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Deciding, wait lists, and all that


startz

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This is the time of year in which some people have been accepted at a school (or schools!) they're happy with, others are on wait lists, and others are still waiting for more results. (And I guess some people are in all three categories.)

 

Here's a few pieces of advice.

 

  1. If you have an acceptance or a place on wait list that your are sure you are going to turn down, let the school know ASAP. Their feelings won't be hurt. On the contrary, they'll appreciate the information as it may let the school turn to another candidate. And you'll have done a favor for another applicant. (But see 4 below.)
  2. If you have multiple offers, don't be in a hurry to be sure which one you're going to turn down. Visit days provide a lot of opportunity to learn about "atmosphere." Also, you may be able to use an offer to bargain for an improvement at school you prefer. You probably won't get very much out of this, but you might get a little something.
  3. If you are on a wait list and are still interested, drop an email to that school and let them know. Around April 15 wait lists move very quickly. A school is much more likely to reach out to you if they know you're interested. You can say "Just wanted to let you know I'm still very interested," or "I'd like you to know you're my first choice school." (But you have to tell the truth. People have long memories.) If you have an offer at a reasonably competitive school, let them know that too.
  4. Despite this advice about wait lists, if you're on one you should remember that schools almost all "over admit." It's likely that the first few drops at a school won't make the wait list move. For this reason, much of the action is right around April 15.
  5. Remember that for American schools April 15 is the deadline to respond. Be sure to accept at your best option by then. What happens if you get a better offer later (which does happen, especially for a couple of days after the 15th)? You can accept the later offer conditional on getting a "release" from the school that you had accepted. These are almost always forthcoming, and with no hard feelings.

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Just to share my experience:

 

I was on the waitlist at UVA. Got interviewed pretty early, often expressed my interest in the program (the research fit was perfect), attended the visit day, yet I received the rejection notification last week. They interviewed about 30 candidates out of 80 waitlisted ones. The DGS explained his decision as driven by 1) very high acceptance rate this year (out of 20 admits, 10 already accepted the offer); and 2) he did not want those whose admission seemed not as likely to have false hope until the very end.

 

Bottom line: never be that excited about being placed on the waitlist. It does not guarantee much; if they did not admit you straight away, it does speak volumes. Maybe I am completely wrong about the last thing, but that is just my feeling.

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Just to share my experience:

 

I was on the waitlist at UVA. Got interviewed pretty early, often expressed my interest in the program (the research fit was perfect), attended the visit day, yet I received the rejection notification last week. They interviewed about 30 candidates out of 80 waitlisted ones. The DGS explained his decision as driven by 1) very high acceptance rate this year (out of 20 admits, 10 already accepted the offer); and 2) he did not want those whose admission seemed not as likely to have false hope until the very end.

 

Bottom line: never be that excited about being placed on the waitlist. It does not guarantee much; if they did not admit you straight away, it does speak volumes. Maybe I am completely wrong about the last thing, but that is just my feeling.

 

 

Are you the one who wrote on GC? I am on the WL of UVA and looking forward to get accepted to UVa. However, I have no idea how many applicants among the waitlisted received rejections. Do you happen to know how many applicants remain in WL?

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For advice 4, Do you really think that much of actions(sending emails, visiting campus etc) are helpful? I want to do so but on the other hand, those can bother faculty members.

 

If you're invited to visit campus and faculty are bothered by the fact that you visited, I'd recommend not attending that program.

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If you're invited to visit campus and faculty are bothered by the fact that you visited, I'd recommend not attending that program.

 

More specifically, I meant sending emails repeatedly. I emphasized that YOUR PROGRAM IS MY TOP CHOICE twice by sending emails but I guess there is no movement in the waitlist. I want to do EVERYTHING to get off waitlist but worry about bothering DGS.

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More specifically, I meant sending emails repeatedly. I emphasized that YOUR PROGRAM IS MY TOP CHOICE twice by sending emails but I guess there is no movement in the waitlist. I want to do EVERYTHING to get off waitlist but worry about bothering DGS.

If you've emailed twice, there probably isn't any benefit to repeating yourself. But if it's been a month or more since you last sent one, you might send a last email saying they are still your first choice.

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