I realize there are confusing and inconsistent elements in my previous post. I was trying to reconcile the seemingly contradictory information given to students about whether or not the waitlist is ranked. Here is a better formulation:
The EVMS waitlist is obviously ranked; otherwise there would be no talk of being in the upper or middle third (or tercile, but is this a word?). To determine placement on the waitlist, your interview score and other aspects of your application are taken into account. You are given a numerical rank based on this information. If you are given the highest rank, you are placed, by necessity, at the top of the waitlist. Your position on the waitlist can thus be described as "top of the top third." However, this position is useless. It does not mean you are next in line to be taken off from the waitlist. It just means that it is close to impossible for you to get bumped down into the middle third. But if you are in the top of the middle third, you have every reason to be hopeful since you have a good chance of being bumped up into the top third (someone in the top third might withdraw their application).
Once you are in the top third, you have an equal chance of being pulled from the waitlist as everyone else in the top third (until other factors, mentioned below, come into play).
Why do they tell us the top third is a great place to be, when your position in the top third is virtually meaningless when it comes to being pulled off from the waitlist? Because EVMS has a lot of waitlist movement. And there is reason to believe that almost everyone in the top third who shows continued interest in the school will be offered an acceptance; past threads show some people pulled off from the middle third.
So what are the criteria for being pulled from the waitlist? First, you won't even be considered unless you are in the top third, or unless the top third has been exhausted. Second, demographics and other criteria unrelated to your academic ability take into play. Third, LOIs.
I still suspect your initial rank is an important determining factor in getting pulled from the waitlist (aside from being placed into a specific tercile). But I believe this formulation reconciles the disparities posted on SDN. Anyone disagree?