Thought I would start a waitlist thread to get news! Who else was waitlisted? Do we think there’s high chances?
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Data wise - the last two years:
2024- 483 offered, 414 accepted a spot on the WL, 25 admitted.
The year prior, 607 offered, 506 accepted a spot, 76 admitted
Don’t count on a WL. The school said you were not accepted but as a hedge (for them) in case enrollment falls short, they have the WL.
Yes, some may get off - but make sure you deposit and fall in love at another school. If somehow it comes through, then you can revisit.
Good luck.
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Are waitlist offers going down? Is that a trend? 600- 480 is quite the difference
I don’t know.
A few years ago you had the post covid thing - so they might have been higher.
You had one school took a few thousand one year and zero the next.
Ultimately, they said no - but are using you as an insurance policy.
Hopefully you have another admit you love, can afford. I suggest you get giddy about that one.
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Waitlists, and how deeply or not they go into it varies from year to year. Schools use enrollment management tools to try to work their budget every year and discern what their enrollment numbers will be. This year, with so many arbitrary layoffs happening in the thousands as we speak, it is quite possible many parents will be unable to pay for their kids’ college this year, so its possible some schools may go deep into their waitlist. There is no harm in staying on a waitlist. Good luck! Keep us posted!
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I was also waitlisted. I dont see much talk about it here or reddit compared to last year’s. Im hoping they use the waitlist more this year. When do the first waitlist decisions usually come out?
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While it varies, I’d guess that for a school that has a high acceptance (yield) rate, it will be sometime in early May after students pay their first enrollment deposit.
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I’ve seen around 5-10 on reddit! Was there a lot more waitlist talk last year? I hope I get in that would be life changing! 2 years ago I know they started using waitlist at April! I hope that happens and we get in rlly soon!
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Yeah, thats what confused me. I checked past waitlist threads and saw waitlist acceptances as early as mid-April. How does Stanford even know their yield rate before May 1? Coincidentally, on the 2027 waitlist thread where people got acceptances mid-April the waitlist acceptance rate was pretty high ~15%
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I guess many students would choose to withdraw before May 1st if they get offers from their dream school.
Let’s hope that happens again this year LOL.
What does this mean for us waitlisted students? Is this a good or bad sign?
“To understand this better, and after discussions with the faculty Committee on Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid, we expect to add around 150 additional students this year, primarily freshmen as well as transfer students. We saw that this was possible as we returned from the pandemic, and will apply those lessons.” - Stanford Admissions, April 2025
Not ‘sign’ .. sorry, i meant is this good news or bad news for us lol
Where did you get this? Do you know if they meant expanding 150 students for the 2029 cohort? I hope this is a good sign
Look it up! They said 150 more students for co 2029
Colleges use enrollment management tools to make budgetary plans each year and reach enrollment goals. These are helpful/necessary to gauge acceptances, fill classes, complete budgets, facilities management and space planning for classrooms, dorm space, etc. These resources are helpful for schools to do their best calculation to reach their yield goals. Waitlists are used by the schools to reach these goals for the incoming class.
Many things can affect student enrollment, and IMO this year, given the current financial/economic climate, more families may be unable to afford the tuition, room& board and fees this coming year. Add to that the likelihood that visa challenges/uncertainty may affect the international student enrollment. This is in addition to the other factors that affect “summer melt”, when some students decide to take a gap year or get off a waitlist and into another desired school. So I think many schools may go deep into their waitlists this year to fill their classes. Sometimes there can be apparent “times” (e.g when a parent cannot pay the first set of fees by the due date), though the movement across schools too can make this process fluid.
So please don’t feel that a WL spot is a “rejection” or that the school is somehow playing games in some way. That is not accurate. Yes, schools are businesses and have to meet their business goals and models, but if the school is able to find spots, or needs to fill spots to fill their class, admissions offers will be made! Good luck!
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What did yall write for the 500 character thing? Resume style updates or reiterating love for stanford and stuff
uhh… yeahh sooooo i don’t think there is much hope for us, unfortunately.
Is this cuz of the 150 more students? Because the 1200 number is the same for both years is it just people chosing not to host?
have the 150 more students already been added? i was under the assumption that they were planning on adding more later, based on the article. does anybody know?