UCSD: "Acceptable Pool"

I got an e-mail rather than a phone call from UCSD this morning, which means that I was placed in what they call the "Acceptable Pool" of applicants.

This pool is essentially an unranked waiting list. As the admissions season continues, individual applicants within the Acceptable Pool will be selected for admission – we anticipate that the first acceptances from this pool will occur in early May 2009.

What this means for me is that I have quite a bit more waiting and uncertainty ahead. Although I am obviously disappointed in the immediate outcome, I cannot say that I am all that surprised. It's a tricky business balancing hope and positive thinking with the pragmatism of acknowledging that the odds of acceptance are long in such a competitive process. Regardless of the final outcome, I feel comfortable knowing that I had my fair chance at getting into UCSD and that I did everything in my power to maximize that chance.

Still, though, the game is not over. UCSD will be admitting applicants from the Acceptable Pool starting early May and even up through July. Given that I will be preparing for a move to Colorado in the absence of a UCSD acceptance, I have to consider: At what point do I write off UCSD? Early June? Mid-June? July? Right up until the first day of classes at Colorado?