How long can a school keep me on a waitlist? Do they have to tell me by May 1 or is it possible they might wait longer to let me know?
@animate2002 -Sorry I didn’t get to this during yesterday’s live event … too many questions, too little time! So I’ll answer today off the clock. 
Most colleges do NOT provide a waitlist response by May 1. Many of the admitted candidates will not notify a college of their plans until right up to May 1, which means that admission officials won’t know how full a freshman class will be until AFTER that date.
Yet sometimes colleges DO notify waitlisted students sooner. If they are receiving fewer “Yeses” than expected from accepted students even before May 1, they may start using the waitlist early.
It’s fine for you to email your regional admissions rep (the staff member who oversees applicants from your high school) to politely ask when you might expect a final verdict. This way, you can also use the email to emphasize your continued interest in the school and to say you will definitely enroll if accepted (if that’s true). Elsewhere on the College Confidential website and in the “Ask the Dean” column, you can find more information about how to convey your ongoing interest (and how to encourage a college to choose you) while you wait.
If you haven’t received a decision by May 1, don’t forget to enroll elsewhere by this deadline. If you ARE eventually accepted at your first-choice college, you will lose any deposit that you made at the other college, but it would be unwise to deposit nowhere with the hope of getting good waitlist news, since colleges often put hundreds of students on the waitlist and may ultimately accept just a handful (or maybe none at all). The more selective the college, the slimmer the chances of an acceptance from a waitlist.
Most colleges stop using the waitlist by mid-June and will inform those who are still waiting that they won’t be admitted. However, occasionally colleges will ask students if they want to sit tight throughout the summer in case there are unexpected vacancies in July or August.