Each year, many colleges place students on waitlists due to limited available spots in their enrollment class. Experts advise students who are wait-listed to remain open to options and be ready to quickly accept an offer, as final decisions often come late in the admissions process. The process can be unpredictable and highly dependent on institutional priorities, available spaces, and how many admitted students ultimately decide not to enroll.
Colleges aim to maintain a balanced faculty-to-student ratio and account for physical space requirements. When more students than expected decline offers, schools turn to the waitlist to fill those open spots. However, being placed on a waitlist isn’t always a reflection of an applicant’s qualifications, as the final decision can vary depending on several factors, including how many students accept their initial offers and other institutional needs, like filling certain majors.
“This is a very dynamic and interdependent process, often unpredictable even with great analytics,” says Michelle Whittingham, associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Whittingham explains that their student capacity depends on many factors, including graduation rates, continuation rates, and transfer student enrollments. “It’s also very dependent on our transfer student enrollment and estimates,” she adds.
For the fall 2023 admissions cycle, some schools admitted a significant portion of students off their waitlists. Michigan State University led with 97% of its 1,000 wait-listed applicants admitted, the highest percentage among 301 schools that submitted data to U.S. News. UC Santa Cruz admitted the most students off the waitlist, with 10,812 students receiving offers.
How the waitlist process works
The final decisions for wait-listed students often arrive after the national May 1 deposit deadline for high school seniors to secure a spot at their chosen college. Sometimes, students may not receive a decision until just before the fall semester begins. Still, experts like Sacha Thieme, assistant vice provost and executive director of admissions at Indiana University—Bloomington, encourage wait-listed students to accept a spot on the list if they remain interested.
“This alerts the institution that you still wish to be considered if a space becomes available,” Thieme explains. Indiana University admitted 86.8% of its wait-listed students in fall 2023, ranking fourth among the top 20 schools that admit the most off the waitlist.
Thieme adds that students on the waitlist should continue to provide updated academic information and notify the institution if their academic interests change. The process starts with showing continued interest by accepting a spot on the waitlist. As final decisions are often late, Thieme advises students to keep their options open and to ensure they don’t miss out on securing a spot at another college that has already offered them admission.
Whittingham echoes this sentiment: “Absolutely make sure you have a spot somewhere. If you keep waiting, you do not want to miss the deadline for those institutions that offered you admission.”
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Waitlists in Fall 2023
The fall 2023 admissions cycle saw a higher number of wait-listed students than usual. Experts attribute this to factors such as the delayed rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and schools being more conservative with initial offers. For example, UC Santa Cruz placed more students on the waitlist to avoid over-enrollment, as high rates of students accepted admission in 2022.
Whittingham notes that colleges like UC Santa Cruz try to be clear with students and families that each admissions year can be different. “We try to predict how many students will accept our offer of admission and how many students change their minds after they accept, for many different reasons,” she says.
Colleges admitting the most students off the waitlist
Below are the 20 colleges that admitted the highest percentage of wait-listed students in fall 2023, according to U.S. News data. The list includes both large and small schools, with some placing thousands of students on the waitlist and others fewer than a hundred.
For students navigating the waitlist process, being proactive, staying patient, and keeping all options open is key to making the most of this uncertain but potentially rewarding opportunity.
