At work, we rank projects for funding. Once we get closer to the end of our fiscal year, we find out who is not moving ahead (who declined our offer) and free up the funding (go to the “waitlist”).
From there we start calling up the projects that didn’t make the initial first cut and find out if they are ready to move ahead. In construction they might be called “shovel ready”. It is all based on ranking and whether they are ready to proceed.
I’m not saying there are absolutely no politics (“holistic admissions”) involved but we choose our projects very objectively with formal published methodology.
@ThisIsTorture i called them the day of WL and they told me not to. I’m not saying you weren’t told this but did you see it on the site somewhere and I missed it? did an admissions rep tell you when you visited or something? i’m just trying to figure out how I could have overlooked it.
If I were interviewing for a job with a company and they treated me the way CMU is treating their waitlisted applicants, I would tell them to pound sand. I don’t care how “elite” the company is, this type of behavior indicates how you can expect to be treated if you eventually get and accept the offer.
I have no issues with colleges using a waitlist. However, the additional LOCI’s are unnecessary given the information that students have already provided through their initial applications. I find it extremely disrespectful to the applicants and self-serving of the institution to continue to make applicants jump through hoops like this. CMU admissions should get over themselves, start making offers, and deal with the inevitable rejections from students that have decided to move on. Heaven forbid they have to wait three whole days for a response (or non-response)! They certainly have no trouble making their RD applicants wait until mid April for a decision.
I think it’s interesting that they stated there were openings in their programs, but didn’t bother to indicate how many. I’m guessing that it’s in the single digits for each program.
@acollegehopeful3 they said nothing about a LOCI in the decision nor in anything they’ve sent out, so I wouldn’t worry. I’m on 12390423 other waitlists, and when they want the LOCI they “strongly encouraged” sending something in.
Let me offer another possible reason for such a short turnaround. These days, many applicants use consultants to prepare their applications and even draft their essays. I have witnessed first hand international students showing up at the beginning of their freshman year barely proficient in English, yet somehow they have very high SAT/ACT scores and essays that are perfectly written.
Forcing applicants to draft and submit a 500-word supplemental essay in 36 hours lessens the use of 3rd parties ghostwriting the essay.
Waitlisted applicants received a financial aid package. That package is "activated" when the student enrolls. I called to confirm this fact.
FA is not always the deal breaker over accepting certain students. Some schools, such as Tepper, Information Systems, and the School of Drama Design met their own enrollment goals.
Also, as @ACollegeHopeful3 said, CMU specifically asked for no additional materials to be sent to them. If you sent anything in, I would assume it went straight to the recycling bin.
So maybe I’m missing something. I got the impression that PWL applicants received an email specifically requesting a LOCI, and I’m assuming that it is more than simply a “Yes, I’d like to remain on the PWL”. Is this the case?
@averagelowtier - he submitted yesterday at 7:00 am and later that day, around 2:00 pm we checked and it was showing in “where am I in the process” that he submitted a LOCI a few weeks back and submitted that essay yesterday. Perhaps they didn’t have the chance to read all of them yet so that’s why it is not showing?
@davy901 I really don’t know. It was just an assumption but I have no way of knowing. I’m sure they would ready everyone’s essay’s eventually and you’ll see the decision today in “where am I in the process”. Deep breath and May the 4th be with you!
