I am starting this discussion in anticipation of SLO Freshman Decisions posting shortly.
2024 Timeline: Waitlist: May 22 few admits. Admit wave June 4. Admits June 15, June 28, July 2, July 8, July 12, July 15. Denials on July 15.
A few appeals approved August 6.
Below are several years of Waitlist data.
2024: Edited on 3/31/25
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on the waitlist: 6988
Number of waitlisted students admitted: 2905
2023:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 13176
Number of waitlisted applicants admitted: 193
2022:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 10233
Number of waitlisted students admitted: 345
2021:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 9829
Number of waitlisted students admitted: 978
General Waitlist questions:
No specific timeline for waitlist admits. If space opens up before the SIR deadline then students can be pulled from the waitlist.
Residency type and major are not broken out for the waitlist data.
The number of enrolled waitlisted students vs. admitted not listed.
No LOCI’s are accepted since SLO does not consider demonstrated interest.
Waitlist is by invitation only and you can select to decline the waitlist.
You cannot appeal your decision while on the waitlist.
Please post your stats using the following template:
Decision: Accepted/Waitlisted/Denied
Major:
SLO GPA (9-11th a-g courses with an 8 semester Honors point cap for 10-11th eligible classes):
Number of UC approved Honors/AP/IB or DE courses:
EC hours and with leadership or job related:
In-State/OOS/International:
Number of years for the following courses:
English:
Math:
Science:
Foreign Language:
Social Science/History:
Visual/Performing Arts:
I am curious about how waitlist works. If you are on the waitlist, do you confirm to your backup school while you wait to hear from Slo? My daughter got into Pomona but SLO is her first pick. Do we commit to Pomona and then lose the deposit if she get into SLO after May 1st?
If you are waitlisted, you are expected to enroll in another school by May 1. If you are admitted off the waitlist, then you can decide to accept the admission, withdraw from the other school, lose the enrollment deposit at Pomona and pay the new SLO enrollment deposit.
SLO like all waitlists does not break out admit data by major from the waitlist. Your chances are dependent upon how many admitted students enroll by May 1 and how many spots are still available. It will vary from year to year so all you can do is opt into the waitlist and move on to your other acceptances until your hear.
I’m wondering why the Common Data Set for 2024-25 is not out yet? It looks like previous years’ data posted in February. Maybe the FAFSA delays complicated things?
We were initially happy about waitlist, but the declining probability each year makes it feel like a tease of a rejection. 2021: 10%, 2022: 3%, 2023: 1%. WHY would they put so many kids on the WL? I thought we were prepared for disappointment after my first (who got into CP SLO thank goodness- but had so many hard to understand denials). It is even worse this time. Good luck to all!
Every year is different and not every waitlisted student will opt into the waitlist, unfortunately SLO does not list the actual number of students opting into the waitlist which is usually much lower than the number that are offered a place on the waitlist so the admit rates you are quoting are not accurate.
I just saw that the 2024 Waitlist data has posted on the CDS so for 2024:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on the waitlist: 6988
Number of waitlisted students admitted: 2905
The earliest SLO has pulled from the waitlist in the last few years was at the end of April. Many students will wait until the May 1 deadline to finalize their enrollment so they need to be pretty sure of their enrollment numbers before going to the waitlist.
