Clarity for the waitlisted: Where were you accepted? Where are you thinking of declining?

[ezra123]

Multiple acceptances are incredible, but being wait-listed can be nerve-racking. Help provide some clarity for those waiting for spots to open up. 

Where have you been accepted? Toward which school(s) are you leaning? Which will you decline? Or, which do you think you will end up declining?

Thanks! 

[Eobard Thawne]

I'll be declining offers from Illinois (UIUC), UC Davis, USC soon for American Politics waitlisters there.  Did anyone get into Michigan as an Americanist and plans to go somewhere else/is leaning somewhere else?

[ezra123]

Anyone planning on declining offers from Virginia or WashU? 

[PizzaCat93]

Does anyone know whether it is possible to decline a waitlist offer? 

[ezra123]

2 minutes ago, PizzaCat93 said:

Does anyone know whether it is possible to decline a waitlist offer? 

I believe you notify the program that you would like to be removed from the wait list. Or at least that's what I've been told by one program.

[reasonablepie]

I don't want to be a spoil-sport, but I'd really caution you from using this forum to learn about your wait-list chances. All the stressing about whenever something comes on the result board is already not great (although totally understandable, I did the same thing), but at least those results are somewhat informative about when letters are being sent out. The number of factors that go into wait-list decisions compared to the amount of information this forum will give you essentially means that it is much more likely to give you miss-information than anything useful, while adding to your anxiety. Only a small number of people post on this board, and whether them rejecting an offer leads to a wait-list place really depends on all the other people's decision too. Even if a wait-list spot opens up, the process by which departments then choose who to give it to is pretty opaque. 

I understand you all want more knowledge, but try to find ways to deal with the anxiety rather than make it worse. Step away from this board for a few days and you'll feel a lot better, trust me.