Unranked Waitlists

[cho15]

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I'm currently sitting on 2 waitlists with no acceptances 🙁 Both of them are unranked. I'm wondering if anyone knows how ad coms choose people off the waitlist if they aren't ranked?

 

[wolfiemd]

I'm currently sitting on 2 waitlists with no acceptances 🙁 Both of them are unranked. I'm wondering if anyone knows how ad coms choose people off the waitlist if they aren't ranked?

They claim that they look at each person's application again...but i honestly think there probably is some sort of internal ranking system

 

[Pri84]

They claim that they look at each person's application again...but i honestly think there probably is some sort of internal ranking system

I agree with Wolfiemd. There is just no way that they look through ALL people on the waitlist again. That seems like a huge waste of time. I am also in THREE unranked waitlists... so I understand your frustration!

 

[anfleisch]

Or just whomever the dean remembers and is inclined to call.

 

[bobsmith]

I think "unranked" waitlist in most cases just means "not strictly ranked"

In a "ranked" waitlist, presumably #1 would get in before #2, #2 before #3, etc. But in an "unranked" waitlist, they're likely considering the current make up of the class when deciding who to pull off the waitlist. So if there's 40% men, 60% women in the class, they might take more males off the waitlist.

It's hard for them to predict who will accept their offer of their admission and matriculate, and so it's hard for them to predict who they will take off their waitlist. And so, it's "unranked"

 

[IHeartSleep]

I called one school and was told that even though it's unranked, people fall into "tiers" and that they have preferences, but there is no strict numbering system.

I feel in some ways unranked is better. Our stress levels are high enough from this process, can you imagine us calling in every day and asking, "I was #3 on the waitlist yesterday. Have I moved up yet???"

 

[Ilvcurst]

I called one school and was told that even though it's unranked, people fall into "tiers" and that they have preferences, but there is no strict numbering system.

I feel in some ways unranked is better. Our stress levels are high enough from this process, can you imagine us calling in every day and asking, "I was #3 on the waitlist yesterday. Have I moved up yet???"

But I would much rather know my place so I know if I have a chance or not. Imagine being like the 3rd from the bottom of the wait list...you would be waiting for nothing essentially!

To the OP, I'm also on 2 wait lists, one ranked one unranked. For the one that is unranked the school encourages people to email and write letters. So I would call up the schools and ask what you can do to improve your chances, I feel that the unranked wait lists they really want to see which students really want it!

 

[BlueElmo]

I called one school and was told that even though it's unranked, people fall into "tiers" and that they have preferences, but there is no strict numbering system.

I feel in some ways unranked is better. Our stress levels are high enough from this process, can you imagine us calling in every day and asking, "I was #3 on the waitlist yesterday. Have I moved up yet???"

Yeah I also heard unranked list is often divided into tiers as well.

 

[ucladoc2b]

I would imagine that most schools have the applications stored electronically, which makes running an unranked waitlist much easier. They simply have to query the database for the characteristics they want.

Although, I have to agree that overall likely still comes into play when analyzing what the query brings back.

 

[mdbound1987]

Tufts has an unranked waitlist and this is what their website says about it:

We do not rank our wait list. As people withdraw from our class, we monitor the demographic composition of the class (geographical distribution, representation of undergraduate institutions, etc.) and admit candidates from the wait list who would best balance the composition of the class.

Like someone said above though, I am sure gender plays a role...even race (they would never publicize that though).

 

[cho15]

But I would much rather know my place so I know if I have a chance or not. Imagine being like the 3rd from the bottom of the wait list...you would be waiting for nothing essentially!

To the OP, I'm also on 2 wait lists, one ranked one unranked. For the one that is unranked the school encourages people to email and write letters. So I would call up the schools and ask what you can do to improve your chances, I feel that the unranked wait lists they really want to see which students really want it!

I am on one waitlist that, though not exactly encouraging correspondence, will accept anything we send them and include it in our file. They have also been known to be receptive to that sort of thing, which i guess is good. The other one is apparently, pretty strict. They said that there will be no movement until after the May 15th deadline, and then the committee will formally request updates and those updates are the only information they will look at in considering waitlisted applicants. Ugh, and that's the school I really want to get in to!