I don’t think its a first vs. second thing. They are trying to fill their numbers based on department and OOS/In-State numbers. I think they saw a lot of declines for OOS Engineering (and a couple other departments), so they started pulling people accordingly. I’m sure they’ll know a lot more about other departments and in-state come May 1st. My guess is we’ll see a big wave of people being pulled from the waitlist come May 2nd.
I am another waitlisted candidate and reading that I am not alone has helped me a lot. I applied to Environmental Science and to my understanding VT is very major-specific in terms of receiving admission. Are any of you waitlisted for Environmental Science? I was unpleasantly surprised to be waitlisted and I am just trying to grasp an idea if my major is competitive for this school.
Also, it is awesome to hear a success story of someone getting off the VT waitlist this year! Congrats! I take that as hopefully a good sign for the rest of us. 
Just declined my sons offer after getting off the wait list for engineering. I hope this gives someone else an opportunity. Best of luck to everyone…where ever you end up!
Clemson?
@HokieCrazy Yeah, congratulations! I have been checking back periodically to see if he got in. Nice when it all works out!!
But, he may not end up at Virginia Tech after all. Other waitlists are in play.
Hope @HokieCrazy is right and lots more kids will be coming off the waitlist in May!
I’m pretty sure he’s going to end up there.
Thank you for the kind words @5OnTheHill ! I can’t tell you how excited he was to get the email. I’ve also seen others getting notifications this week (posted on Facebook), so it sounds like they are pulling kids at least a couple times a week. I hope I’m right about May 1st, as well!
Are the ones posting this week all out of state?
HokieCrazy, yes Clemson! Go Tigers! VT offered no merit. Just not worth the extra cost to us.
Will students get off waitlist in wave after May 1st or stagger throughout the month of May/June?
My son just got pulled from the JMU waitlist. With the abrupt end to his senior year, it sure was nice to get some good news! He has until 5/6 to accept or decline. VT is still his #1 choice, so we’re still playing the waiting game…
I would guess that they’ll send out offers for as many people as they need to fill (say 100, for example) and then give a very short window of time to respond. As soon as people decline the offer, they’ll pull from the well, again. So, if 90 accept of the 100, they’ll pull 10 more…until they get the number they were looking for. That’s a simple view, since those numbers are probably split by major and OOS/In-state, but I’m pretty sure that’s how they’ll roll with it.
HokieCrazy - I know you all accepted quickly … but how long were you actually given for your decision when you were notified.
And formally - congrats!
Thank you! And we were given until May 1st.
@PLO2020 Agree with @HokieCrazy on methodology. I suspect they will offer a 48-72 hour window to accept and then if they don’t hear the option will disappear from waitlisted student’s portal. I would not be surprised if there’s an official waitlist closure announcement as early as May 15.
You think it’ll fill by May 15th? The waitlist letter said it could go all the way through June. I guess if people were properly removing themselves from the waitlist if they aren’t interested, then maybe it could go quicker.
The “official” waitlist info has always said through June, but I’m not sure it’s really ever been open that long. I think that’s more of a CYA thing for universities to cover unforeseen circumstances. I’m just spitballing here, but the fact that VT didn’t extend their matriculation deadline could be a clue that Tech applicants have been more decisive than some other universities. If accurate and trend continues, then expectation may be that waitlist pulls will accept at equal speed and somewhat normal numbers (e.g. - not having to go through as many tiers to fill seats).
I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s done in just a couple weeks, just per the basic rule of expecting anything is possible. Last year there were some pretty confident projections posted about a decent sized waitlist pull. Around April 27 there were a couple random posts from kids with no prior forum activity who said they were pulled - then on 4/29 admissions slammed the door.
I’m mildly disappointed that they dont pull off the waitlist until after most other schools need you to put down your commitment deposit. I understand that the dam will probably break after May 1st when everyone has to commit. My S is accepted to another college but has not committed because he’s waiting on VT. He’s leaning towards that other school due to that being the one that wants him and having done some research thus becoming more infatuated with it.
My small fear is that when the inevitable moment of ‘ugggh’ happens in his first year or first semester that he’ll want to bail based on this school not being his 1st choice.
Best of luck to all of you that worked so hard to be in this position. Huzzah Huzzah to all of you.
It wasn’t too long ago that every school had their own deadline, which created the same issues. Then, schools agreed on May 1st as a national deadline. It seems that leveraging the waitlist has brought things back to the way things were. VT has to wait until May 1st to really know for sure that they can pull from the waitlist, as do the rest of the schools.
I think schools need to make the deposits refundable beyond the May 1st deadline for this reason and then set June 1st as a hard “only 1 deposit is acceptable” date…or something along those lines. There has to be a better way to make things fair for both the schools and the students, but I agree that the current method really isn’t it.
I’m also not a big fan of the schools that use the “acceptance” date for their queue for housing. Penn State, for example, tells you that by 4/1 you’re likely to get temporary housing, rather than a regular dorm, which forces students to put money down before they have heard from most of their schools. Texas is even worse, as they ask you for a deposit before you’ve even heard on your decision, and then tell you that freshman housing isn’t guaranteed. All of these deposits add up, and a lot of them are non-refundable.
Exactamente – I’m not down to pay a deposit of several hundred dollars and then blow that off when another school ie Tech pulls him off the waitlist. If Tech wants him they need to let him know before May 1st.