Waitlis, didnt expected specially with a sat 1900
Another waitlist. TBH I was just about to narrow it down to UC Santa Cruz and Colorado. I don’t even know where I am as a candidate to schools because a lot of my friends got accepted to UC San Diego and I haven’t heard back yet :))
I was also waitlisted, although I expected to be rejected. Checking the other forum everyone who wasn’t accepted was waitlisted. I wonder how many applicants were waitlisted because it seems almost everyone was?
Just curious but could they send acceptances before May 1st? What if some early kids got in ED somewhere else and had to withdraw their applications?
Or do we have to wait until after May 1st?
@jk199 According to the thread last year, very few people got ones in April. Others waited much later.
Recognize that colleges admit more students than they have space for, based on anticipated yield. So people turning down spots doesn’t immediately/necessarily translate into spots becoming available. It takes more admittees than anticipated turning down spots to send a school to its waitlist. The most recent yield data I’ve seen for U of C is 60%. So you could conceivably be looking at a situation where they don’t go to the waitlist unless/until more than 40% of those admitted decide to go elsewhere.
From what I’ve gathered from here and from the UChicago applicants Facebook group, around 1/6 of applicants are wait listed every year. From that, a little more than half accept their position on the wait list, and from THAT, even fewer get accepted off of it. However, it’s important to note that only around 100 people attend UChicago from the wait list, meaning that more than 100 people are accepted from it. I don’t think it wise to judge the wait list pool from social media, considering that it is a skewed sample of people.
But, hey, we’ve made it this far, and I’m sure many if not most of us have been accepted into other amazing schools and programs.
I think they waitlisted so many of us to promote more applicants next year. Like most of us have said, we really expected to get denied and to be offered waitlist isnt great but we will probably still tell people about it. Because hey, waitlist at a school with a single digit acceptance rate must mean something good. So we tell our younger siblings and the underclassmen will find out eventually and everyone starts to believe that Chicago really is a school that looks beyond numbers. So more people apply the following year, I presume.
I don’t think so. There’s enough ppl who apply every year because UChicago is ranked very high on USNews and other lists. We all know how prestigious it is and that inspires more and more applicants. It also has to do with the community’s environment. I think you may be putting yourself down a little too hard there. It’s true most of us on the list may or may not get in. I think the most you can do is wait it out if you can.
@DynamicProphet You are most likely correct. It is pretty blatantly obvious that over the last few years that Chicago has become obsessed with their admission stats. The only logical reason to waitlist 4,000 people for a possibility of 100 spots is to keep Chicago’s name “out there” trying to create more buzz and hopefully even more applications next year in an effort to drive up their selectivity ratio.
If someone can give me a “logical” reason for waitlisting 4,000 people, I’m all ears.
@GraceDad While I don’t think any reason is necessarily logical, I can perhaps offer a more optimistic twist. Perhaps UChicago recognizes how many qualified applicants there are and not wanting to dishearten many fantastic candidates, opts to waitlist them instead. Call it a “soft rejection” if you’d like, but it could be out of sympathy and not personal gain.
That being said, I think 4000 is absurdly high and would rather take a straight reject and know I didn’t have a chance, rather than sit here wondering just how competitive I really am because ultimately, a waitlist indicates nothing more than a possibility.
Hello everyone
My name is Jake and I was waitlisted for the UChicago Class of 2020!!! Remember people…Don’t let this decision deter you from your goals. I’m absolutely sure that the majority of you are exceptionally brilliant, fun, and quirky as heck. I hope to meet all of you. Please shoot me a friend request on FB!
Here…Let the following lyrics bring joy to your life
“Never Gonna Give You Up”
Oooh
We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but
You’re too shy to say it
Inside, we both know what’s been going on
We know the game and we’re gonna play it
And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
(Ooh, give you up)
(Ooh, give you up)
Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up)
Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up)
We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but
You’re too shy to say it
Inside, we both know what’s been going on
We know the game and we’re gonna play it
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
I think that the soft rejection is part of it, especially when you’re releasing decisions before lots of other schools and when you know that some applicants will see their UofC decision as an omen of things to come. And when you are dealing with kids who seem to have worked exceptionally hard, done really well throughout their HS years, and put thought and effort into their applications. Isn’t the honest message “we’d happily accept you if we had room?”
Finally, even if the odds of getting in off the waitlist are only about 3.5% (100/2890 last year – and, as a PP suggested, this is an underestimation of odds that year since it undoubtedly took more than 100 offers to people on the waitlist to yield 100 matriculants), you know you’re dealing with kids who have been pursuing extreme long shots throughout this process.
I totally get refusing the waitlist and moving on. I totally get accepting a waitlist spot while making other plans, and then deciding (either way) whether to take a spot if/when you’re offered one. I’m just saying I don’t see wait listing as a cynical plot to increase applications. It’s an imperfect response to an increasingly stressful and messed-up system for college admissions.
Found a post from a few years ago from the Admissions Counselor on the board that stated that very rarely will someone get waitlisted if you were deferred EA. That seems to be pretty consistent with what happened yesterday. Most of the people that posted that they were deferred EA got accepted or rejected.
So if you got rejected and were deferred EA, don’t let the fact that the waitlist is so big bring you down. I’m certain that your application was just as good as some people that are now on the waitlist.
If you are on the waitlist AND you were deferred EA, I would have to view this pretty optimistically. The way my logical mind works, it would seem you would have a better shot then most people on the waitlist. Of course college admissions isn’t always logical.
@GraceDad I was actually deferred EA and then waitlisted. We’ll have to see what happens haha
This is PURELY hypothetical but I’m just wondering if you send a letter of interest to UChicago saying that you’d attend if you got in, but end up not going if you get accepted, what happens?
@jk1998 nothing would happen, because you didn’t sign anything and they can’t force you to stick to your word. this is why admissions officers rarely take the promise to attend if admitted seriously.
And when do you guys think wold be a good time to send a letter of interest? I’ve seen conflicting answers.
Will it sound more earnest and truthful if I send it right now? Or would it be better to wait to see what colleges you got into and mention that in the letter
@16elir Oh, that makes sense! Thanks so much!
@jk1998 I’ve heard that it should be sent before Ivy Day.