Waitlist results?

[eternalmorning]

I am currently on a waitlist and I haven't heard anything back from the program. Is it possible (and common) that I will not know the result by April 15? The problem is that I already have an admission offer from another university and I need to respond by 15. I hope to get the waitlist result before I make a final decision. Do you guys know anything regarding the waitlist process?

[student12345]

It's like dominoes. On April 15, many applicants will accept their offers at top schools and reject the rest, and the next tier of students will accept the programs that admitted them on that day, and so on. This is what the head of one program told me. I wouldn't contact any department until the 15th. They would contact you if they knew any sooner.

Edited April 11, 2013 by kimolas

[cyberwulf]

I think you should contact the place you're waiting on to find out your status. If you wait until April 15th, then the place which has admitted you is within its rights to pull your offer and give it to someone else, which would be an undesirable outcome to say the least.

[student12345]

I think you should contact the place you're waiting on to find out your status. If you wait until April 15th, then the place which has admitted you is within its rights to pull your offer and give it to someone else, which would be an undesirable outcome to say the least.

 

What I've heard from faculty at my department is that I can hold on to my offers until the beginning of April 16th, is this not correct? 

[straitup94]

What I've heard from faculty at my department is that I can hold on to my offers until the beginning of April 16th, is this not correct? 

It most likely is, but it wouldn't hurt to e-mail the departments you're considering and double check (just to be absolutely sure) - I did that yesterday just to confirm. 

[cyberwulf]

What I've heard from faculty at my department is that I can hold on to my offers until the beginning of April 16th, is this not correct? 

Yes, that's correct; in my initial (probably incorrect) reading of your comment I thought you were suggesting waiting until *after* the deadline to communicate with the department. But even waiting until deadline day is a risky move, in my opinion. If the relevant faculty member/administrator happens to be out that day or doesn't get to your email, it makes for a difficult situation.