I think what Iowa meant (or what any school means) is that they accepted a total of x number of students for y number of spots (unless they flat out tell you otherwise). I'm not sure it would be in the school's best interest to accept that many students for less amount of spots. If in the scenario that say 160 acceptances were given for 100 spots and 105 decide to attend, what would be the plan of action then? Would they accept the extra 5 students or do they tell them that there are not enough spots?
I believe that CSU has accepted the "87" students and keeps the alternate list just in case some of those students decline acceptances. Whether it is ranked or not is another story, but it's an interesting methodology and only the committee and students know. I did some research and here's more info on how the alternate list works. (When I read that some schools don't rank their alternate lists I was shocked. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing) I wish everyone the best of luck, especially you Ivy

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http://books.google.com/books?id=i3...vszuAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2