Updated: Friday, May 9, 2025
For waitlisted students, it can be hard to judge just how much of a chance they have of getting accepted off the waitlist. Data around waitlist acceptances can be scarce, especially as waitlists at top colleges grow and more and more schools become less transparent about their admissions statistics. The college counselors at IvyWise, however, have dug into the data and have some insight into waitlist admission rates.
According to data from the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, colleges on average admit 20% of students off the waitlist. At the most selective institutions, that figure was 7%. In reality, since waitlist decisions can come as late as weeks before the start of the fall semester, families usually don’t have a good sense of how many students are admitted off waitlists each year.
Waitlist admission rates can vary from school to school and even year to year, especially as colleges have seen record-breaking application numbers over the past few years. Here is a list of colleges and universities and their waitlist admit rates for the class of 2028 — the most recent data that schools currently have available.
| School | Applicants on the Waitlist | Accepted from Waitlist | Waitlist Acceptance Rate |
| American University | 948 | 328 | 34.60% |
| Amherst College | 623 | 8 | 1.28% |
| Arizona State University | No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| Auburn University | No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| Babson College | 1,458 | 105 | 7.20% |
| Barnard College | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Bates College | 883 | 34 | 3.85% |
| Baylor University | 756 | 241 | 31.88% |
| Belmont University | 0 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Bentley University |
410 | 225 | 54.88% |
| Binghamton University | 4,272 | 842 | 19.71% |
| Boston University | 8,996 | 18 | 0.20% |
| Bowdoin College | Not published | 22 | Not published |
| Brown University | Not published | 118 | Not published |
| Bryn Mawr College | 285 | 23 | 8.07% |
| Bucknell University | 1,470 | 115 | 7.82% |
| Caltech | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Carleton College | 242 | 52 | 21.49% |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 10,062 | 32 | 0.32% |
| Case Western Reserve University | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Chapman University | 1,144 | 523 | 45.72% |
| Claremont McKenna College | 621 | 33 | 5.31% |
| Clark University | 309 | 57 | 18.45% |
| Clemson University | 3,598 | 112 | 3.11% |
| Colgate University | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| College of Charleston | 1,303 | 491 | 37.68% |
| College of the Holy Cross | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| College of William and Mary | 2,063 | 207 | 10.03% |
| Colorado College | 140 | 32 | 22.86% |
| Columbia University | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Connecticut College | 607 | 9 | 1.48% |
| Cornell University | 6,190 | 388 | 6.27% |
| Dartmouth College | 2,189 | 29 | 1.32% |
| Davidson College | 860 | 35 | 4.07% |
| DePaul University | 282 | 228 | 80.85% |
| Dickinson College | 76 | 24 | 31.58% |
| Drexel University |
Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Elon University | 815 | 101 | 12.39% |
| Emory University | Emory campus: 3,355 | Emory campus: 109 | Emory campus: 3.25% |
| Florida State University | Waitlist began with the class of 2029 admission cycle | Waitlist began with the class of 2029 admission cycle | Waitlist began with the class of 2029 admission cycle |
| Furman University | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Georgia Tech | 4,471 | 201 | 4.50% |
| George Washington University | 2,844 | 1,188 | 41.77% |
| Georgetown University | 2,023 | 163 | 8.06% |
| Gonzaga University |
243 | 59 | 24.28% |
| Grinnell College | 1,180 | 36 | 3.05% |
| Hamilton College | 946 | 35 | 3.70% |
| Harvard University | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Harvey Mudd College | 403 | 53 | 13.15% |
| Haverford College | 718 | 3 | 0.42% |
| Howard University | 476 | Not published | Not published |
| Indiana University | 3,059 | 3,041 | 99.41% |
| Johns Hopkins University | 1,614 | 30 | 1.86% |
| Kenyon College | 797 | 43 | 5.40% |
| Lafayette College | 1,120 | 81 | 7.23% |
| Lehigh University | 1,717 | 113 | 6.58% |
| Lewis & Clark College | 73 | 16 | 21.92% |
| Loyola Marymount University |
Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Loyola University Chicago | No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| Macalester College | 507 | 63 | 12.43% |
| Marquette University | 452 | 113 | 25.00% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Michigan State University | 4,134 | 3,596 | 86.99% |
| Middlebury College | 2,256 | 45 | 1.99% |
| Montana State University |
No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| New York University | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| North Carolina State University |
4,194 | 261 | 6.22% |
| Northeastern University | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Northwestern University | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Occidental College | 437 | 71 | 16.25% |
| Pennsylvania State University |
1,248 | 654 | 52.40% |
| Pitzer College | 209 | 34 | 16.27% |
| Pomona College | 680 | 58 | 8.53% |
| Princeton University | 1,396 | 40 | 2.87% |
| Providence College | 1,098 | 251 | 22.86% |
| Purdue University | 1,860 | 9 | 0.48% |
| Reed College | 2,237 | 101 | 4.51% |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 1,236 | 33 | 2.67% |
| Rochester Institute of Technology |
711 | 100 | 14.06% |
| Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | 128 | 11 | 8.59% |
| Rice University | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| San Diego State University | 4,802 | 1,804 | 37.57% |
| Santa Clara University | 3,312 | 197 | 5.95% |
| Scripps College | 239 | 4 | 1.67% |
| Skidmore College | 861 | 79 | 9.18% |
| Smith College | 803 | 43 | 5.35% |
| Southern Methodist University | 607 | 67 | 11.04% |
| Stanford University | 414 | 25 | 6.04% |
| Stony Brook University | 2,894 | 12 | 0.41% |
| Swarthmore College | Not published | 0 | 0.00% |
| Texas Christian University | 909 | 753 | 82.84% |
| Texas A&M University |
No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| Texas Tech University | No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| Trinity University | 655 | 105 | 16.03% |
| Tufts University | 991 | 354 | 35.72% |
| Tulane University | 2,290 | 432 | 18.86% |
| University at Albany | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| University at Buffalo | 1,785 | 706 | 39.55% |
| University of California, Berkeley | 7,853 | 26 | 0.33% |
| University of California, Davis | 9,609 | 4,309 | 44.84% |
| University of California, Irvine | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| University of California, Los Angeles | 9,198 | 1,211 | 13.17% |
| University of California, San Diego | 19,156 | 4,539 | 23.69% |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 10,641 | 8,715 | 81.90% |
| University of California, Santa Cruz | 10,111 | 3,339 | 33.02% |
| University of Chicago | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| University of Colorado – Boulder | 1,158 | 1,007 | 86.96% |
| University of Denver | 152 | 29 | 19.08% |
| University of Georgia | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| University of Maryland, College Park | 0 | 0 | 0.00% |
| University of Massachusetts – Amherst | 6,478 | 1,142 | 17.63% |
| University of Miami | 7,364 | 681 | 9.25% |
| University of Michigan | 18,793 | 973 | 5.18% |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 4,084 | 295 | 7.22% |
| University of North Carolina at Charlotte | No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| University of Notre Dame | 1,385 | 42 | 3.03% |
| University of Pennsylvania | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| University of Pittsburgh | 4,338 | 3,754 | 86.54% |
| University of Richmond | 2,117 | 71 | 3.35% |
| University of Rochester | College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering: 859 Eastman School of Music: 75 |
College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering: 108 Eastman School of Music: 15 |
College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering: 12.57% Eastman School of Music: 20.00% |
| University of San Diego | 1,986 | 1,441 | 72.56% |
| University of Southern California | No waitlist | No waitlist | No waitlist |
| University of Tennessee, Knoxville |
5,954 | 4,787 | 80.40% |
| University of Texas – Austin | Waitlist began with the class of 2029 admission cycle | Waitlist began with the class of 2029 admission cycle | Waitlist began with the class of 2029 admission cycle |
| University of Vermont | 2,833 | 0 | 0.00% |
| University of Virginia | 6,759 | 242 | 3.58% |
| University of Washington – Seattle | 7,983 | 1,596 | 19.99% |
| University of Wisconsin – Madison | 7,644 | 493 | 6.45% |
| Vanderbilt University | Not published | 279 | Not published |
| Vassar College | 523 | 171 | 32.70% |
| Virginia Tech | 11,067 | 1,524 | 13.77% |
| Wake Forest University | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Washington and Lee University | 735 | 67 | 9.12% |
| Washington University in St. Louis | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Wellesley College | 1,299 | 34 | 2.62% |
| Wesleyan University | 1,734 | 5 | 0.29% |
| Williams College | 858 | 113 | 13.17% |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 1,111 | 392 | 35.28% |
| Yale University | 565 | 23 | 4.07% |
Not getting into your top-choice or “dream” school can be a big disappointment, but it can narrow the pool and allow you to focus on the other great schools where you were admitted. That said, a sense of uncertainty can come into play when you’re waitlisted, especially with enrollment deadlines right around the corner. At IvyWise we offer Waitlist Consultation services to help you decide what steps to take next to have the best chances of admission and decide where to enroll.
How to Feel Your Best When Admission Decision Time Comes
For students who applied to colleges in the regular round, March and April can feel like an emotional roller coaster. Between waiting for admissions decisions, receiving a verdict from each school on your best fit list, and deciding where to enroll, the spring season marks a major milestone for many high school seniors.
A letter of continued interest (often referred to as a LOCI) is a written statement that a student sends to the admissions office of a school they are still interested in attending, despite being deferred or waitlisted. Generally, these letters reiterate the student’s interest in and fit for the college in question and update the admissions office on any achievements that the student has earned since submitting their initial application.
Harvard is one of the most popular first-choice colleges for students, and it’s also one of the most competitive. Admission rates are consistently under 5% — for the class of 2028, the admission rate was 3.65%.
Given this competitive admissions rate, some very talented students are going to find themselves on Harvard’s waitlist. While most applicants have a general idea of what a waitlisted outcome means, few understand how waitlists really work and what they can do to boost their odds of admission.
You’ve worked hard throughout high school, hoping to be admitted into one of your top-choice colleges. You put time and effort into your application and supplements, only to find out you’ve been placed on the waitlist. Confused? You’re not alone. Fortunately, there are steps you can take in this situation.
