<p>Our daughter is waitlisted. Recognizing that very few (if any) waitlisted students move into the “accepted” category, can someone please tell me the system by which waitlisted applicants are prioritized to move into the accepted category? Is it random or are the waitlist candidates ranked somehow? Do Arts, legacy, sports, recent awards, etc help at this point?</p>
<p>Also: are all waitlist decisions released in one notification cycle, or is it in phases as the class of 2016 fills? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance to anyone who knows the answers.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the waitlist is not prioritized but, rather, categorized. </p>
<p>The first thing that has to happen is fewer admitted applicants than the class size Stanford has set (usually around 1700) accept their admissions offers. Then they start filling from the waitlist. </p>
<p>Rather than starting from the “top” and “moving down,” they pick those who will best fill the categories in the class that they want to fill based on how the class ultimately came together - Male/Female; Domestic/International; Majority/URM; Legacy; Development Office;Athletic Department; etc.</p>
<p>If you adhere to the directions the Admissions Office gives, they only want an update from an applicant when they accept their waitlist spot and its limited to 600 characters. They don’t want additional submitted materials, essays, recommendations or phone calls. </p>
<p>About 200 Fewer applicants were offered spots on the waitlist this year than last and fewer yet from prior years. I’m not sure what to make of that - but my guess is they’re expecting to take very few off the list this year so they made the list shorter. </p>
<p>They took 13 in the Class of 2015, 40 in the Class of 2014, 127 in the class of 2013, and 0 the classes of 2012 and 2011. My guess is the Class of 2013 (who were being admitted in the Spring of 2009) was an aberration related to the economy.</p>
<p>Its also my understanding that no one will hear anything until after May 1 but that everyone on the list will hear something by mid-May. I’ve also heard of people being kept on an “extended” waitlist into the summer to allow for the possibility that an accepted and committed applicant bails out at the last minute.</p>
<p>Interesting points you make. My D is also waitlisted. The number they put on the waitlist is always so much bigger than they expect to admit. Do you think a smaller pool implies a fewer admits? Isn’t the smaller pool still much bigger than the eventual admits?</p>
<p>I suspect the WL pool is assembled so that they have enough people to fill any slot they need to fill - so that would be definition be a much larger number than what they expect to need. My guess is there’s also some “courtesy” in who make the WL. There’s probably a disproportionate number of legacy applicants swimming in there.</p>
<p>I’ve been waitlisted for Stanford. Just to confirm, does ‘how fast you reply to the waitlist offer’ matter to the admission? In other words, would a person who accepts the waitlist spot earlier than another person (given the two both reply by May 1st deadline) have an advantage in the selection process?</p>