<p>Just got a letter in the mail today saying I was waitlisted at Brandeis. (Anyone else in the same boat?? ^_^)
Does anyone know about what percentage of students are accepted off the waiting list? Are my chances for admission any better than when I first applied, or are they even worse?
Also, they said in the letter they would try to let me know about my status by June 1st. How does that work - aren’t most schools’ deadlines for enrollment before then?</p>
<p>the way wait listing works -- yes they will probably let you know AFTER the regular notification date -- that's how they can tell if they have room to admit people from the wait list. it also assumes that you have to go ahead and choose another college and then if you are still interested in brandeis and find out later, you tell the first school you agreed to attend that you are going to a school that had wait listed you-- its up to them whether you get a refund of any deposit. but this is not unusual -- its how wait lists usually work -- by definition, schools use the wait list to fill openings left after they find out how they did with the people they accept.</p>
<p>as for info re brandeis -- here is a link to brandeis' common data sets. Office</a> of Institutional Research | Brandeis University the most recent one available is for 05-06. data about wait lists is section C2 of the common data set. you can look back over several years of info and see how many usually get admitted from the wait list (which of course is no guarantee as to how things will be this year). </p>
<p>if you accept a spot on the wait list and are still interested in brandeis, you should probably do what you can to show them you really want to go and to update them with any info that will help your chances.</p>
<p>Some ideas for if you want to go to Brandeis</p>
<p>Four things you could do:
1) Tell them now, in mid Feb, that yes, you want to be on the wait list
2) If you would absolutely definitely go to Brandeis if you were accepted, have your guidance counselor let them know that. In theory, this helps a lot.
3) Send updates every three weeks or so, if you can think of plausible things to add to your application folder: a new award you have won, a new letter of recommendation, any changes. Things to remind them periodically that you are still interested. Not so often as to be annoying though.
4) Put down a deposit somewhere else in case you don't get into Brandeis</p>
<p>I think that there are three possibilities for waitlisted students:
1) get in in the fall
2) get in with the January mid-year group
3) never get in</p>
<p>If you feel like you had a particularly good interview, let the person who interviewed you know that you were wait listed and that you would like to go. This might help.</p>
<p>Good luck. I think they are perhaps being overly cautious about not offering too many admissions in Feb and that being waitlisted in Feb might not be as bad as being waitlisted on March 30.</p>