<p>D found out last week that she was waitlisted for Vocal Performance at her top school, Carnegie Mellon University. On further investigation, the school of music admissions officer told her she was at the top of the list and would be called if and when a soprano spot (of which I think there are only four) opens up. My question is, should I encourage her to move on or let her keep her hopes up about CMU? Does anyone have experience with CMU waitlist status or with acceptance/rejection after waitlisting at other schools? D has had a long and somewhat disappointing audition process, and I'm anxious to keep her spirits up and make sure she feels good about the place she ends up at. She has two offers from smaller colleges with excellent scholarships, but is caught up in the "prestigiousity" of the bigger name schools and conservatories. She has still to hear from three more schools, but with every day that passes with no news, her spirits droop. Any thoughts or advice?</p>
<p>I don’t know about CMU’s wait list, but it is a bit early in the process to lose hope on schools that have not yet responded, particularly so if there are not a lot of acceptances being announced by other voice majors there. There is another week before the acceptance deadline, and some schools have been known to take a week to ten days longer than that almost every year. Based on past years of the Master List of Music School Acceptances, we will probably hear about more acceptances in the next two to three weeks than we have in the prior four months. Tell her to hang in there - this is the hardest part and it will be over soon enough.</p>
<p>Annie43:
I would encourage your daughter to hang in there with CMU. Don’t forget, this is a very expensive school, so there’s a chance someone who gets in may not be able to afford it if not enough scholarship money.</p>
<p>annie43,
If they say your daughter is at the top of the list then she might have a very good chance of getting in. Especially because many of the top conservatories with joint programs such as NEC and NYU and Juilliard have not yet sent admissions notices out. Also keep in mind it takes some students a while to compare and contrast packages.</p>
<p>Last year the last school my son heard from was Eastman and he was waitlisted. Since my son had already gotten accepted at other schools he wanted to go to, he was not upset and I was relieved as Eastman was not high on my list due to distance from home. Then 4 days later Eastman emailed him not only with an acceptance but more $$ and then a week later more $$. </p>
<p>Now at a certain point the pool of players getting admitted to top conservatories gets small. And when I talked with the teacher at Eastman I learned that he only had one spot in his studio. So I have a pretty good idea of who the first student was and where that first student had decided to go. Meanwhile because Eastman’s financial offer was significant we did not automatically reject them. Why? Because my son’s top choice school was slow to get back to us about $$ and also we wanted to see if we could get a bit more from them once they did. So it took us a while before my son told Eastman that he was not going there and that meant that the third person on the list probably was in a holding pattern.</p>
<p>Try to remind your daughter that being so high up on the waiting list is a good thing and hopefully she will get more good news in the next couple of days. I remember how hard this was. My son only cared about one admission and until that admission came he was so nervous and twisted out of shape.</p>
<p>Thanks for the words of encouragement BassDad and Pinkvocal. I hadn’t really thought about it from the perspective of scholarships. Of course, that cuts both ways–since D was not among their first choices, it may be unlikely they will give her scholarship money. She has outstanding academics, but that’s probably not going to help her at CMU where, in disciplines other than the arts, great GPA/SATs are the norm. CMU describes its financial aid policy as meeting need–though I’m sure their assessment of need is different from mine!</p>
<p>Thanks, Stacjip–you son’s story may give her hope. I so envy the parents whose students are taking traditional academic course and have a much simpler application process! Most of D’s friends know where they are going in Fall, and have worked out housing and room mates. We are so far behind the curve!</p>
<p>Annie43:
We know that CMU acceptances are a 2 step process. Did your D get wait listed on the initial letter
that came out mid month?
Or was she wait listed by the admissions office after receiving a positive first letter?</p>
<p>She got her first and only letter about a week ago, telling her that it was good news that she was waitlisted. We followed up with the admissions officer in the music school who told her she was first on the list should another singer with the same voice part drop out. I think by the “two-step process”, you mean acceptance by the school of music, followed by academic acceptance by the university. We’re not worried about the second part, since her academics are excellent, just the first hurdle with the school of music. The irony of having a high-achieving academic student fail to get into good schools because of an auditioned major is not lost on me. I’m acutely aware that had she chosen any other path, her plans would be set by now. Oh, the agony of being a music parent!</p>
<p>Undergrads have until May 1st to submit their acceptances with deposit so there is more than a month lag time here. Some schools are letting the kids know early this year, while many will hold until the 4/1 deadline.
If your D really wants to attend CMU it would be wise for her to contact the admissions office and make sure that they are well aware of that interest. If she has had a lesson with a particular teacher and was aiming for that studio, she should e-mail or call her/him and again, express a real desire to be there. Schools really do make note of those who have them as a first choice!</p>
<p>Thanks, Mezzo’sMama, D has already re-expressed her interest and clearly told the admin officer that CMU is her first choice–she loved it there when we visited and thought it would be a good fit. Unfortunately, we don’t have the budget for another trip, especially since there is no offer.</p>
<p>What about in Oberlin? Just received an email that said that I am put in wait list. I am applying for piano performance anyway…</p>
<p>I think the waitlist can vary from school to school and year to year. My son was waitlisted at one one school and when we contacted the teacher, he told us that he would not get in off the waitlist. Son was very disappointed but at least we knew he could move on. I think it is worth contacting the school and finding out if they think they may be moving to their waitlist and what position you are on the waitlist. Some years schools hit their targets, sometimes they are under and go to the waitlist and other years they are over target. If you are one or 2 on the list, I wouldn’t give up hope.</p>
<p>Any thoughts here on undergraduate piano performance programs at Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt, Florida State, and Michigan? DS was waitlisted at Michigan and accepted to the other three. He is having a tough time deciding!</p>
<p>WAstamper, I have added your son’s acceptances over at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1427644-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2013-a-41.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1427644-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2013-a-41.html</a></p>
<p>When he makes a decision, please let us know so that I can add that to the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1457188-master-list-music-school-final-decisions-fall-2013-a-3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1457188-master-list-music-school-final-decisions-fall-2013-a-3.html</a></p>
<p>Good luck to him. You may want to check out the decision lists from prior years (there are links on the first page of each year’s acceptance and decision threads) in order to see if there are any other piano majors at those schools who you may be able to PM once you get up to 15 posts.</p>
<p>Thank you BassDad, FYI, DS was also accepted at Shenandoah Conservatory and University of Maryland. Glad the audition process is over! Now to wade through the financial aid offers!</p>