I just want to make sure that I’m understanding the process of waitlist decisions that continue through the summer.
Let’s say that you submit the SIR to University A by the May 1 deadline. A few weeks later you get a call from University B (who originally waitlisted you) that you’ve been offered a spot in their incoming class and you have 3 days to reply with your decision. You prefer University B over University A, so you immediately secure your spot. Later on, University C offers you a spot in their incoming class. They are your top choice, so you switch over to them and inform University B that you are no longer interested in attending.
Is this how the process goes? Since schools can give you very limited time to accept or decline your spot, you can seize the opportunity, but can you keep doing this when a school you prefer accepts you off the waitlist?
I do realize that you’d then have to pay three deposits, but I’m just interested to know if this is how it theoretically could work.
To recap: your ‘best’ option was your #3 choice, so you put down a deposit. Then #2 takes you in off the waitlist, so you deposit there and tell #3 that you are withdrawing your SIR. Then you hit the jackpot and get into #1, so you repeat the process of depositing to #1 and telling #2 that you are withdrawing.
Yes, that is how it would work, and yes you would lose 2 deposits, and yes, I am sure that that has happened (at least once anyway) in real life.
It strikes me a bit like an upside down game of musical chairs.
Instead of the normal rules of musical chairs where players walk around while the music plays and when it stops they scramble to take a seat (with one less chair than the number of players), in the upside down game, the rules are that everyone starts the game seated in a chair as of May 1. When the music starts, a chair is added, and a player switches seats, thus opening up a seat for another player to switch. Chairs keep being added until the schools run out of chairs or until the players want to stop playing.
How are in-demand majors treated? If you are waitlisted at a university and had applied for CS as first choice and a little less popular major X in letters & science as the alternate major, once the seat becomes available , does it become available for CS or for major X? Or is the admission for “undeclared” major?
Depends upon on the University since some schools do not take into consideration your alternate major during the original admission process. UCLA does not consider alternate majors. If you are waitlisted and admitted, you should be admitted to your first choice major which rarely happens so most likely, said student will not get off the waitlist.
If the University is like UCI which admits into the University first and you are waitlisted for your 1st choice major which is highly selective/impacted, chances will be the student will admitted into the alternate major or Undeclared.
If the yield for CS direct admission is below the estimate, so that there is more space for direct admits, there are some options for the school:
Leave the direct admit spaces open and have a larger number of spaces for secondary admission later. Waitlisted admits do not get direct admission to CS.
Offer the direct admit spaces to admitted students who applied for CS but were given their second choice major. Waitlisted admits do not get direct admit to CS unless there is still space in direct admit CS after moving already-admitted students to direct admit CS.
Offer the direct admit spaces to waitlisted applicants for CS. Likely only a possibility at a school that does not admit to second choice majors or undeclared if the student is not admitted to the first choice major.
There are also players who think that some of the chairs aren’t good enough for them to sit in. And there are players that assume that some chairs are uncomfortable, or assume that some chairs are fantastic until they actually sit in them.
Some of them were picky to begin with and ended up with no chairs to sit in, so they are hoping for an empty chair that they are willing to sit in opening up.
@Gumbymom & @ucbalumnus - any particular idea how this (major for waitlist admissions) works for UCSD (first choice CS, alternate major data science), Cal Poly (first choice - software engineering) and UCSC (first choice CS, alternate major Physics)? My guesses from your explanation - since Cal Poly admits to first choice major only - it will either be an admit into software engineering or very likely no admission. And UCSD waitlist confirmation would be as undeclared (as they admit to the university first then to the major). Not sure about UCSC.
@Gumbymom My daughter got into UC Davis and some OOS schools (Northeastern/U of Wash). She was waitlisted at UCSB/UCSC/CAL Poly SLO. Will schools be inviting kids off the waitlist little by little, in bunches after May 1st? We have read the process will go through August.
If a large amount of students decline their acceptances prior to May 1, then the schools will start pulling from the waitlist. If not, then once the UC’s determine their yield, they will start admitting off the waitlist and it could be in one large wave, several smaller waves and it could last until the summer. Really depends upon how many students are admitted off the waitlists and then it can become musical chairs where students will be switching campuses.
Thanks Gumbymom. Sounds like it’s possible that some students could be admitted off waitlist before May. Reading on these forums so many students were accepted at several UC campuses. It seems like they will choose their first choices and spots will open up.
I’ve heard UCLA/UCB require a waitlist statement if you are interested in being admitted. Is their an appeal process or statement format for UCSB/UCSC/SLO?
