Schools will only go to the waitlist if it looks like they aren’t getting the yield they expected from their offers, and therefore they won’t have a full class. They guess how many offers they have to make in order to fill their spots, and the waitlist is only if too many people turn them down. For the sake of the many worthy students here and elsewhere who are on waitlists, I’m hoping that this year a college like UMass didn’t increase their offers to offset the increases in number of applications per student (which must bring down everyone’s yield – they still can only pick one school). So their yield might be too low and they’ll be more likely to go to waitlists.
Today my son got the packet and heard on spire that he was accepted into the natural sciences exploratory track which is an undeclared major. He applied for mechanical engineering.
Congrats to those hearing back. My S was accepted today, which is very nice honor, but has heart set on UCONN where he is on waitlist. I will share that he also got into Connecticut College, as well as others with a good deal of merit $. We have to accept another college by May 1st, unless we hear from UCONN before then. Blessings to all and good luck wherever you end up.
My D is also wait listed and chose to stay on the fall list wait list and will attend in the Spring if she does not get for the fall. She has been accepted to 7 other schools but this is her first choice, do we feel starting in the Spring us a great option.
Does anyone know when waitlist students should start hearing anything? And how confident do people feel that Umass will look to the waitlist and pull people off it?
After carefully reading many articles, I advise those who got the waitlist option to not accept it. I spoke to some people and UMass takes very few people off the waitlist and is honestly just not worth the stress. There are many great schools out there and if you’re torn between putting yourself on the list or choosing a different school you were accepted to, definitely choose a school that accepted you! That said, my daughter is declining waitlist and will choose from the other various schools she was accepted to. Good luck to everyone, and don’t let this stress you out!
@CGumass as we know with Umass, everything is a waiting game. Most colleges get back mid May but I heard that people last year heard back mid June. Also- they take very few off of it. In my post above I advised to not even consider waitlist. Good luck!!!
@jjhs125 Your advice is good only if the difference in price and possibly additional student loans is not outrageous. Accepting admission to other great schools out there certainly comes at a cost and hopefully that doesn’t include too much debt to our children (or us). Don’t forget that the UMASS wait list comes with guaranteed January admission. I think more in the lines of @Rudmom and her post above. Hopefully, everyone on the wait list considers all factors, including the cost and value of a four year UMASS education.
Yes, I should modify what I said about only going to waitlist if the yield is too low. I forgot that UMass offers a spring start to those on the waitlist. That’s a great option.
I am an alum of UMASS and my son had not heard as of Sunday, so I sent an email. They actually phoned me on Monday and gave me the decision that he was accepted into exploratory track:Natural Sciences (not computer science). They said his packet was mailed out on Saturday. I wanted to post, so that others would know that acceptances are definitely still going out!
@CGumass last year they waitlisted about 1,000 people and accepted 26
I have a friend whose son applied last year as undecided. He took the waitlist with Spring admission option and when he started in January was able to immediately change his major to Biology.
You can remain on the waitlist… it is not a commitment to go there if they accept you after 5/1. You should accept an offer from a college and can remain on UMass wait list. If you are accepted at UMass and decide to go there you simply lose your deposit, typically ~$300 at the college you accepted an offer from.
@ljberkow Yes, I completely agree. We are out of state so tuition for us is high either way as we applied to no in state schools- should’ve made that clear prior.
Does anyone know the latest we can expect to hear back with a decision for regular admission - it’s still under review for me …
@ Saifo sehamy At the Spring Open house on Sunday they said everyone would be notified by Friday, April 15th. My son has notified on Monday morning.
DOES Umass have a guaranteed admission for spring? Confusing wording.
Hello, My son was also waitlisted. How do you know that your daughter will definely be offered a spring spot? The wording of the FAQ and email makes it sound like it is not a definite> Thanks
@petiesmom Yes, if you got waitlisted it means that your son is on the waitlist for the fall 2016 term (if he accepted this option) and if so many people decline umass offer of admission they will begin to call people off the waitlist. It is NOT guaranteed he will be pulled off of the list for fall 2016. But if you choose the option to be on the waitlist for fall 2016 AND the spring 2017 term. He IS guaranteed admission for the spring term. This is because so many people will drop out, transfer, etc. They will start calling people off the waitlist for fall 2016 starting in May. If he doesnt recieve a call. They will then send an admissions packet around November for the spring 2017 term where everything is explained and he can choose then if he still wants to go there or not.
Hey guys, still waiting here. Been following this thread for awhile now. Applied RD, right on January 15, in-state, I think I applied exploratory track for humanities or social sciences, so not as competitive like Engineering or Isenberg. I applied to 5 schools total, UMass and 4 LACs, didn’t get into 3 of the LACs, accepted to Skidmore a few weeks or so ago.
I will most likely be attending Skidmore, but I would just really like to know from UMass before I make my decision, especially because of the cost difference. I would like to know if I might get any financial aid for UMass so I can have a full picture when talking with the financial aid office at Skidmore on Friday. So crossing my fingers I’ll finally get something in the mail in the next two days!
I have a 2250 SAT score ( My GPA is on a 6 point scale, but it was average for my competitive prep school), so it seems pretty likely that I would get in, right? Even if I don’t get in, I just want to know all ready so I can be done with this process! Ugh. It’s just utterly ridiculous how long this is taking. Good luck to anyone else who is still waiting with me as well.