<p>Ok, so one of three things could happen when the letter comes in from Princeton. One, I could be accepted. Two, I could be rejected. Three, I could be waitlisted. What are the statistics on being waitlisted? If you are waitlisted, what are the chances of getting in? Also, how long do you have until they tell you your final decision? If it's after the May 1 deadline for replying to another school (in which case you say "yes" to another school, even if you are waitlisted at your first choice, Princeton), what do you do? Do you go back on your decision at another school and then say "yes" to Princeton? Can you do that? I know this post is kind of convoluted, but I hope someone has answers for this.</p>
<p>I can answer some of your questions...</p>
<p>The Princeton Common Data Set has information about how many people are waitlisted and how many of those people are accepted (see page 6). Last year, for instance, 1207 were waitlisted, 794 accepted placement on the waiting list, and 0 were admitted. <a href="http://registrar1.princeton.edu/data/common.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://registrar1.princeton.edu/data/common.cfm</a> So, the prospects don't look very good, but it varies from year to year because of differences in yield. For instance, the year before last, 79 students from the waitlist were accepted.</p>
<p>I think they tell waitlisted students the final decision in the beginning of May after they hear from all of their admitted students. You will probably have to say "yes" to another school if you are waitlisted at Princeton. If Princeton accepts you later, you will have to go back on your decision at the other school. This is not against the rules or anything. You will just loose your deposit at the other school. (I am not 100% sure about any of this though.)</p>
<p>Does anyone know how they decide which waitlisted students to accept? Is it randomized?</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Also, how long do you have until they tell you your final decision? If it's after the May 1 deadline for replying to another school (in which case you say "yes" to another school, even if you are waitlisted at your first choice, Princeton), what do you do? Do you go back on your decision at another school and then say "yes" to Princeton? Can you do that?
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Usually a waitlist mail looks like this:</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Dear ABC:</p>
<p>The Committee on Admissions has completed its review of over xxxx applicants for admission to XYZ Class of 201x, the largest applicant group in the College's history. The selection process has been especially difficult since most of these applicants were highly qualified, and since we have room
for only xxx new students.</p>
<p>The members of the Committee were impressed by your application and by your many accomplishments, and we believe you would be a wonderful addition to the XYZ community. Nevertheless, due to the intense competition, it is not possible for us to offer you a place in the Class of 201x at this time. Instead, we would like to offer you a place on our Waiting List in the hope that additional spaces will become available after May 1. </p>
<p>I am sorry to convey this disappointing news to you. Given the strength of your record and your accomplishments, I am certain you have been admitted to a number of other fine colleges and universities. Since we are unable to predict the number of places we may have available for students from our Waiting List, I strongly urge you to accept an offer of admission from another institution. If you would like to accept our invitation to be considered for admission from our Waiting List, please be sure to return the enclosed card on or before May 1. </p>
<p>The Waiting List is not ranked. After May 1, the Committee will conduct a final review of candidates who have indicated they wish to be considered for admission from the Waiting List, and we will select additional students for the Class of 201x depending on the number of available spaces. In recent years, the number of students admitted after May 1 has ranged from y to z.</p>
<p>Thank you for your interest in XYZ, and for submitting such a thoughtful and impressive application. We wish you much success in the future, and we hope we are able to contact you with better news in May. </p>
<p>Yours sincerely,</p>
<p>ABC
Dean of Admissions and Student Aid
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>==> You can accept an offer of another school, pay their deposit and when you find that your dream school picked you from the wait-list, you can tell the school that you said Yes to.</p>
<p>I found this in the Class of 2010 Official Decisions Thread: "Son received the waitlist notice today in the Philly suburbs. The dreaded "small envelope." So now we will wait until the end of June in an attempt to make the dream come true!"</p>
<p>So now I am thinking they don't tell you until June. What a long wait!</p>
<p>Thanks for the sample waitlist letter trangham.</p>
<p>If you get waitlisted for say the class of 2011, can you ask to defer admisison for a year and be GUARANTEED a spot in the class of 2012 or 2013?</p>
<p>Probably not. Otherwise, those 1000+ students who are waitlisted would all just fill up the next year's class because I think a fair percentage of people would choose to take a year off and work or travel or whatever if they knew that they could enter Princeton as a freshman a year later.</p>
<p>My friend got waitlisted at Harvard last year and it was basically just really frustrating for him since he didn't hear from them until mid-June. He thought that after they heard about who was matriculating they could fairly easily calculate how many empty spots they had, but it was still a long wait.</p>