How to get accepted off the waitlist

[rsgbz21]

Hi there,

I'm currently waitlisted at two top-5 schools and one school that is top-10 in my field, but my best offer so far is from a top-15 program. Do you guys know from personal or other people's experience what are the most effective strategies to increase my chances of being accepted off the waitlists?

I've been invited to the hybrid visit day of one of the schools where I'm waitlisted, and I believe this is my best opportunity to get into it.  However, I'm still deciding whether I will attend it in person or virtually. I'm an international applicant, so the reimbursement offered will not cover all my costs, and I also need to deal with bureaucracies like getting a US visa and a vaccine passport (only my booster shot is from a vaccine accepted in the US). Do you think that not attending the event in person can impact negatively my chances of getting into this program?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated! 

Edited February 25, 2022 by rsgbz21

[EconPadawanBR]

My two cents: 

1st: Move fast. Stanford, for example, already decided to reduce their waitlist based on a higher-than-expected projected yield rate (or at least they claim that's the reason).

2nd: Some departments rank the waitlist explicitly, and they might tell you that if you ask. Others, rank it by field, nationality, sex, etc, but do not explicitly say they rank it. However, movements on the waitlist are mostly out of your control. It depends more on who Harvard/MIT decided to accept that year and if you would be a reasonable replacement for them.  

3rd: Yeah, go to the visit day if possible. Much better to talk for 30 min to different profs that show up in the conference, than to have a 15-minute meeting via Zoom with 2 profs. Good news to you: If your vaccine is recognized by the UN, you only need two doses of it, it does not matter if it is one of the ones distributed in the US. (For example, Brazilian students can come to the US with two doses of Coronavac. The Oxford vaccine would also work). 

[rsgbz21]

Thanks a lot, that's a precious piece of advice! 

25 minutes ago, EconPadawanBR said:

My two cents: 

1st: Move fast. Stanford, for example, already decided to reduce their waitlist based on a higher-than-expected projected yield rate (or at least they claim that's the reason).

2nd: Some departments rank the waitlist explicitly, and they might tell you that if you ask. Others, rank it by field, nationality, sex, etc, but do not explicitly say they rank it. However, movements on the waitlist are mostly out of your control. It depends more on who Harvard/MIT decided to accept that year and if you would be a reasonable replacement for them.  

3rd: Yeah, go to the visit day if possible. Much better to talk for 30 min to different profs that show up in the conference, than to have a 15-minute meeting via Zoom with 2 profs. Good news to you: If your vaccine is recognized by the UN, you only need two doses of it, it does not matter if it is one of the ones distributed in the US. (For example, Brazilian students can come to the US with two doses of Coronavac. The Oxford vaccine would also work).