Some specific questions about the waitlist

mom2012and14
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:41:35 +0000

I’ll try to put this in perspective. WL IMHO is a terrible thing colleges do every year to a small number of students. I’m not even sure why it’s done-- but as we already know, few students get off WLs and since colleges openly admit that full pays vs. those with substantial need get preference-- it takes the “need blind” out of the equation. It’s not unfair- -WL is designed to help the college with unanticipated yields and filling a few last minute seats to generate more revenue. It’s a strategic choice on the school’s part and it ads more anxiety to families. If CMU isn’t your first choice and/or you have another great option -you should save yourself another month of agony.

As to your questions:
Well, I’ve been trying to use my friend called Google, but finding information about waitlists and stuff has really been a bit tougher than I thought it would be.

I have some specific questions:

1) Where can I find out how many students are on the waitlist, and over the years how many have been admitted? And by school?

The common data set shows the total number-- but not by school breakdown. We know anecdotes on CC say no one last year got in off the SCS and CIT lists-- but again, that is just the CC population reporting.

2) From what I understand, there is a priority waitlist for those who only applied for one school. Does this mean we are penalized for applying to both schools?

Call it what you like-- penalized is strong-- it’s their party and they can set any rules they like. From their perspective, you had a chance at multiple schools- which is much different from many colleges.

3) Are waitlisted applications reevaluated and reranked? From what I’ve read, waitlisted applications are unranked.

It’s all about balance-- they have yields to reach in majors by demographics, gender, race and financial aid. So they will fish back into the pool and figure it out only after May 1 - when all the deposits are in.
You can read the Admissions FB page wall last May to see how it unfolded. Not too many moves-- and I actually now recall, no one was in fact admitted from the WL-- but you can scroll through and see. Who knows what this year’s yields will be?! It’s not a policy-- it just happened that last year lots of people said yes to their offers and the class was filled (actually overfilled).

4) Is it possible to get an interview now? I didn’t have one, and I thought it was only available for those in pilot areas, but I’ve learned that a student from a nearby high school also had his interview.

Even if you had an interview earlier-- unless you swallow fire or hypotized the adcom (aka like a Jedi master) , as noted many times here (and in the common data set), the interview is no deal breaker. It will not get you accepted-- and can only get you rejected (b/c you say something so so so stupid as in “I’ve always wanted to attend Harvard”.
So - nope, the interview is really not going to sway them that they somehow let someone go - and OMG, they made the wrong decision.

5) This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I forgot to mention my ~220 hours of community service. Should this impact my waitlisted application? I also have a lot I’ve done senior year to add onto my application

Nope-- ECs aren’t going to make a change here too-- unless this was something totally unusual and unique that no one has ever seen? What kind of service are we talking about here? If it was so critical- then it would have been noted in one of your essays?

Once waitlisted, the only things to provide an admissions committee are MAJOR awards received – otherwise, the file is as it is. Any attempts to “sway” the committee are often seen considered the same as “guys, you’re wrong - let me tell you how to run your school”…which are not well received.

I’m sorry the decision wasn’t favorable-- but you have to wait it out.