I always thought that by May 15th all of the students with acceptances have to commit to one school. Are the students that get in off the waitlist after that date doing so because other students are deferring their admission or just completely withdrawing from their school?
How do people get in off waitlists after May 15th?
- Thread starter sivar1215
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2008
- Messages
- 1,585
- Reaction score
- 1,403
A student may have 1 acceptance and be waitlisted at 3 other schools, 2 of which are better then his acceptance according to him. We'll call the schools, A, B, C (current acceptance), and D.
In june, he get's a phone cal from school B, he decided to take the spot, thus freeing up a spot at C (waitlist at C gets movement). In July, he gets a call from D, he declines (waitlist movement again). Finally, in Aug, he gets a call from A, he accepts, now a spot opens up a B (more waitlist movement).
That is how the game is played.
In june, he get's a phone cal from school B, he decided to take the spot, thus freeing up a spot at C (waitlist at C gets movement). In July, he gets a call from D, he declines (waitlist movement again). Finally, in Aug, he gets a call from A, he accepts, now a spot opens up a B (more waitlist movement).
That is how the game is played.
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2009
- Messages
- 2,059
- Reaction score
- 2
after may 15 you can only hold one acceptance but you can hold as many waitlists as you want. if you are accepted off a waitlist after may 15 you are allowed to withdraw from your one acceptance school and go to your accepted-off-the-waitlist school if you choose.
people may be accepted off the waitlist after may 15 for a variety of reaons - it's possible that students are deferring, withdrawing because they were accepted off a waitlist elsewhere and are changing schools, or that schools have meetings to decide who to take off the waitlist if by may 15 they have less committed students than open slots (they overestimated their yield in the first place).
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 28,750
- Reaction score
- 53,902
May 15 applicants may hold just one acceptance and as many waitlist spots as they wish.
Schools look at the number of accepted offers they have and start working the waitlist. Typically, an applicant who receives an offer after May 15 has 2 weeks to make a decision. So, after 2 weeks, maybe the applicant says, "no thanks, I'm going to stay with my original school". Now it is June 1 and the school still has an empty seat. It calls another waitlisted applicant. This one is already holding an offer at School Elsewhere. That applicant thinks it over for 2 weeks and, in the end, says yes. Now it is June 15 and School Elsewhere has a slot to fill. This can go on until matriculation day for the school. (I've seen people trade one seat for another as late as August.)
It is also possible that catastrophies, seriously bad behavior, or other crazy stuff, as well as good news such as a Fulbright scholarship, could free up a seat but for the most part it is just people trading up when they have a chance.
Schools look at the number of accepted offers they have and start working the waitlist. Typically, an applicant who receives an offer after May 15 has 2 weeks to make a decision. So, after 2 weeks, maybe the applicant says, "no thanks, I'm going to stay with my original school". Now it is June 1 and the school still has an empty seat. It calls another waitlisted applicant. This one is already holding an offer at School Elsewhere. That applicant thinks it over for 2 weeks and, in the end, says yes. Now it is June 15 and School Elsewhere has a slot to fill. This can go on until matriculation day for the school. (I've seen people trade one seat for another as late as August.)
It is also possible that catastrophies, seriously bad behavior, or other crazy stuff, as well as good news such as a Fulbright scholarship, could free up a seat but for the most part it is just people trading up when they have a chance.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
- Messages
- 230
- Reaction score
- 0
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 4,303
- Reaction score
- 22,296
I remember my school advised people on the WL to send in all their financial aid stuff; if you got accepted then they would do a rush job on your financial aid package and get it to you quickly.
Now of course, most of the time if you're getting in off the waitlist you aren't going to be getting a big fancy scholarship or anything...so anecdotally I'd think that at that point your financial aid would be mostly loans unless you qualified for some need-based or regional aid.
