Re posts 16 and 17. Here is why Harvard is digging so deep into its WL pool. It's part of a two-part
PR maneuver. First, Harvard under-admitted by a wide margin, allowing it to lay claim to the lowest acceptance rate ever. Then, to make up the shortfall, it will accept 150-175 off the waitlist -- and it gets to claim a 100% yield for waitlisted acceptees. (That does ultimately raise the percentage admitted, but only after the initial 7.1% acceptance rate has been shouted from the rooftops.) It’s brilliant. H gets to claim the lowest acceptance rate AND the highest yield, both of them artificially induced.