<p>Back to the name of this thread: While an incoming freshman class is a fairly set fixed number, the school has to consider yield in admissions. So… they offer admissions to quite a few more students than they technically have spaces for. Somewhat like overbooking on a airline. What is tricky (and why there are waitlists) is to know how large of a yield you will have. In other words, they’re not only accepting 400 more students. Therefore I think the sincerity of your application matters a great deal. It is not always easy to be genuine and I think Adcoms are pretty astute in that way especially.</p>