I’m very confused.
I applied to NYU Stern ED I, and I was offered a spot on the waitlist.
Keep in mind I was NOT deferred.
How is this possible for ED?
Any response would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Different schools do different things. Keep in mind deferred =/= accepted, but waitlisted = accepted, but with a queue. So you got accepted, but only if they have extra spots. Deferred would have meant you are not accepted yet, but we want to see more. Two different outcomes.
But does that still mean I have to wait till May?
@harrylb I think so, but I do not know 100%. Sorry, and best of luck!
My daughter was waitlisted at Stern too and we thought is was very strange as well. Waitlisted against who ED2? RD?
Yea, my college counselor is asking the rep, so I’ll get back to you within 24hrs and let you know what it means.
I’ve contacted our HS guidance counselor and 2 friends who are private college counselors and they have no idea what the heck it means.
I’m assuming it just means we have to wait till May to be reviewed. I’m pretty sure it’s better than being deferred though. Well if you learn anything, let me know. 
Best of luck!
You too Harry - and best of luck to you - I am sure you and my DD have bright and shining futures ahead no matter where you land! I will post here if I find anything out.
from what i’ve seen, you’ll hear back about your status on the waitlist around may or maybe even as late as august. they have to wait for the acceptance deadline to pass so they can have an exact number on how many open spots they have. basically you’re supposed to put a deposit down for another school and if nyu offers you admission you can withdraw it.
But why waitlist when you can just defer?
@harrylb, defer means they will consider your application again in the next round (and that outcome can be reject, offer or waitlist). Waitlist means you go straight on the waitlist for open spots without them having to reconsider your application again first. It’s kind of one step up from defer because you’re in the queue without having to worry about an interim rejection.
It would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall in seeing how they decide between (1) making an offer for a second choice (2) waitlisting for first choice or (3) deferring (for all applicants neither accepted to first choice nor outright rejected).
@SJ2727 My guess would be that they give your a second choice if you put one down. If you don’t they would probably reject you or waitlist you if you are “on the fence”. I think deferrals are much more special. According to their FAQ less than 5% of ED I applicants get deferred (and based on the megathread, very few people got deferred). It think it’s reserved for interesting outliers, or people who are smart but with poor grades (giving them an opportunity to submit midyear report grades). Just speculation of course.
@DOGEATER9000 , no, there are people who were waitlisted first choice when they had a second choice listed. I’d probably assume instead that the adcom didn’t think the second choice was a good fit. This probably happens mostly for stern (my speculation) given the number of threads I’ve seen over time about “if I get my second choice how easy is it to transfer into stern later”, and other schools /programs where the second choice seems at odds with the expressed interest for first choice. My D got her second choice, but it’s quite easy to relate it back to her first choice.
They’ve said before that they typically like people who apply early to ED to know an outcome, and so have tended to keep deferrals to a couple of hundred. Last year was more (400-500) which they ascribed to the fact that the SAT test had just changed and they wanted more data with which to compare old vs new scores. Adding waitlisting into the ED mix is new and contrary to the idea of certainty for ED applicants, so I don’t quite know what the thinking is there.
@SJ2727 I see, so I guess it was the admission officers rationale on whether each campus would have been a good fir or not. Just a minor correction, the deferring stuff you described was actually two years ago, not one year.
@DOGEATER9000 - apologies, you are correct. However someone on last year’s thread said his/her letter noted 550 deferred applicants too, so they didn’t let up on that trend (ED pool was up so % deferrals might have dropped though).
I’m wondering if the waitlisting off ED is to put these waitlists at the front of the line - so that even with a waitlist, there is still an advantage from having applied ED?
That’s what I was wondering, but I think they said it was unranked.
Not sure what to make of this.