University of Maryland Waitlist: Acceptance Rate, Timeline, and How to Respond (2027)

What does a waitlist offer mean at the University of Maryland?

At the University of Maryland, College Park a waitlist offer is a place on the “fall semester waitlist,” and it arrives in one of two forms: alongside an offer of spring admission, or alongside a denial. UMD’s Waitlist FAQs address each group separately. To students admitted for spring and waitlisted for fall it says: “Due to space limitations in the fall class, each year we offer many students the opportunity to begin their studies in the spring semester. In addition, a small number of those students are offered a place on the waitlist for the fall semester. If additional spaces become available in the fall class, we may offer fall admission to select students from the waitlist.” To students who were denied it says: “The undergraduate admission process is rigorous and individualized, and admission to UMD has become increasingly competitive. Due to space limitations in the fall class, each year we have to make fine distinctions between many qualified applicants. However, a small number of students who are not offered admission are offered a place on the waitlist for the fall semester” (University of Maryland Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Waitlist FAQs). Our guide to what waitlisted means in college admissions covers the mechanics shared across colleges; the Maryland specifics follow.

The spring route is the part of the UMD answer that other colleges do not have. The Application Deadlines page says, “Freshman students who apply for the fall semester are automatically considered for spring admission,” and the Freshman Admission Decision FAQs describe the companion program: “Freshmen Connection is a fall semester extension program offered to all students admitted for the spring semester” (UMD, Application Deadlines; UMD, Freshman Admission Decision FAQs). The Waitlist FAQs tell spring admits on the list: “Your admission for the spring semester means that you have the opportunity to participate in the Freshmen Connection program during the fall semester. This would allow you to take classes at UMD in the fall.” In our view a student who holds both a spring offer and a fall waitlist place should read the spring offer as the real decision and the waitlist place as a long shot attached to it, because UMD’s own figures, below, show how rarely the fall list is used.

What is the University of Maryland waitlist acceptance rate?

Zero in each of the last four published years. UMD’s Common Data Set 2025-2026 reports that for fall 2025 entry 247 first-year applicants were offered a place on the waiting list, 0 accepted a place and 0 were admitted (University of Maryland Common Data Set 2025-2026, CDS-C). The Common Data Set 2024-2025 reports 250 offered, 0 accepting and 0 admitted for fall 2024; the Common Data Set 2023-2024 reports 290 offered, 0 accepting and 0 admitted for fall 2023; and the Common Data Set 2022-2023 reports 300 offered, 300 accepting and 0 admitted for fall 2022 (UMD Common Data Set 2024-2025; UMD Common Data Set 2023-2024; UMD Common Data Set 2022-2023). The 0 on the “accepting a place” line for the three later years is not a sign that students declined: UMD’s FAQ says “there is no need to take any action to indicate your interest,” so there is no acceptance step to count. A rate of admitted to accepting can therefore be computed for fall 2022, when it is 0.0% by our calculation, and not for the later years, where the count is the answer: 0 admitted of 247 offered for fall 2025. UMD’s own words match the files: “Typically, we admit very few students, if any, from the waitlist. As a result, we advise students to assume that fall admission from the waitlist is unlikely” (UMD, Waitlist FAQs).

Three points follow from the table. First, the list is small and stable: 300, 290, 250 and 247 offers across four years, which is what the FAQ means by “around 250 students.” Second, UMD has published no admit from the list in any of those years, so the FAQ phrase “if any” is, in the files we have reviewed, the operative part. Third, the one year with a ranked answer of Yes, the 2022-2023 Common Data Set, is also the one year with a 300 on the accepting line; the three later files and the FAQ say the list is not ranked, and we treat the FAQ as the current policy. For the admitted class itself see our University of Maryland out-of-state acceptance rate guide; waitlist figures for other colleges are compared in our waitlist rates at top schools guide and in our guides to the UVA waitlist, the UNC Chapel Hill waitlist, the Virginia Tech waitlist, the University of Michigan waitlist and the Georgia Tech waitlist.

When does the University of Maryland release waitlist decisions?

By the end of June. The Waitlist FAQs give one date for the whole list: “All students placed on the waitlist are notified of their final status by the end of June” (UMD, Waitlist FAQs). The page gives no earlier date and does not say whether fall offers go out in rounds; it says that fall admission is offered “If additional spaces become available in the fall class,” which in practice means after admitted students have replied by the May 1 confirmation deadline. The placement itself comes with the admission decision: the FAQ is written for students who were “admitted for the spring semester and placed on the waitlist for the fall semester” or “not offered admission to UMD but was placed on the waitlist.” The Application Deadlines page sets the decision dates for fall freshmen: early action decisions “By Feb. 1,” regular decisions “By April 1,” and an Enrollment Confirmation Deadline of “May 1,” with the regular application deadline on “Jan. 20” (UMD, Application Deadlines). The Freshman Admission Decision FAQs add that “If you were offered fall admission to UMD, you can confirm your enrollment online anytime before May 1,” that spring admits confirm “anytime before November 15,” and that “we cannot reveal admission decisions over the phone or email” (UMD, Freshman Admission Decision FAQs). UMD prints these dates without a year; for the 2026-27 cycle they fall in 2027. The 2027 release dates of other colleges are in our Regular Decision notification dates guide.

What does the University of Maryland ask waitlisted students to do?

Nothing, to stay on the list. Asked “Do I need to indicate my intention to remain on the waitlist?” UMD answers, “No, there is no need to take any action to indicate your interest” (UMD, Waitlist FAQs). There is no form to accept the spot and no deadline to do so, which is why the Common Data Sets for fall 2023 through fall 2025 show 0 on the accepting line. The selection, if it happens, uses the file already submitted: “If we determine that we have additional space available in the fall semester, the Admission Committee conducts a holistic, full-file review of students placed on the waitlist. This review is the same review that is used to determine which students will be offered admission and utilizes the same application review factors.” The FAQ says nothing about letters of continued interest, additional recommendations, new test scores, mid-year grades, financial aid or housing for students admitted from the list; it names no channel for new material and does not say whether any would be read. UMD states no policy on letters, so our letter of continued interest guide does not describe a UMD step.

For spring admits on the list, UMD does ask for one decision. “We encourage you to consider participating in Freshmen Connection and to learn more about it on our website. If you decide to participate, please confirm your enrollment as soon as possible. If you are admitted to the fall semester from the waitlist, your enrollment deposit for the spring will be transferred to the fall” (UMD, Waitlist FAQs). The same page says: “If you are admitted from the waitlist for the fall semester and you have already confirmed participation in Freshmen Connection, your enrollment will automatically be switched to regular fall enrollment.” The deposit is described in the decision FAQs: “This nonrefundable, $400 deposit will reserve your place in the incoming class and will be applied to your tuition” (UMD, Freshman Admission Decision FAQs). Two limits on the spring offer matter here: “Students admitted for the spring semester cannot appeal their decision” and “Students admitted for the spring semester cannot defer to the fall semester.” In our experience at Oriel Admissions, families who hold a UMD spring offer and a fall waitlist place are well served when they decide on Freshmen Connection on its own merits by the confirmation deadline, and treat a later fall offer as a bonus that UMD has already said it will carry the deposit into.

What should a waitlisted University of Maryland student not send?

• Do not send a form or email to accept the spot. UMD: “No, there is no need to take any action to indicate your interest.”
• Do not send a letter of continued interest expecting it to be read as part of the review. The Waitlist FAQs name no such letter and say the review “utilizes the same application review factors” applied to the original file.
• Do not send extra recommendations, essays or test scores to the waitlist. UMD describes the selection as “a holistic, full-file review of students placed on the waitlist” and lists no added materials.
• Do not ask where you stand. UMD: “No, students on the waitlist are not ranked.”
• Do not call or email for the decision. The decision FAQs say, “For security and privacy reasons, we cannot reveal admission decisions over the phone or email.”
• Do not try to appeal or defer a spring offer in order to wait for fall. UMD: “Students admitted for the spring semester cannot appeal their decision,” and “Students admitted for the spring semester cannot defer to the fall semester.”
• Do not skip the deposit at another college, or at UMD for spring, while waiting. UMD advises students “to assume that fall admission from the waitlist is unlikely,” and says the spring deposit “will be transferred to the fall” if a fall offer comes.

All quotations are from the UMD Waitlist FAQs and the UMD Freshman Admission Decision FAQs.

How should a waitlisted student plan April to July 2027?

In our view the plan has four parts. First, treat the UMD waitlist as a closed question and decide on the offers in hand: a student with a UMD spring offer decides on spring enrollment and Freshmen Connection, and a student with no UMD offer chooses among other colleges, with a deposit at one of them by May 1, 2027. UMD itself says to “assume that fall admission from the waitlist is unlikely,” and its Common Data Sets record 0 admits from the list for fall 2022 through fall 2025. Second, do nothing to stay on the list, because UMD asks for nothing, and keep senior grades steady for the college you have chosen rather than for a UMD file that UMD does not say it reopens. Third, do not budget time for a letter: UMD states no policy on letters of continued interest or added materials, so the letter is not a UMD step; our guide on how to get off a college waitlist explains why that differs from college to college. Fourth, if a fall offer arrives before the end of June, UMD has already answered the deposit question for spring admits, whose “enrollment deposit for the spring will be transferred to the fall”; a student deposited elsewhere should check that college’s refund policy, since UMD’s pages do not address it. UMD’s Waitlist FAQs say nothing about financial aid or housing for students admitted from the list, so ask the Office of Student Financial Aid and Resident Life directly if an offer comes. Questions families raise about whether paying in full helps are covered in our guide on whether being full pay helps on a waitlist; UMD does not mention ability to pay in its waitlist answers.

Frequently Asked Questions About the University of Maryland Waitlist

Sources: University of Maryland Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Waitlist FAQs, University of Maryland Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Freshman Admission Decision FAQs, University of Maryland Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Application Deadlines, University of Maryland Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment, Common Data Set index, University of Maryland Common Data Set 2025-2026, University of Maryland Common Data Set 2024-2025, University of Maryland Common Data Set 2023-2024, University of Maryland Common Data Set 2022-2023.

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