<p>musicprnt,</p>
<p>My understanding is that different schools have different processes. Many do as you describe - first come up with a list of students that the teachers are willing to admit, then come up with a target number of enrollments and send out the number of acceptances that they believe will get that number to send in deposits. This is an inexact science, although the results usually come out pretty close to the desired numbers. A college may also choose to err on the cautious side and maintain a waiting list from which they typically issue a small number of additional acceptances in May and June. At many schools, the odds are not all that great if you get placed on a waiting list. Some schools even do a “courtesy” wait listing of students that they have no intention of accepting but do not want to offend if, for example, they have legacy status.</p>
<p>I have never heard of a school rescinding an offer of admission for the sort of reason you mention other than one case in which a large number of students who were supposed to receive rejection letters got sent acceptances due to a clerical error. I have heard of schools rescinding offers because of issues that were the fault of the applicant (sending in an audition tape played by someone else, or flunking out of high school in senior year for example).</p>