•••quote:•••Originally posted by bebe2:
•They don't tell the position on a waitlist because it is not set in stone.
Someone mentioned a couple of months ago that waitlists are used in order to "preserve the diversity' of the class. So if you are nummber 2 on the waitlist but number 17 is from South Dakota, and they are having too many withdrawals from that state, they may offer an acceptance to that person before you. I don't know if this is true at all.
I tend to think it also has to do with wanting it badly enough. If I am number 2 and number 17 on the list has written tons of letters, contacted everyone in the admissions office, etc., the admissions committee may think that number 17 "deserves" an acceptance more.
Of course, these are all hypotheses and we have no way of really knowing how all of this works!•••••Bebe, do you think anything in particular helped you get into Duke off the waitlist? Did you send letters, transcripts, etc., or talk to anyone?