Wait list question

[nyc_commuter]

As I'm sitting here checking my email fifty times an hour, I've been going through the results pages and noticed a good amount of wait list posts. This might be a dumb question, but is an applicant typically offered wait list status AFTER an interview (because their performance @ the interview was subpar relative to other interviewees)? Or is the purpose of the wait list for people ad-comms want to interview, only if they can't fill all the open slots from the first round of interviewees? Or some other purpose entirely? Just wondering...

[newms]

I'm not in your field, but usually the waitlist is for people who are not accepted after the first round(s) of admits. Not everyone who gets an admit will attend so schools usually take one of two options when they send out admits, either

(i) they send out a number of admits based on the ratio of people who come to those who go elsewhere from previous years. So if in previous years only 1/3 of admits actually come to the school and they have 20 places, then they'll send out 60 admits. Schools usually do this when they have some leeway in the number of places and it doesn't have to be precise.

(ii) they send out exactly the number of admits they have places for and then when someone declines the admit, they send out another admit to the next 'best' person on a waitlist, and they keep doing this until the places are filled.

Sometimes schools use a mixture of both and send out a lot of admits, while at the same time making a waitlist in case the first round of admits doesn't fill all the places they have.

So basically the waitlist is usually for people who didn't get admits the first time around and who may get an admit, depending on if they don't have enough people accepting from the first round of admits. Not a lot of people get admitted off waitlists, but it definitely is possible, especially if you are ranked higher up on the waitlist. Sorry for the long post, but I hope I answered your question.

[climbingfanatic]

I was waitlisted and I did not have an interview first. From the email I got from my POI, it sounded like the school did option 2 from newms' list. I know they have exactly 4 spaces to fill, and their shortlist is "about 15 people". I would guess that the top 4 are being interviewed (or maybe even the top half?) and then they go down the list from there if they extend admits and people decline.

[nyc_commuter]

Thanks for your comments! I'm gathering that the wait list is a pretty flexible term whose exact nature depends on the specific situation & admissions strategy of the school. Good to know!