In advance of admissions decisions being posted, I suggest students do some research on how the schools they applied to use their waiting list. Most students will be wait-listed at one of the schools they applied to. Institution specific waiting-list data is available on the Common Data set for each school and provides an illustration of your chances of earning an offer of admission after being wait-listed.
You may be surprised to know that many institutions take less than 5% of the students they place on the waiting list. Be informed so you aren’t left waiting when you should be moving on.