Calling all Waitlisted Tuck Applicants: (2018 Intake) Class of 2020

I took at closer look at the underlying data from GMAT club, which is the same source as MBA data guru uses. I can confirm the 10% wait list acceptance rate. It's a decent sample ~300 waitlisted candidates from 2012-2017, including ~30 admits from the waitlist. If you compare the number of waitlisted students to the number of admitted students in database, it looks like Tuck waitlists 1 applicant per 2 admits. Therefore we can assume there are probably ~250 applicants on the waitlist with us at this point.

We're competing for on average 25 slots. Though those 25 slots are really 0 to 50 slots depending on what happens to their yield rates. A 3% increase or decrease in Tuck's yield, well within the realm of reality, means Tuck needs to pull 15 fewer or additional candidates off the waitlist. To sanity check that 250, I would guess their thinking goes something like this: they loses ~50% of WL candidates to other school (wild guess), they need about ~50 WL candidates in their yield dips, and they probably double that number so they can pull from the right buckets and balance the class. So, i don't know, 50*2*2 = 200.

The good news is the odds of being accepted off the waitlist are probably higher than 10% once you take into account the Tuck waitlisters matriculating to other schools. The bad news is the biggest determinant of your odds is Tuck's yield rate and probably the yield rate within your bucket. Although from what's I've read Tuck is a school where your waitlist interactions with the adcom can really move the needle.

We may be the benchwarmers, but a lot of great careers get started that way!