Admission and Wait List Declines

[humean_skeptic]

People have told me that this is possible, but I don't understand it. What would have to happen for a department not to be able to inform an applicant on the wait list that (s)he has or has not been admitted by Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.?

 

April 15th is the national deadline for all departments to get back to applicants with decisions, and all applicants to get back to departments with decisions. So, theoretically, a lot of wait listed applicants could be waiting until 1159pm on Tuesday to hear back from departments, and a lot of departments could be waiting until 1159pm on Tuesday to hear back from applicants to whom they've extended offers. Of course, only so much can be done in the space of sixty seconds. As a consequence, a lot of activity would occur on the Wednesday (April 16th) and maybe even a few days afterwards, during which there are previously wait listed applicants (who now have offers as of the last minute on April 15th) deciding which offer to accept, asking for a little more time to decide, and so on. I suspect departments would have to be pretty understanding about giving an applicant an extra 24 or 48 hours to decide, after April 15th, if that applicant was given her offer at the last minute. 

[Establishment]

People have told me that this is possible, but I don't understand it. What would have to happen for a department not to be able to inform an applicant on the wait list that (s)he has or has not been admitted by Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.?

 

So take any school. They have x amount of spots per year to fill, and will send out an initial round of x admittances and waitlist a number of others. They'll naturally receive rejections by admitted students before April 15 as those students find out they've been admitted to their high pick schools. Usually by the time April 15th will come around, a number of schools will still be looking to fill all their spots.

 

So let's say this year some school funds eight students, and have only had four people accept by the morning of April 15th. So they send out emails to the next four people on the waitlist at 10 AM, informing them that they've been admitted. Emails will come in through the rest of the day, as students find the time to check and reply back in their emails during breaks in class on Tuesday or once they're done for the day. Let's say then that two of those four students accept. The school still has two funded slots to fill. So, that evening on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, they'll send out emails to the next two students on the waitlist informing them that they've been accepted. Same thing happens. One accepts. The other doesn't. Emails don't come in until later that day on the 16th. So the school then sends out an email to the next student on the waitlist either late on the 16th or early on the 17th.

 

All this is illustrating is the natural lag there is in moving down a waitlist.

 

I've even seen students be informed that they've been admitted off the waitlist in May or later, although this isn't because of the natural lag in moving down a waitlist as detailed above, but because someone who had accepted has pulled out for one reason or another.

 

edit: yeah, what humean_skeptic said.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Establishment

[Weltgeist]

wow this is all starting to look like a terrifying mess. in any case i plan on calling the DGS at the department i'm still waiting on tomorrow and asking where things stand and letting them know I have an offer that I'll need to accept the next day if I don't hear from them by a certain time. Would it be a good idea to mention that I would with certainty accept the offer if I got one?

[friend of frege]

Just got funding at Syracuse. Declining Baylor, taking myself off wait list at Boston University (I was in the "top tier" of their wait list, but said they don't have it ranked because of attempts to increase diversity in admissions), and taking myself off wait list at UIC.

 

Good luck to everyone in the frantic last couple days.

Edited April 14, 2014 by friend of frege

[Wait For It...]

Just got funding at Syracuse. Declining Baylor, taking myself off wait list at Boston University (I was in the "top tier" of their wait list, but said they don't have it ranked because of attempts to increase diversity in admissions), and taking myself off wait list at UIC.

 

Good luck to everyone in the frantic last couple days.

Congrats! Will you be accepting the Syracuse offer or are you waiting for some other schools to notify you about acceptance or funding? A friend of mine is also wait listed for funding at 'Cuse.   

[Dabaliga]

Just got funding at Syracuse. Declining Baylor, taking myself off wait list at Boston University (I was in the "top tier" of their wait list, but said they don't have it ranked because of attempts to increase diversity in admissions), and taking myself off wait list at UIC.

 

Good luck to everyone in the frantic last couple days.

Congrats!

[friend of frege]

Congrats! Will you be accepting the Syracuse offer or are you waiting for some other schools to notify you about acceptance or funding? A friend of mine is also wait listed for funding at 'Cuse.   

 

Accepting the Syracuse offer. Best of luck to your friend.

[Wait For It...]

Accepting the Syracuse offer. Best of luck to your friend.

Thanks! And again, congratulations! 

[ta_pros_to_telos]

I was accepted to Cornell, and declined my offer from Duke. I thought Duke's department was wonderful, and I hope this allows someone else to go!

[Wait For It...]

I was accepted to Cornell, and declined my offer from Duke. I thought Duke's department was wonderful, and I hope this allows someone else to go!

Well done!

[Structural_Realist]

I was just accepted to Cincinnati off the wait list. It looks like this duck has an option!

[PhiPhiPhi]

I was accepted to Cornell, and declined my offer from Duke. I thought Duke's department was wonderful, and I hope this allows someone else to go!

Just a heads up - Leiter reported Cornell as having a lot of potential losses this season. Link here: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2014/04/prospective-phd-students-considering-cornell.html

[philosophe]

I'm living vicariously through everyone who is getting off of their wait lists! congratulations all

[ta_pros_to_telos]

Just a heads up - Leiter reported Cornell as having a lot of potential losses this season. Link here: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2014/04/prospective-phd-students-considering-cornell.html

Yeah, so I looked into that, and these potential losses seem to be a) not definite (though possible), unlikely to be immediate, and c) concentrated within certain areas. It wouldn't really affect me personally given my AoI's, though I can see it being a point to consider for others, depending on their interests. My understanding is that the professors in question have told the students who might work with them about this risk. 

[Ulixes]

Declined Virginia Tech.

[Weltgeist]

anyone planning on declining Northwestern? i was told they still have several open offers not yet heard from

[Wait For It...]

Declined Virginia Tech.

A good choice, considering your position. 

[Dialectica]

Declined NIU. It wasn't an easy decision. 

[Wait For It...]

After much deliberation, I've accepted Missouri's offer, declined UC Santa Barbara's, and will be declining Loyola's soon. It was an agonizing process because I loved so many things about both UCSB and MIzzou. But, in the end, I believe the latter program is the best fit for me. Best of luck to those who are wait listed at the former, and congrats to everyone on their decisions! I sure as hell am glad for this process to be over.  

[Structural_Realist]

Accepted to WUSTL! This duck is moving to St. Louis!

[Gnothi_Seauton]

Accepted to WUSTL! This duck is moving to St. Louis!

Congrats!  I visited and loved it there.  The department is extremely friendly.  Also, St. Louis is really cool, and the grad students seem to do extremely well on their stipends.  

[humean_skeptic]

Accepted to WUSTL! This duck is moving to St. Louis!

 

Get the DUCK to St Louis!

[objectivityofcontradiction]

I'm boring and am going to maintain some level of anonymity. But, I will say that I'll be in the Midwest studying Kant and German Idealism. So, if you know the scene, you can probably figure out the few places I might be. 

 

Take it easy. 

[wakeupright]

Did anyone end up going for Penn?

[zblaesi]

Just accepted an offer to UT-Austin (from the wait-list) and promptly took myself off the UW-Madison wait-list. Good luck to those who are still waiting!