FYI for those waiting on wait lists at "top 8" programs

[Jonathan13]

I'm coming from an MA program (which I shouldn't name) with 2 students (who I obviously shouldn't name) who have been admitted to at least one top 8 program each and who are also on multiple wait lists for other top 8 programs. This means that there should be significant movement on wait lists for these programs in the next week. So, for those waiting, don't give up! Hold out till the end. (I, unfortunately, am not in this position.) They might have gotten into multiple programs by now; I don't know.

BTW - I choose "top 8" because Leiter (which I guess should be taken with a grain of salt) identifies Group 1 and Group 2 schools as the "top 8" (i.e. NYU, Princeton, Rutgers, Michigan, Pitt, USC, Yale).

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2016/04/the-fall-2014-pgr-as-seen-from-fall-2016.html

Best of luck everyone

 

Edited April 9, 2016 by Jonathan13

[Davidspring]

31 minutes ago, Jonathan13 said:

I'm coming from an MA program (which I shouldn't name) with 2 students (who I obviously shouldn't name) who have been admitted to at least one top 8 program each and who are also on multiple wait lists for other top 8 programs. This means that there should be significant movement on wait lists for these programs in the next week. So, for those waiting, don't give up! Hold out till the end. (I, unfortunately, am not in this position.) They might have gotten into multiple programs by now; I don't know.

BTW - I choose "top 8" because Leiter (which I guess should be taken with a grain of salt) identifies Group 1 and Group 2 schools as the "top 8" (i.e. NYU, Princeton, Rutgers, Michigan, Pitt, USC, Yale).

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2016/04/the-fall-2014-pgr-as-seen-from-fall-2016.html

Best of luck everyone

 

I hope top applicants will decide early next week.  Their decisions will make a huge difference.  Best of luck to our waitlisters!

[genesis]

Once again, there is a lot of misinformation on here about waitlists.  Just because you know of one or two or three students with multiple offers does not mean there will be movement on any waitlists.  Many programs admit more students than they want to take, with the assumption that many will decline.  So if a program wants a target class of 5, and admits 10 students and waitlists 2, you will need 6 people to decline before there is movement on the waitlist.  Your best bet is to stay in contact with the DGA/DGS and ask about school-specific policies.

Also, DavidSpring, almost every student I know in a top program has said they made their decision around 14 April/15 April.  I don't have a huge sample size, but I really doubt that things will change much this year.  That's not say that that is right/wrong, but just to say that asking people on gradcafe to choose earlier is unlikely to have any effect on when most students will decide (esp. as most of these people are not on gradcafe and many will wait until the last second to pressure schools to up the stipend offer).  It's probably best to plan what you would do in all contingencies, so that in the event you get off/don't get off the waitlist, you know what to do.

[Davidspring]

11 minutes ago, genesis said:

Once again, there is a lot of misinformation on here about waitlists.  Just because you know of one or two or three students with multiple offers does not mean there will be movement on any waitlists.  Many programs admit more students than they want to take, with the assumption that many will decline.  So if a program wants a target class of 5, and admits 10 students and waitlists 2, you will need 6 people to decline before there is movement on the waitlist.  Your best bet is to stay in contact with the DGA/DGS and ask about school-specific policies.

Also, DavidSpring, almost every student I know in a top program has said they made their decision around 14 April/15 April.  I don't have a huge sample size, but I really doubt that things will change much this year.  That's not say that that is right/wrong, but just to say that asking people on gradcafe to choose earlier is unlikely to have any effect on when most students will decide (esp. as most of these people are not on gradcafe and many will wait until the last second to pressure schools to up the stipend offer).  It's probably best to plan what you would do in all contingencies, so that in the event you get off/don't get off the waitlist, you know what to do.

Thanks for your suggestions.  Yes, if our top applicants made their decisions on April 14/15, then there would be no movement on the waitlist until the last couple of days or few hours.  I have in mind a decision if I'd be unable to be admitted off the waitlist.  Also, I know what to do in the event I end up getting off the waitlist.

[AnotherKantFan]

1 hour ago, genesis said:

(esp. as most of these people are not on gradcafe and many will wait until the last second to pressure schools to up the stipend offer)

Let's not exaggerate with the negotiation point: most of the top schools (the private schools) don't negotiate the stipends they're offering, because 1) the stipends they're offering guarantee a really comfortable life in comparison to other programs, 2) they have a philosophy or policy of giving the same mount of money to every grad, so that there is no resentment.

[Kel Varnsen]

2 hours ago, genesis said:

Many programs admit more students than they want to take, with the assumption that many will decline.  

...

Also, DavidSpring, almost every student I know in a top program has said they made their decision around 14 April/15 April. 

I visited Columbia on Thursday and Friday.  Regarding the first point above, the DGS told me they admitted over twice as many applicants as they want.  Considering a lot of people I had met were weighing offers from various top 10 schools, I suppose this is typical. 

As for the second point, he told me not to expect any movement on the wait list until April 15.  And he recommended waiting til the very last hour, which happens to be 5 pm on April 15.

Also, Stanford's prospective students event is on Monday/Tuesday, and I heard another top school has theirs in the middle of the week, though I don't recall which school.  So yes, I wouldn't expect people with offers from top places to make decisions until very close to the deadline.

[Jonathan13]

5 hours ago, genesis said:

Once again, there is a lot of misinformation on here about waitlists.  Just because you know of one or two or three students with multiple offers does not mean there will be movement on any waitlists.  Many programs admit more students than they want to take, with the assumption that many will decline.  So if a program wants a target class of 5, and admits 10 students and waitlists 2, you will need 6 people to decline before there is movement on the waitlist.  Your best bet is to stay in contact with the DGA/DGS and ask about school-specific policies.

 

What you're saying isn't really false.

Just to clarify: When I said "there will be movement" I meant it a more general way. That is, for those schools that have a ranked wait list, then there will be obviously movement up and down the wait list this year (maybe not getting in, but at least movement). This is to say, hold out till the end. If you are not at the top of wait list you definitely might be. It seems that many ppl will (and have tended to) remove themselves from wait lists. SO DONT GIVE UP AND HOLD OUT.

And, just keep in mind several students get into top 8 programs off wait list at top programs every year.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Jonathan13

[genesis]

5 hours ago, AnotherKantFan said:

Let's not exaggerate with the negotiation point: most of the top schools (the private schools) don't negotiate the stipends they're offering, because 1) the stipends they're offering guarantee a really comfortable life in comparison to other programs, 2) they have a philosophy or policy of giving the same mount of money to every grad, so that there is no resentment.

There are schools that publicly espouse (2) but when push comes to shove, have negotiated up.  I don't know how many in the 8+ do this but it does happen.