Should you not go to where you've been waitlisted?

[That_One]

I read this article about being waitlisted and some guy mentioned that he wanted to be neither the best nor the worst student at the program he was going to attend. My question is - SHOULD YOU NOT GO TO A PROGRAM AT WHICH YOU GOT AN OFFER OFF THE WAITLIST? Does being accepted off the waitlist signify that you're likely to have to work harder than your classmates? What are your thoughts?

[Tritonetelephone]

Being on a waitlist means you're still more competitive than at least 85% of the other applicants. Once you're enrolled, nobody cares.

That's just one guy's opinion anyway (in the article). Don't take it to heart.

[lauraeli]

If they didn't want you at the school, they would have rejected you.

[alienatedlaborer]

I don't think this should be a major concern. All those rejection letters that say they had more qualified applicants than they have available spaces are actually telling the truth, so the fact that you just barely got in doesn't mean you're not qualified. The school has no interest in offering admission (along with all that money) to someone they anticipate will fail. Once you're in, it's really all about how you perform, and a year down the road, it won't matter at all.

If you're feeling insecure, you can always talk to professors about it, since they'll no doubt have helpful information to share. And if you're worried about how other students will react to you as the waitlisted applicant, you don't have to tell them. But for what it's worth, in my program no one cares about who got in off the waitlist and who was the top choice. All that changes the first day of class anyway.

Good luck!

[ewurgler]

For me, I know there were applicants who had higher GPAs and GREs, so I am not surprised I was waitlisted at a few. But, I am confident in my preparation and ability--and so are the schools that waitlisted me. If you couldn't keep up, you would be in the reject pile. I am more worried about being a bit behind in methods training (as I didn't do soc in undergrad) anywhere I go.

Additionally, the admissions process is clearly weird, inconsistent, and I'm sure biased. Look around at signatures. I know people have gotten rejected from places I got in to but I was rejected from places they got in to.

BE CONFIDENT!!!! Go where you will flourish and don't let some sort of bruised ego or insecurity keep you from doing what is in your best interest.

[rising_star]

Does being accepted off the waitlist signify that you're likely to have to work harder than your classmates? What are your thoughts?

What do you mean? Why would you have to work harder than them?

[socialpsych]

Consider that scenarios like the following happen all the time: School X accepts Student A and waitlists/rejects Student B; School Y accepts Student B and waitlists/rejects Student A. If B got in off the waitlist at School X, it wouldn't make any sense to worry that she might be less qualified even just based on offers of admission, because another school actually preferred B to A!

The point is that schools don't make decisions by constructing a ranking of applicants that all schools would agree upon. Fit makes a difference, as do random irrelevant factors that have nothing to do with level of qualification.