NerdBasher wrote:
Greetings fellow waitlisters, I took a trip to Chicago last week to visit some friends at Booth and do the official visit. I had not yet visited the school, and I figured showing up in person would help my case and reinforce my interest. After the info session / tour / class visit, I went back to the admissions office and was able to chat one-on-one with a member of the admissions committee. I think this really helped my case, and I would recommend a visit to anyone on the waitlist. A few things I learned...
1) the deadline for submitting any supplemental info (recs, essays, video) is 3/1
2) the initial deposit deadline for Rd 1 admitted students is like 2/24, so they'll know a lot more about the size of the class at that point
3) they are super excited about this damn video. it sounds like they really want everyone to put something together. interestingly, the person i spoke with did agree that applicants could potentially shoot themselves in the foot with the video if they weren't careful about it
4) Adcom does not like getting a bunch of additional materials that tell them nothing new; it's important that anything you submit gives them a fresh perspective or new info
During my visit I met three different students who were let in off the WL last year. Two of them told me they basically didn't add anything to their applications while on WL, and had pretty much given up before being admitted in June/July. The third submitted multiple "update" essays and an extra rec.
Thanks for the information that is very helpful. It sounds like doing that Video is practically required despite what they have been saying officially.