Last night, I was given the option to be put on the priority waiting list for Tepper and Dietrich. I was looking on CMU’s website and saw that around 50 ppl / yr are accepted off of this. Is this per school or total? Also, does anyone know where I can find out how many people are usually on this priority waitlist from Dietrich and Tepper?
I have the same question about the “priority waiting list”, though I am offered the priority waiting list for Mellon College of Science. Is everyone offered two waiting list options - priority and regular? What are chances of being admitted through the priority waiting list?
I was offered priority although I’m pretty sure not everyone is offered a spot.
Repost from Class of 2021 Thread:
figgie13 No, that figure represents the amount accepted off the waitlist within the entire university, and is outdated. Last year there were about 3800 people offered a waitlist position. About 1900 accepted the offer to be placed on it. Seven total were admitted.
The waitlist is also ranked.
Specific numbers on a college-by-college basis isn’t released publicly to students, but you will receive notification as the matriculation deadline approaches whether or not your program is full.
Source: Common Data Sheet, Section C
Thanks everyone! Hoping we all get in off of the priority waiting list!
Priority wait list is meaningless. It just means that Carnegie Mellon wants you to be very serious about CMU to get onto it, is all that means.
It is designed as a marketing ploy to make students who are waitlisted feel “special”. It is just a waitlist.
In my year (admitted 2015) there were zero people accepted into any school off of either waitlist so i wouldn’t get your hopes up unless things have changed.
Is the priority waiting list binding? If you are admitted off the list are you required to enroll?
@superbowlwinner yes, the website says “The Priority Waiting List is for students who now consider Carnegie Mellon to be their first choice college and will enroll if admitted from the Waiting List.”
How many people are placed on this waitlist every year?
@chessplayer101 around 2000-3000
The common data sets have the exact numbers
@samc24 The common data set doesn’t differentiate between the regular WL and the priority WL. To call 2000-3000 priority seems like a bit too much.
@chessplayer101 yup, you had just asked about the waitlist in general.
Seems like they don’t release that info.
some years they say that they release the waitlist rank to school counselors – is it a good idea for counselors to call and ask to see what the chances of getting off are?
My daughter is on priority waitlist. Any reason why they would send out the financial aid? We just got the financial aid package today.
@Jliu32472 I believe they send out financial aid packages to all students on the priority waitlist.
Thanks figgie13. I was just surprised. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to send out fin aid packages to all waitlist candidates. I would of thought it would be much more optimized to only send to those that you accept off waitlist.
@alexa2143 I had my guidance counselor call and the admissions rep didn’t reveal a rank.
ugh that’s annoying, I guess we just have to hope for the best… thank you!! @chessplayer101
@Jliu32472 My younger son also got a financial aid award last year, its given to all CMU waitlsted students to try to convince them to sign up for the waitlist, and to know for sure they can afford CMU. But these financial awards are one year awards, and years 2,3 and 4 one needs to reapply each year. If there are changes in your family’s status (number of children in college, salary, debt,) then the award can and will change , up or down. I do not see how a school can force anyone to take a spot, but yes, Carnegie Mellon really only wants students who are going to say yes to get onto their waitlist. (thus the name “priority”, but thats the ONLY waitlist available at CMU. )
Students can say no to this waitlist and then they are not considered, and they can move on and pay for their second choice college.
As an example of how this may work:
My older son got onto two waitlists. He was admitted on May 5 to one college, (Pomona College) and he was rejected on July 15 by the other. (Vanderbilt U ) So the problem with waitlists is you do not know
the criteria (geography, race, gender, test scores?) or how far down your child is on that waitlist. The top students get calls right away, in May, and the student needs to have his cell phone turned on and take the phone call. Schools are calling lots of kids and they are trying to reach a human, so its very important to take the phone calls with a CMU area code, if the student gets onto the waitlist.
One option is to get onto the waitlist and then if your student gets no call by May 30, get BACK OFF it. That way your student is not waiting until July.