sounds. The fact is most students on the waitlist would have accepted somewhere else and not wait around for the wait list to be cleared.</p>
<p>^I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but last year, according to Mrs. Jamilla, 0 people were accepted from the waitlist…</p>
<p>Our future looks bleak…</p>
<p>I think the US News list is not last year, but the year before. No students were taken off the list last year. Really, it varies a ton from year to year, I think 30 students or so were taken off the waitlist my year. (but the year before that was zero)</p>
<p>Well, they base decisions on last year’s data, so this year, unless our matriculation rates increase yet again, there should be a few off the waitlist.</p>
<p>Ashwin, get into anywhere else?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You make it sound like that isn’t likely. I don’t think there’s really any way to predict before the fact how many are coming off the waitlist, as I’ve mentioned before. It’s just as likely that yield goes up as it is that yield goes down. Additionally, decisions on admissions aren’t made solely on last year’s data; for example, if admissions believes last year’s yield was unnaturally high they might base it primarily off of the year before.</p>
<p>All I’m saying is, don’t make predictions like you’re making without having a solid basis. These kids will take it a lot more seriously than I think you realize.</p>
<p>Ashwinsundar: I think you should follow the principle of “hope for the best but prepare for the worst”. There are certain things you can still do. Make sure Caltech knows that you are very interested in the school. Provide any relevant updates. Keep in contact in a positive way.</p>
<p>Again, as lizzardfire says, there is no way of predicting what will happen to the waitlist. They may clear 100, they may clear 30, they may clear none. Also, you would have no way of knowing where you stand on the list. </p>
<p>So you need to start looking seriously at your other options. Visit them, may be you will find they are equally or possibly more appealing at close quarters. Keep a positive attitude. Things will work out for the best.</p>
<p>@daughterofpearl: I got into other UCs and UCLA…my backups essentially. Being waitlisted at Caltech is sort of a compliment…in a way actually. I guess my application isn’t as weak as I thought.</p>
<p>Hopefully I get into Princeton engineering, Stanford, Cornell, or Duke…I’m really anxious now.</p>
<p>i got waitlisted too… feel i have zero chance. i’d better forget about caltech.</p>
<p>Jamal, what are you talking about? I believe you’re confusing this Tech school was some other one. Please get your facts straight when posting stuff like this.</p>
<p>Caltech does use the waitlist. Last year no one was taken off the waitlist because a higher than expected number of people chose to matriculate. They’ll take that into account this year, so waitlisters still have a chance, though very small.</p>
<p>@Jamal5:
For Fall '09, yeah, waitlist was unused…
Fall '08: 556 offered a spot on waitlist, 339 took spot on waitlist, 12 accepted from waitlist
Fall '07: 315 offered a spot on waitlist, 164 took spot on waitlist, 30 accepted from waitlist
Fall '06: 367 offered a spot on waitlist, 240 took spot on waitlist, 67 accepted from waitlist
(source is CDS)
…so yeah, I think my definition of “1” differs from yours, by at least a couple orders of magnitude.</p>