How to go about being wait listed

[Gerri]

Hello all,

I've been wait listed to my top choice for political science doctoral programs. Is there anything I can do to help my odds of being picked from this wait list pool of people? I'm inclined to email my potential advisor, but I'm not sure if that will put her in an awkward position... I've inquired about the wait list: 19 people (which they called short) that are not rated in any order, rather, if need be, the department will meet again to fill admissions from this wait list.

Any advice is appreciated,

G

[runonsentence]

Hmm. Not sure there's too much you can do, but perhaps it can't hurt to treat it like a job interview: remind them you're still interested.

If they sent you an email to inform you of your waitlist status, it would be easy and not very out of line to simply reply back, thanking them for their update on your status and telling them that you are still very interested in going to X school (or that X school is still your top choice).

What would be even better would be if you had any news to report and ask them to add it to your file. For instance, if you've had a manuscript accepted for publication, or a paper accepted to present at a big conference, you could email them to say that you have this new accomplishment to add to your application file, and then also take the opportunity to tell them you're still really interested in the program. OR, even better, if you had another acceptance you could dangle in front of them, you could mention that although you have an offer from Y school you're still very interested in waiting to hear from X before making your decision.

I'm not sure if these kinds of emails are risky to send, but it's one idea.

[psycholinguist]

If they sent you an email to inform you of your waitlist status, it would be easy and not very out of line to simply reply back, thanking them for their update on your status and telling them that you are still very interested in going to X school (or that X school is still your top choice).

This.

[anxious2011]

Any idea when grad-schools get back to you about whether you got in from the waitlist? I have one acceptance but am waitlisted by an equally good program. "Waitlist school" is too good a school for me to turn down without a proper understanding of the program (the couple of visits to other programs I've had so far have been very eye-opening in differentiating each school).

I would suppose they would try and give you enough time before April 15th to visit/make a choice, right? Also, if I am in the same city as Waitlist school, is it okay for me to e-mail them and say I would like to "visit" to speak to faculty and such to make my choice quicker?

Thanks!