<p>RISD put me on their Priority Waiting List. According to their letter, a large percentage of applicants get off the list.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon (Design) also put me on a waitlist status. They work a little differently though - I have the option of choosing to be on the Priority Waitlist or the Regular one. I think one year they had no one get off both waitlists.</p>
<p>Here's the twist: CMU's Priority waitlist is binding.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has been my dream school for years. RISD was my second choice school right after Carnegie Mellon. Had I been accepted to the two, I would've compared the costs/financial aid.</p>
<p>I'm not quite sure if I should go for the Priority WL or the Regular WL at CMU, though.
CMU's tuition is about $55k total. RISD's is about $40k.</p>
<p>I'm a mess. If anything, I wanted to avoid waitlist situations. Decision making is the ultimate stress/weakspot for me, which is why I feel the need to consult CC.</p>
<p>Where else have you been admitted?</p>
<p>How are you paying for your education?</p>
<p>Re-read CMUs policy. Is there an “escape clause” if their aid package still doesn’t make it affordable?</p>
<p>Getting much aid when coming off of a WL can be tough. If you need significant aid, you might have to go to a school that has offered it.</p>
<p>CMU waitlist is not binding. They give you 24 hours to respond. But you should make a decision now which WL you would accept if they both take you AND both give you the aid you need to make it a go. If CMU accepts you and has the package, and it is first to respond, you accept them. You lose your deposit, if RISD comes up with an acceptance and you decide their package is better and you prefer to go there. Just like you are going to lose your deposit whereever to whichever school you pick from those that accepted, not WLed you, if you then decide to take a WL school later.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with CMU and she said it wasn’t binding.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, could you clarify what you said? I think that might be important to note…
So if CMU’s response comes before RISD’s, then I need to forfeit my deposit at its current institution. I can’t do anything about it if RISD offered me better financial aid afterwards?</p>
<p>Or if RISD’s response comes before CMU’s, I have the chance to weigh in the financial circumstances for about 24 hours, the given time to respond.</p>
<p>Is that what you meant? Sorry, I just want to be sure!</p>
<p>The lady on the phone didn’t mention a 24 hour policy sorta thing… she insistently told me it wasn’t binding and didn’t give me much detail about the waitlisting policy there. Their website and waitlist FAQ is surprisingly not as helpful as I hoped, either.</p>
<p>Thanks for your time, everyone (: I truly appreciate it.</p>
<p>You have been admitted to colleges A, B, and C. You are also waitlisted at colleges D and E.</p>
<p>If you do not hear from D and E by April 30, you will make a choice between A, B, and C and send in a deposit to guarantee your space.</p>
<p>Later on, if you get off the waitlist at D, you can compare that option to whichever it is of A, B, and C that you selected the first time. If you decide you prefer D, you send a note to the ABC college saying thanks but no thanks, and make a new deposit at D to guarantee your space.</p>
<p>Later on, if you get off the waitlist at E, you can compare that option to D. If you decide you prefer E, you send a note to D saying thanks but no thanks, and make a new deposit at E to guarantee your space.</p>
<p>If you are on enough waitlists, this could conceivably repeat right up to the day before classes start.</p>
<p>The rules might have changed but what they once were for CMU priority wait list is that you have 24 hours to respond and send your deposit check when you are accepted. They keep that check just like the school that you are going to accept if neither wait list comes through before May 1 and you have to pick from your schools that accepted you. If RISD come through after you have accepted CMU’s waitlist offer, you lose the CMU check. If you want more time on the wait list, stay on CMU’s regular waitlist. Do verify what I am saying because it’s been a few years since I dealt with this.</p>
<p>happymomof1, thanks for the explanation! This whole process makes a whole lot more sense now.</p>
<p>the Waiting List Reply Form has an unchecked box besides, "Please Keep my name on etc. etc. Priority Waiting List. Carnegie Mellon is my first choice and I will enroll if accepted and post a non-refundable $800 enrollment deposit.</p>
<p>Wow, I must be annoying; I’m just so confused. Isn’t the above statement sort of like a binding agreement?</p>
<p>Okay, so if accepted, I am contacted on May 7th or 8th, and I have until the deadline they give me to pay the non-refundable $800 deposit.</p>
<p>So despite agreeing that I will enroll if accepted (as the reply form states), I can STILL say “thanks but no thanks” to CMU if RISD gave me a better offer?</p>
<p>Sure, but you would be out that $800 if you have paid the deposit.</p>