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Waitlist Experience


tflan

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Can anyone share their experiences being waitlisted? I am now on the waitlists of two schools for finance. What are the chances of getting off a waitlist? About when should I expect to hear back (The deadline to accept a decision is April 15th). Any other information would be appreciated.

 

I'm also wondering if a school admits more people than they expect to enroll at a given time. For instance, if a school wants 3 students to matriculate, will they admit 6 in their first round of offers and expect half to enroll OR will they only make 3 offers at a time and admit people off the waitlist if anyone declines.

 

One school said there isn't a particular order of their waitlist, but depends on who accepts/declines since they want a diverse set of research interests.

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Generally speaking, yes they admit more students than what they expect to enroll (but they have to be able to keep the offer, some schools can't and therefore make only the exact number of offers, even if it's one). Chances with waitlist depends on the school ranking and you can expect to hear back in the second half of March and even early April.

 

I remember when I was applying I had 4 or 5 offers from similar schools and didn't know which one I should reject. I was admitted to a higher ranked school only late in March, so at a given moment I had 6 offers and in the next days I freed 5 spots. So I think you can expect a lot of action later in March and early April, but I'd email the programs earlier than that to confirm if the offers are still pending or if they just forgot to update you.

 

EDIT: To this day, I'm still waiting to hear back from some schools that waitlisted me. That's why I advise you to email them in March.

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You have to be patient. Doctoral admissions is a very inefficient process; and if you think this is bad, you should see how the job market works... My university makes offers for however many spots are open and works its way down the ballot as people decline the offer until the spots are filled.
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You could potentially reach out to the PhD co-ordinator for your group/ school. Your position in the waitlist should calm your nerves.

 

I was told I am at top of the waitlist pile by couple of the schools. So, if anyone pulled out of their offer I was immediately going to be offered. I did the same and informed those two schools as soon as I accepted my offer at my top choice.

 

Thanks for this information! I will have just have to remain patient and hope that at least one of my waitlist offers pulls through.
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Thanks for the advice guys! I am wait-listed at a top 10 university and my dream school!

I feel no shame in admitting that these days are pretty stressful and I am rattled by the thought that someone is unlikely to reject their offer so it falls into my lap!

To make things worse the email from the program said forthrightly that the "waitlist was not ranked and was quite small". I'd be foolish to infer from that statement that I am the only one on their waitlist.

So that rules out the option of going back to the school and asking for my rank.

 

Can someone please suggest an alternative to extract more information ?

Thanks!

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Thanks for the advice guys! I am wait-listed at a top 10 university and my dream school!

I feel no shame in admitting that these days are pretty stressful and I am rattled by the thought that someone is unlikely to reject their offer so it falls into my lap!

To make things worse the email from the program said forthrightly that the "waitlist was not ranked and was quite small". I'd be foolish to infer from that statement that I am the only one on their waitlist.

So that rules out the option of going back to the school and asking for my rank.

 

Can someone please suggest an alternative to extract more information ?

Thanks!

 

This is my experience since I originally made this post: I share updates about who I hear back from with my waitlisted schools. When I send these emails I use this opportunity to extract more information.

 

My emails read something like this:

 

"Update on my end: I have an offer from X, campus visit from Y, and am a finalist for admission at Z.

I understand that the market has not cleared yet, but are you able give me an update on your end (i.e. has anyone turned down an offer yet? etc.)?

Also, I was wondering if you could say anything about the size of the waitlist or my position in. This would help me evaluate my decision-making going forward."

 

Then they responded telling me I was #2 on their waitlist and if they had to guess they would assign me 20% prob of getting in. But you'll need considerable leverage to extract this information. For instance, a competitive offer from another school.

 

That being said, if the school doesn't have an ordered waitlist their decision making may have to do with the different research interests of the people they've already given offers (i.e. someone with your research interests has to turn down the offer in order for you to get an offer). If this is the case, there probably really isn't much for them to tell you until someone declines an offer.

At the end of the day though, extracting this information won't change the ultimate outcome. You're best off waiting until you either get off the waitlist or find out all their spots are filled.

 

However, if another school tells you something like: "We'll admit you if you promise not to take any other offers from these other schools". (A couple of schools have done this to me. I know it's questionable if they are even allowed to do such a thing). If this is your situation, you might be able to use this to your advantage to extract more info from your waitlisted school.

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Thanks for the advice guys! I am wait-listed at a top 10 university and my dream school!

I feel no shame in admitting that these days are pretty stressful and I am rattled by the thought that someone is unlikely to reject their offer so it falls into my lap!

To make things worse the email from the program said forthrightly that the "waitlist was not ranked and was quite small". I'd be foolish to infer from that statement that I am the only one on their waitlist.

So that rules out the option of going back to the school and asking for my rank.

 

Can someone please suggest an alternative to extract more information ?

Thanks!

 

I am on a waitlist for a top 10 school too and they told me the same thing: it is not ranked but after a spot in the class becomes available they re-evaluate the waitlisted candidates. I think it hardly likely the school has only one waitlisted candidates- that exposes them to considerable risk in the event that a large number of offer holders take offers from even better schools. I just think that it will take time because one has to make the right decision without rushing. I'm hoping we see more action towards the end of this month.

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Thanks for the advice guys! I am wait-listed at a top 10 university and my dream school!

I feel no shame in admitting that these days are pretty stressful and I am rattled by the thought that someone is unlikely to reject their offer so it falls into my lap!

To make things worse the email from the program said forthrightly that the "waitlist was not ranked and was quite small". I'd be foolish to infer from that statement that I am the only one on their waitlist.

So that rules out the option of going back to the school and asking for my rank.

 

Can someone please suggest an alternative to extract more information ?

Thanks!

 

This is my experience since I originally made this post: I share updates about who I hear back from with my waitlisted schools. When I send these emails I use this opportunity to extract more information.

 

My emails read something like this:

 

"Update on my end: I have an offer from X, campus visit from Y, and am a finalist for admission at Z.

 

I understand that the market has not cleared yet, but are you able give me an update on your end (i.e. has anyone turned down an offer yet? etc.)?

Also, I was wondering if you could say anything about the size of the waitlist or my position in. This would help me evaluate my decision-making going forward."

 

Then they responded telling me I was #2 on their waitlist and if they had to guess they would assign me 20% prob of getting in. But you'll need considerable leverage to extract this information. For instance, a competitive offer from another school.

 

That being said, if the school doesn't have an ordered waitlist their decision making may have to do with the different research interests of the people they've already given offers (i.e. someone with your research interests has to turn down the offer in order for you to get an offer). If this is the case, there probably really isn't much for them to tell you until someone declines an offer.

At the end of the day though, extracting this information won't change the ultimate outcome. You're best off waiting until you either get off the waitlist or find out all their spots are filled.

 

However, if another school tells you something like: "We'll admit you if you promise not to take any other offers from these other schools". (A couple of schools have done this to me. I know it's questionable if they are even allowed to do such a thing). If this is your situation, you might be able to use this to your advantage to extract more info from your waitlisted school.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Question.

 

I have been waitlisted in the school until the results of their second wave of intake. I don't know if actually asking a PhD program coordinator about my position in the list is a good idea since they are waiting for new applicants anyway. Their final decision will be announced very late - around summer time.

 

I also see that they do MBA education forum in my city this month (among other schools) where you can reserve the spot to talk one to one with school representatives. As I am very interested in this school, should I visit them at MBA fair to find out more about PhD program and my chances of being actually offered a place or do you think it is a long shot?

 

My location is outside of US and Europe, so communicating with schools reps in any other ways than emails and website is rare.

 

I appreciate any feedback on this topic.

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