<p>meh, I would be excited for this, but I just got back from visiting HMC. I hated it. I hope I don't get in, don't want to take ya'lls spots!</p>
<p>Why did you hate it?</p>
<p>Strange, you should get an email as an international, fiona...
Acceptance envelopes are big, you get a large folder with a bunch of papers and materials.
Quantize, I think with the current crowd, they'd be happy if you got in - the more people turning their offer down, the closer HMC'll get to needing to draw from the waitlist =P</p>
<p>So, does anyone know what this means about my prospectives of getting into UCB's EECS program? :p</p>
<p>By 'how are they sent', I mean what type of post. Fed-Ex, UPS, Air Mail, Next-Day Delivery...</p>
<p>I'm guessing they were trying to time it so that the decisions would get in on Monday with no mail on Sunday, but a bunch of the closer applicants got them early, so internationals will probably get e-mails on Monday.</p>
<p>Damn guys. Sounds like there was just a killer applicant crowd this year. I'm sure everyone here is terribly-well qualified.</p>
<p>Watch the movie Apollo XIII. Ken Mattingly got cut from the flight plan a few days before launch after a lifetime of dedication... That decision, "must have been a tough one", as he said. While he was absolutely crushed, he came back and was able to fly on the Apollo XVI mission.</p>
<p>Things will work out. Just keep your passion aroused... in a G-rated way.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how you'd keep your passion for HMC aroused in a non-G-rated way, not do I think I want to know, haha.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear you got waitlisted. Really, it should have a few more "waits" in its name, as it can take forever, and in the end, usually few students are pulled from it. First, HMC has to wait until the deadline for regularly accepted students to make their decision. During that time, a ton of people on the waitlist will go to other schools, since most of them are incredibly qualified, and get into other top institutions. So all the decisions are back, and there are a few slots to fill. Then Mudd starts contacting people on the waitlist, but since they don't demand a yes/no answer immediately, they send out the waitlist admission decisions in batches. This gets riskier for the school if they need multiple batches, as the yield from the waitlist can vary wildly, especially if people who are on it have already decided to go elsewhere (as an aside, if you are on any waitlist and don't plan to go to that school, let them know ASAP, it really helps them out). And they don't "close" the waitlist until all the admission slots have been filled, so if they need to do multiple rounds of decisions to the list, it can take quite a while. Meanwhile, you're in that uncomfortable admissions limbo, and just wish the school would tell you something. So, its no fun from either side, and hence why HMC tries to minimize how many people they have to pick from the waitlist.</p>
<p>haha it doesn't have one wait in the name! it's called an alternate list.</p>
<p>^Actually, the website they linked us too clearly say "waitlist" in its URL.</p>
<p>these statistics from 07-08 aren't too uplifting. if you were waitlisted then, you had a .5% shot.</p>
<p>i'm starting to think i should stop thinking about it so much.</p>
<p>EDIT: yeah, but i don't think it said "wait list" in the letter</p>
<p>does anybody know why they waitlist 320 people when they only accept a total of 200 people? Don't you think that 80 would be enough?</p>
<p>wondering the same thing</p>
<p>edit: well, like u saw, a lot of people decline to stay on the waitlist, so I guess they over-shoot just case the majority declines the waitlist spot.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if they prioritize the waitlist based on when people accept the spot? If so, I don't feel that would be fair to the people who get their decisions on the time they meant us to receive them >.> Foolish Californian applicants :P</p>
<p>Oh boy am I worried.</p>
<p>I highly doubt it. And don't call me foolish!</p>
<p>Likely they do not. From what I've seen and heard, they wait to see how many they will have to draw from the waitlist based on the decisions from those they accepted, and then reconsider everyone still on the waitlist to see who they would want to draw on from it.</p>
<p>Mike - There are a couple of reasons why mudd puts so many on the wait list. The biggest reason is, as others have noted, the yield from the waitlist is pretty low, as most applicants have many other great schools to choose from. A second, though less common reason, is "politics", applicants that it would be improper or cause problems to reject outright. Here's an example: there are two applicants from the same school - #1 is much better on paper, better scores, grades, that kind of thing. However, #1 just doesn't come across as a good fit at HMC, from the soft materials such as letters of rec, personal statement. #2 has lower test scores and grades than #1, but still seems like a great fit for HMC. So #2 is given an admit decision. If #1 was rejected outright, it would probably bring calls from the school, parents, etc about why #2 got in with lower scores. So #1 is put on the waitlist, as a more "gentle" denial.</p>
<p>Oh, waitlist position is not decided by how fast you reply</p>
<p>im quite sure ill get rejected but if its any consolation, im going to defer for a year if i do get accepted.</p>