<p>zhstkd, those aren’t mutually exclusive because the two scenarios discuss people who were waitlisted for different reasons. The group the vast majority (and all of these people, certainly) belong to were waitlisted as yield backups for the regular admits; the couple or so who have already moved were qualified at the regular level already, but Chicago was not sure they would be able to enroll them. In those cases, the waitlist was a yield protection mechanism used to guard against rejection by the student. All the students in this situation had to do was get in touch, saying they would come, and they would be released. This accounts for most of those accepted from the waitlist last year and likely all of them so far this year (there may have been a few legacies/string pullings).</p>
<p>Someone I know is in this situation (Chicago has a history of doing this with my school, ever since the year they let in 6/6 and yielded none), but she’d rather not commit herself because she’s waiting for other schools at which she was legitimately waitlisted. Seems silly to risk it, considering her one safety fell through, but I guess she’s still as confident as before. Besides, while we wait and hope for Chicago, Chicago is waiting and hoping for those they were scared they weren’t attractive enough to lure from cross-admitting Ivies. I guess they can dish out rejection, but would rather repurpose the “waitlist” to cower from it themselves.</p>