What is the National Waitlist Date?

Parents Forum
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<p>A week or so ago, I remembered reading a CC thread that discussed a date on which all the colleges post the number of spots on their waitlists. There was also a link to to some site regarding this topic that I clicked on but of course said come back May 5.</p>

<p>I have run searches with a variety of words but nothing is popping up that is the correct thread. If anyone remembers this, can you help this poor mom out?</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

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<p>I think it isn’t one date. At Swarthmore (an LAC in Pennsylvania), the date is around end of July, I think…at least last year.</p>

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<p>Sorry I did not read your post clearly. Post the number of spots in the waitlist? Sorry, I don’t know. I thought you were asking about when the waitlist closes, typically.</p>

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<p>OP–Are your asking on what day, it’s May 1, do colleges that still have slots left post the notification? If that what you’re asking the list is on the website of the National Association of College Admission Counseling. This is their 2005 list: <a href=“http://www.nacac.com/index05052005.html[/url]”>http://www.nacac.com/index05052005.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>They appear to have changed their URL recently and I cannot get their current address.</p>

5

<p>The new address is <a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org%5B/url%5D”>www.nacacnet.org</a> They will be posting their new list on May 5th (check regularly for updates to the list).</p>

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<p>In the meantime, the 2005 list is still available at <a href=“http://www.nacac.com/survey/results.cfm[/url]”>http://www.nacac.com/survey/results.cfm&lt;/a&gt; just to get an idea of what schools had spaces last year. Some were surprising.</p>

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<p>Thank you all so much. I knew somebody would know what I was talking about!</p>

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<p>Whoops, I misread this post. I thought the OP was asking about the date on which colleges tell how many people are on their waitlists, not whether or not they still have spaces for qualified applicants. It would be helpful to know how many other kids are on the same waitlist at a particular school to have some ideas about the chances of getting off of it. Do schools release this information?</p>

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<p>You can find that information for past years in the previous years’ Common Data Sets, but it’s up to each school whether they release/announce this information in some way for the current application cycle.</p>

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<p>Where are you finding the Common Data Sets on these sites, old or new? I am so hopelessly computer illiterate!</p>

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<p>I’ve found an old post with links to the Common Data Sets for a variety of different schools: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/archive/index.php/t-76444.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/archive/index.php/t-76444.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’ve looked at the link posted for Vassar and I still see nothing about the number of people on the waitlist in previous years. I don’t think the fact page posted is their actual Common Data Set. Do they have one available? Is it possible to get a particular school’s Common Data Set from this page ( <a href=“http://www.commondataset.org/[/url]”>http://www.commondataset.org/&lt;/a&gt; ) and if so, how?</p>

<p>Macalester’s page is clearer. This seems to be the regular Common Data Set format:
C2. Freshman wait-listed students</p>

<p>Do you have a policy of placing students on a waiting list? Yes.</p>

<p>If yes, please answer the questions below for fall 2005 admissions:</p>

<p>Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 263
Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 139
Number of wait-listed students admitted: 18 </p>

<p>Is your waiting list ranked? No</p>

<p>Motherdear, do you want to know the number of people on a college’s waitlist or do you want colleges that still have slots open for qualified applicants (ie still accepting applicants)?</p>

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<p>The Vassar Link went to a “Fact Book” since they did not post their Common Data Set.
Link to Vassar’s Fact Book <a href=“Registrar – Vassar College”>Registrar – Vassar College;

<p>But US News does have info for Vassar regarding Admissions and the Wait list for the Vassar Class that entered in Fall of 2004</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This link will take you to the Most recent sorted list of Colleges with Common Data Sets (or Fact Books if they don’t have a Common Data Set Posted )
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1838692&highlight=Sorted+List+Links#post1838692[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1838692&highlight=Sorted+List+Links#post1838692&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>How to find the Common Data Set’s
In general, going to a College or University web site - searching on “Common Data Set”, “Institutional Research” or “Fact Book” will bring up the information they have posted. :)</p>

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<p>Wow, what depressing statistics. That really helps to put my waitlist in perspective…although I’m not giving up on Vassar and I’ll try my best to change their minds, I guess I’d really better not get my hopes up.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for finding me that information! I really appreciate the help.</p>

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<p>The number of students that colleges take off of waitlists can change drastically from year to year, as their yields fluctuate.</p>

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<p>Thanks Anxiousmom, that’s true. The waitlist letter said that in the last few years, Vassar has enrolled between 0 and 41 students from the waiting list, but with that kind of information it’s really helpful to know the general size of the pool. I’ll just keep hoping that this is a 41+ waitlist acceptance kind of year…and that I’m one of them…</p>

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<p>“Motherdear, do you want to know the number of people on a college’s waitlist or do you want colleges that still have slots open for qualified applicants (ie still accepting applicants)?”</p>

<p>I will want to know the numbers for this year. For Example:</p>

<p>As of May 5 the waitlists are as follows
Harvard has 2 slots
Wake Forest has 20 slots
Sweet Briar has 20 slots
UCSD has 100 slots</p>

<p>WARNING, these are NOT real numbers. I just made them up to provide an example.</p>

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<p>In my experience each school usually tells you in its waitlist letter how many spots were filled in recent years off the waitlist and how many applicants were placed on the list this year. Numbers can vary considerably, from a few dozen to none even at a single school over a five-year period. I was not aware that there was a national lit of waitlist spots, since there sort of isn’t any point to publicize them–either you are already on the list or you aren’t. Schools may not notify their waitlisted applicants of final closing of the list (that is, not taking any more off it) until midsummer (or perhaps even later if they are really innsensitive). </p>

<p>The other list referred to is the list of schools that still have openings, which is quite a different issue i think.</p>

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<p>The colleges won’t know how many spots they have to fill until they receive the responses from students that were offered admission. (Most common reply date being May 1st. But then they have to analyze what spots they need to fill before they make offers to waitlisted students. So most offers are made in June.)</p>

<p>Some schools have deliberately chosen to make use of the Wait List to control Class Size. </p>

<p>For example Cornell University has set a Class Size of 3050 incoming Freshmen as a goal. <a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000339.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000339.pdf&lt;/a&gt;

</p>

<p>From Cornell University Common Data Sets <a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/F_Common_Data_Set.htm[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/F_Common_Data_Set.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>2005
Number of qualified Applicants Placed on Wait List 2643
Number Accepting a Place on the Wait List 1544
Number of wait-listed Students Admitted 209
Total Class Size 3108
6.7 % of Class came from the wait list</p>

<p>2004
Number of qualified Applicants Placed on Wait List 2411
Number Accepting a Place on the Wait List 1988
Number of wait-listed Students Admitted 171
Total Class Size 3054
5.6 % of Class came from the wait list</p>

<p>2003
Number of qualified Applicants Placed on Wait List 1983
Number Accepting a Place on the Wait List 1632
Number of wait-listed Students Admitted 4
Total Class Size 3135
0.1 % of Class came from the wait list</p>

<p>2002
Number of qualified Applicants Placed on Wait List 2370
Number Accepting a Place on the Wait List 1942
Number of wait-listed Students Admitted 124
Total Class Size 3003
4.1 % of Class came from the wait list</p>

<p>As you can see there is wide variation in offers of admission to those on the Wait List, even when a College is committed to using the Wait List.</p>