Waitlisted but program unresponsive. Is this a sign?

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Hi, I am an applicant waitlisted for a phd program in a social science subject at a top university. 

I've had two interviews with two faculty members which I thought went well. They felt more like casual conversations in which the professors introduced their program to me. I've always felt that the program is a great fit for me; the faculties are nice and diverse (which is not usually the case); some of them work on similar topics and regions that I want to work on. So I've always really wanted to go. I feel really sad but not bitter about the waitlist--I know that it's a small and competitive program, and a lot of people have significantly more experience than me.

The thing that worries me is that the program seems less than responsive, especially after I am waitlisted. I've tried calling the department number 3-4 times at different stages of the admission process, and they have never picked up. After the waitlist decision, I wrote emails to the POIs and a staff member who coordinated the admission process, saying I have the deepest interest in the program, I want to remain on the waitlist, and asked where I am in the wl. The dept staffs never wrote back, not even the acknowledgement that they've received my message. One professor has not responded my post-interview thank you email or the post-waitlist thank you email. One professor did responded, he said that my chance is small but not none. And they will have to wait until Apr 15th to know.

(1) I don't know if I'm reading too much into this, or if their unresponsiveness is indicative. I know that profs and staffs can be busy. I don't know if they are hinting that I should just leave the waitlist. I'm not even sure whether they like me or want me, but I don't know why they would put me on a wl instead of rejection (wl is not long, with a few people from different subfields, most shortlisted candidates get rejected).

(2) I've heard that many schools exchange their lists of acceptances. Schools won't take each others' accepted students off of their waitlists, so they can achieve a higher yield rate for both. The prof that did respond told me if I have other options, I should just accept them. I do have an equally good option, but I like this program so much that I still want to take my chances. I don't know how I should tell him this information, without it working against my favor.

Please lmk what you think. I appreciate your advice a lot! Best of luck to everyone in this process.