JMU Waitlist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think when the Virginia Tech and William & Mary waitlists move, more spots will open up at JMU.

JMU has such a great mix of technology course, "caring professions" coursework and performing arts, in addition to great sports (to play & watch) that is a great fit for most people who were lucky enough to be admitted.

In NOVA, people are drawn to the most competitive option though, so it is safe to assume that if those even more selective colleges have movement, JMU will have a few who let their deposit go.

Deadline extensions we have been offered are into early June, so maybe by July the news you were hoping for will find your child.

My kid was flat out rejected, but offered a lot of merit aid at a private college with similar attributes, but it if were a WL, we'd be in the same boat.

VT is closer to JMU in selectivity than to W&M to be factually clear. Not even close.

Whether you are incorrect or correct, you have shifted away from the point.

A lot of students are looking at both of those schools as a reach, or a first choice (for different reasons) but JMU does a nice job meeting the needs of a lot of different students.
The statement is not about pitting VT & W&M against one another, but it is designed to actually address OP's concern.

I hope, for their sake, some students will give up their JMU spots to move out to Williamsburg or Blacksburg and it doesn't matter which. I only didn't bring up private colleges because these area all so close in price.

I think they were saying JMU waitlist movement is far more correlated to VT waitlist movement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All schools should not have ED. ED favors the college more than the student.

What should happen is that there should be a limit of 10 applications from the common app, or higher deposits to stay on the accepted list.

Disagree. ED absolutely benefits students who know what their first choice school is and want to show it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All schools should not have ED. ED favors the college more than the student.

What should happen is that there should be a limit of 10 applications from the common app, or higher deposits to stay on the accepted list.

Disagree. ED absolutely benefits students who know what their first choice school is and want to show it.

To apply ED benefits students who are 100% sure they want to attend that school and 100% afford to pay the sticker price.

My child was accepted to one of their top choices. We didn't apply ED in case things changed or they were offered an athletic scholarship somewhere else.
The sticker price compares to what they were offered over 4 years comes to $200,000.

I would only pay ED if I had a huge benefit, like a parent who works there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All schools should not have ED. ED favors the college more than the student.

What should happen is that there should be a limit of 10 applications from the common app, or higher deposits to stay on the accepted list.

Disagree. ED absolutely benefits students who know what their first choice school is and want to show it.

To apply ED benefits students who are 100% sure they want to attend that school and 100% afford to pay the sticker price.

My child was accepted to one of their top choices. We didn't apply ED in case things changed or they were offered an athletic scholarship somewhere else.
The sticker price compares to what they were offered over 4 years comes to $200,000.

I would only pay ED if I had a huge benefit, like a parent who works there.

Incorrect. If you are accepted ED but the school doesn’t meet your financial need, you can withdraw. ED is a fabulous way for students who are sure of their first choice to be done with the process early. If you don’t like ED, then don’t use it.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think when the Virginia Tech and William & Mary waitlists move, more spots will open up at JMU.

JMU has such a great mix of technology course, "caring professions" coursework and performing arts, in addition to great sports (to play & watch) that is a great fit for most people who were lucky enough to be admitted.

In NOVA, people are drawn to the most competitive option though, so it is safe to assume that if those even more selective colleges have movement, JMU will have a few who let their deposit go.

Deadline extensions we have been offered are into early June, so maybe by July the news you were hoping for will find your child.

My kid was flat out rejected, but offered a lot of merit aid at a private college with similar attributes, but it if were a WL, we'd be in the same boat.

VT is closer to JMU in selectivity than to W&M to be factually clear. Not even close.

Whether you are incorrect or correct, you have shifted away from the point.

A lot of students are looking at both of those schools as a reach, or a first choice (for different reasons) but JMU does a nice job meeting the needs of a lot of different students.
The statement is not about pitting VT & W&M against one another, but it is designed to actually address OP's concern.

I hope, for their sake, some students will give up their JMU spots to move out to Williamsburg or Blacksburg and it doesn't matter which. I only didn't bring up private colleges because these area all so close in price.

I actually know 1 kid who was WL at JMU and in at VT. Really wants JMU as her #1

[Anonymous]

Has anyone heard of waitlist offers going out since end of May or since OP posted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i emailed my regional admissions counselor, who told me that the incoming class is currently full and that they will reassess if space becomes available after orientation in july. if so then they will extend waitlist offers and if not they will officially close the waitlist. obviously NOT the news i was wanting to hear, as JMU was my #1, but i thought i would share for everyone hoping to hear from the waitlist soon. i’m still holding out hope that as other schools WL spots open up they may have more space, but who knows with how things have been going this year in admissions.

I don't understand how this could be true. I know at least 4 of my DD's friends who had JMU as their safety when they got into their first choice. So I know of at least 4 girls from NOVA that were offered JMU admission and won't be attending. Doesn't that mean at least 4 kids get off the WL?

No. Here's how it works. Let's say JMU has a yield rate of 25%, they plan for 1 out of every four admitted students to commit. If 4 students decline, that should free up one seat. Of course, your numbers are anecdotal and it may well be that in another set of 4 students, all 4 committed. We don't know the overall numbers.

That's silly. Everyone knows they offer way more spots than they expect to be taken. So, when 1000 kids tell JMU "Thanks, but no thanks, I'm going to VT" they offer up 300 spots from the WL. It's not exactly tit for tat, but the concept is the same. Declines = WL admissions.

DP: No, that's not how it works. They have an expected yield based on their institutional history and make acceptances based on those estimates. So if 1000 kids tell JMU "Thanks but no thanks" they compare that to their predicted yield. If they predicted that 990 kids would not accept the admission offer, then 10 kids get the WL offer. If they predicted that 1010 kids would not accept the waitlist offer, they don't send any to the WL. If they are wildly off like VT was one year in that direction, they encourage kids to start late, have hotel rooms for housing etc. so schools try to slightly err in underestimating because it's easier to go to the WL than to house excess students. But they don't want to go too far down because they want to have the best chances for a class full of the strongest applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i emailed my regional admissions counselor, who told me that the incoming class is currently full and that they will reassess if space becomes available after orientation in july. if so then they will extend waitlist offers and if not they will officially close the waitlist. obviously NOT the news i was wanting to hear, as JMU was my #1, but i thought i would share for everyone hoping to hear from the waitlist soon. i’m still holding out hope that as other schools WL spots open up they may have more space, but who knows with how things have been going this year in admissions.

I don't understand how this could be true. I know at least 4 of my DD's friends who had JMU as their safety when they got into their first choice. So I know of at least 4 girls from NOVA that were offered JMU admission and won't be attending. Doesn't that mean at least 4 kids get off the WL?

No. Here's how it works. Let's say JMU has a yield rate of 25%, they plan for 1 out of every four admitted students to commit. If 4 students decline, that should free up one seat. Of course, your numbers are anecdotal and it may well be that in another set of 4 students, all 4 committed. We don't know the overall numbers.

That's silly. Everyone knows they offer way more spots than they expect to be taken. So, when 1000 kids tell JMU "Thanks, but no thanks, I'm going to VT" they offer up 300 spots from the WL. It's not exactly tit for tat, but the concept is the same. Declines = WL admissions.

DP: No, that's not how it works. They have an expected yield based on their institutional history and make acceptances based on those estimates. So if 1000 kids tell JMU "Thanks but no thanks" they compare that to their predicted yield. If they predicted that 990 kids would not accept the admission offer, then 10 kids get the WL offer. If they predicted that 1010 kids would not accept the waitlist offer, they don't send any to the WL. If they are wildly off like VT was one year in that direction, they encourage kids to start late, have hotel rooms for housing etc. so schools try to slightly err in underestimating because it's easier to go to the WL than to house excess students. But they don't want to go too far down because they want to have the best chances for a class full of the strongest applicants.

+1
Thank you for this excellent explanation.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i emailed my regional admissions counselor, who told me that the incoming class is currently full and that they will reassess if space becomes available after orientation in july. if so then they will extend waitlist offers and if not they will officially close the waitlist. obviously NOT the news i was wanting to hear, as JMU was my #1, but i thought i would share for everyone hoping to hear from the waitlist soon. i’m still holding out hope that as other schools WL spots open up they may have more space, but who knows with how things have been going this year in admissions.

I don't understand how this could be true. I know at least 4 of my DD's friends who had JMU as their safety when they got into their first choice. So I know of at least 4 girls from NOVA that were offered JMU admission and won't be attending. Doesn't that mean at least 4 kids get off the WL?

No. Here's how it works. Let's say JMU has a yield rate of 25%, they plan for 1 out of every four admitted students to commit. If 4 students decline, that should free up one seat. Of course, your numbers are anecdotal and it may well be that in another set of 4 students, all 4 committed. We don't know the overall numbers.

That's silly. Everyone knows they offer way more spots than they expect to be taken. So, when 1000 kids tell JMU "Thanks, but no thanks, I'm going to VT" they offer up 300 spots from the WL. It's not exactly tit for tat, but the concept is the same. Declines = WL admissions.

DP: No, that's not how it works. They have an expected yield based on their institutional history and make acceptances based on those estimates. So if 1000 kids tell JMU "Thanks but no thanks" they compare that to their predicted yield. If they predicted that 990 kids would not accept the admission offer, then 10 kids get the WL offer. If they predicted that 1010 kids would not accept the waitlist offer, they don't send any to the WL. If they are wildly off like VT was one year in that direction, they encourage kids to start late, have hotel rooms for housing etc. so schools try to slightly err in underestimating because it's easier to go to the WL than to house excess students. But they don't want to go too far down because they want to have the best chances for a class full of the strongest applicants.

This. Declines does not = waitlist admits. If enough people on the accepted list turn it down, eventually they turn to the wait list.

[Anonymous]

"We cannot make decisions before May 1. We will not have the information we need to make any waitlist offers until the beginning of June."

Part of a response on JMU's waitlist FAQ page. Hopefully that means there will be some movement soon!

[Anonymous]

I called admissions recently and was told the same thing that someone posted about a while back here: the class is currently full and they will only potentially make waitlist offers after orientation, which runs June-July, if enough kids who originally deposited decide not to show up for orientation and therefore give up there spot in the class. Something tells me that with the wild popularity due to football this year they underestimated their yield and had more kids accept than expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i emailed my regional admissions counselor, who told me that the incoming class is currently full and that they will reassess if space becomes available after orientation in july. if so then they will extend waitlist offers and if not they will officially close the waitlist. obviously NOT the news i was wanting to hear, as JMU was my #1, but i thought i would share for everyone hoping to hear from the waitlist soon. i’m still holding out hope that as other schools WL spots open up they may have more space, but who knows with how things have been going this year in admissions.

I don't understand how this could be true. I know at least 4 of my DD's friends who had JMU as their safety when they got into their first choice. So I know of at least 4 girls from NOVA that were offered JMU admission and won't be attending. Doesn't that mean at least 4 kids get off the WL?

No that’s not how it works. Universities predict how many of those accepted will actually enroll. They expect a certain number to turn down admissions. Some years more people accept than they anticipate - it happened at VT about 4 yrs ago and extra students were housed in a hotel. They offer from the waitlist when they need more people to come than actually accepted.