Waitlist decision before May 1?

I got waitlisted at UC Davis and saw last years threads where people were still waiting for a response late JUNE. On the waitlist confirmation page it says
“We will notify you of our final admission decision by email and on this website no later than May 1.”

Did they say that in previous years? Or do you think they realized how kinda messed up it was years past? Im hoping its the latter option.

I’m pretty sure UC Davis said something similar last year. I think I remember that they started accepting students from the waitlist in batches starting in early to mid April.

I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule about taking kids off WL. Colleges want to fill empty seats. My own kid was offered a spot off WL in the beginning of July. She attends that school. No doubt her other school then called someone off of their WL. I am sure they try to stick to some kind of time frame but it doesn’t always play out that way.

The flip side is that colleges also over-admit, and may not take anyone off WL.

I would still plan on looking at other colleges and making sure you have a first choice to commit to.

They of course hope to let you know by May 1, as by then they know who is accepting a place in their class and who isn’t (from the list of admitted students). However, there is a phenomenon called “summer melt”- when in late June/July colleges see students back out of their place to accept a place at a school where they just got off the waitlist. They would keep the waitlist open for that reason.

The question for you is, do you want to be uncertain into the summer months? Or do you want to pick from the schools that have offered you acceptance?

You can wait till the end of April to decide and hope to get notification from Davis before May 1st but if you get other offers, figure out which of those is best and prepare to accept that. In particular, if your top offer requires an early housing deposit, go ahead and pay that in order to secure a decent room.

Also, don’t wait until a minute before midnight on May 1st to submit your decision (looking at you nephew)! Give yourself a buffer. You can always withdraw your acceptance if UCD comes through.