What are the chances of getting off a college waitlist?

College waitlist acceptance rates at 57 colleges

Low at most selective colleges. Across the 57 colleges here, a median 7.7% of students who accepted a waitlist spot were admitted from it, and 0 admitted no one from the list. The highest rate was at University of North Carolina (39.9%: 2,099 of 5,258). Figures are from each college's Common Data Set.

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Waitlist outcomes, by college

Admitted from the waitlist as a share of students who accepted a spot on it. From each college's own Common Data Set (C2).

College	Offered a spot	Stayed on	Admitted	Rate
University of North Carolina	7,355	5,258	2,099	39.9%
UC Davis	17,582	9,747	3,758	38.6%
Texas Christian University	3,676	1,083	396	36.6%
University of Rochester	1,197	741	262	35.4%
University of Washington	15,363	8,350	2,252	27%
Brandeis University	1,717	771	206	26.7%
Colorado College	696	140	32	22.9%
UC San Diego	36,709	25,411	5,284	20.8%
Binghamton University	13,341	4,272	842	19.7%
Clark University	730	309	57	18.4%
Macalester College	765	446	82	18.4%
Denison University	2,213	464	76	16.4%
San Diego State University	11,627	6,016	962	16%
University of Central Florida	2,966	2,157	343	15.9%
Georgia Tech	7,651	4,875	653	13.4%
Lafayette College	2,660	1,316	171	13%
Dickinson College	335	63	8	12.7%
Oberlin College	748	330	41	12.4%
Bryn Mawr College	593	305	37	12.1%
Furman University	524	76	9	11.8%
UCLA	20,563	13,612	1,514	11.1%
NC State University	10,710	4,311	476	11%
Bucknell University	2,908	1,384	150	10.8%
Babson College	3,551	1,599	163	10.2%
Carleton College	675	335	33	9.9%
University of Michigan	24,447	18,435	1,663	9%
Boston College	7,444	4,139	352	8.5%
Washington University in St. Louis	3,865	3,865	327	8.5%
University of Miami	22,147	9,077	703	7.7%
Occidental College	1,534	841	60	7.1%
Tufts University	3,061	1,193	71	6%
Amherst College	1,294	740	44	5.9%
Vassar College	918	510	30	5.9%
Middlebury College	1,996	1,878	109	5.8%
Kenyon College	1,591	797	43	5.4%
William & Mary	4,085	1,901	103	5.4%
Wellesley College	2,214	1,121	59	5.3%
Bates College	2,103	795	39	4.9%
Emory University	7,608	6,422	274	4.3%
Yale University	944	738	32	4.3%
Hamilton College	2,032	1,226	49	4%
Lehigh University	4,083	1,988	80	4%
Whitman College	863	837	33	3.9%
Cornell University	9,720	6,598	254	3.8%
University of Richmond	3,866	2,117	71	3.4%
Rice University	3,196	2,204	66	3%
Davidson College	1,968	953	28	2.9%
College of the Holy Cross	3,700	1,572	42	2.7%
Colgate University	2,381	1,281	23	1.8%
Haverford College	1,342	784	11	1.4%
Trinity College	2,468	1,387	19	1.4%
Villanova University	5,449	2,205	28	1.3%
Connecticut College	1,269	471	5	1.1%
Boston University	15,751	9,448	95	1%
Carnegie Mellon University	7,117	4,937	36	0.7%
Fairfield University	10,741	2,963	15	0.5%
University of Florida	3,196	2,737	1	0%

Rate = admitted from the waitlist / students who accepted a place on it (CDS C2). Colleges with fewer than 20 students on the list are left out. Every count was checked against the source document. Also see Early Decision acceptance rates.