What do grad schools send out first? Accepts, Waitlists, or Rejects

[gradapplicant15]

Does anyone know what grad schools send out first?

[isilya]

I think generally it'll be acceptances, then waitlists, then rejections. But some schools will send them all out at once.

[gradapplicant15]

Interesting, good to know.

[wangziqi2013]

Some universities do several rounds of selection, and in each selection they yield those that are definitely in or definitely out. The remaining applicants then go to the next round of selection.

 

So in such a process, only those significantly better or worse than the average got their decisions quickly. The majority of applicants won't know the result until the last round.

[gradapplicant15]

Thanks!

[Edge]

The university I attend basically rejects the bottom 70% immediately, and simultaneously accepts the top 15%.   The middle 15% gets a more thorough review and/or waits for responses from the top 15%.