<p>Two of the schools my son auditioned for sent him letters saying that his decision had been deferred due to "limited studio space". One school sent such a letter about 10 days ago, and then a week later he got a final rejection letter. It was again couched in terms of "limited studio space".</p>
<p>The second school's deferral letter came today, with a promise of a final decision by the end of March. This one referred to needing to hear all auditionees before making a final decision - but the date of the letter was a week after the last audition date.</p>
<p>Can anyone shed some light on what all this could mean? Should we take the second letter to be foreshadowing of a rejection? Does anyone know of someone who received a deferral letter, but later was accepted? Is "limited studio space" a catch-all, used even for outright rejections?</p>
<p>Sorry for the angst....my son has received other acceptances, and even scholarship money, but the school in limbo is high on the list.</p>
<p>Are there two or more faculty members involved in making the decision? If so, they may be trying to decide who will get the last spot or two and they are not yet in agreement. They know that other schools have sent out decisions by now and are trying to encourage you not to send in an acceptance elsewhere until they have made up their mind. I'd say your son still has a shot, but it could go either way.</p>
<p>Is your son a legacy? In that case, it could also be a polite rejection as some schools have a policy of not sending outright rejections to legacies.</p>
<p>The timing relative to the last audition is not all that suspicious, particularly if the teachers involved are also looking at taped auditions held elsewhere. It simply takes time to digest and compare all that they have heard and make the last couple of difficult decisions. Then it takes more time to get the information to the admissions office and for them to send it out. Having everything done a week after the last audition would be quite fast.</p>
<p>"Limited studio space" is the equivalent of "we get more qualified applicants than we can possibly accept." It can mean anything from "you weren't even close" to "we think you would have done well here and would really have liked to accept you but we had to draw the line somewhere and unfortunately you ended up on the wrong side of it."</p>
<p>Hang in there. We did not get the last rejection letter (at daughter's first choice school) until April 1 and the wait nearly drove us nuts. Don't let anyone bully you into an early decision over scholarship money because you can always send in a formal request to have until May 1 to make that decision.</p>
<p>It seems to mean the same thing as "wait list".....and it means there is only so much room in the studios and the ensembles for the instrument, and once they have assurances of other (higher ranked?) players matriculating into the slots, they release remaining acceptable students. It does mean that your son plays well enough for their standards, but other students played better, unless it is a school which really pays attention to grades and scores as a dominant factor. He has other choices, from what you have said, and he will enjoy being a place where he is appreciated. Good luck.</p>
<p>Tend to agree it is probably like a wait list situation. They likely are waiting to hear from other students that did better in their audition to see if they take the spots offered.</p>
<p>I would say wait it out unless it means losing the scholarship or second choice schools offer.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the input. I'm not sure about the rationale behind waiting to see if accepted students enroll - they have until May 1 to decide, and his letter said that a final decision would be coming by the end of March.</p>
<p>Yes, my son's a legacy (thus creating the angst on my part - how dare they not accept him! ;-). He also had a nice, fun visit with the professor a year ago, spending 2 1/2 hours with her and getting lots of advice. So I'm sure any rejection will be a polite ambiguous one.</p>
<p>I'm a bit more calm now....he has four acceptances, 2 rejections, and a deferral. Of the acceptances, one is a clear front-runner, and we're very excited for him. But I certainly will be glad when it's all over! Thank again, all.</p>
<p>I know how hard this is, especially when you have your own attachments to a school. When my D applied to grad school a number of years ago to my alma mater and no money was forthcoming, nor was there anything positive said (when she called to inquire) about where she might have ranked, I was sorely embarrassed (I had made calls to colleagues) and angry, so when they sent mailings asking for money, I was not complimentary in my reply. THe dean saw my letter, investigated the situation, and discovered that the wrong information had been communicated, and in fact she was at the top of their list, but they only had one grant to give, and it was going to have to go to sustain already present doctoral student......they wanted her very much. She went elsewhere, not because of the money (she did get money elsewhere, but it cost us more because of oos difference) but rather because she did not feel wanted. They changed several procedures about graduate awards, and I received calls from the dean and numerous faculty members about the situation. At the end of it, she went to a much better school, made better contacts, and she (and I) are very glad about how it evolved.</p>
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<p>my son's a legacy (thus creating the angst on my part - how dare they not accept him! ;-). >></p>
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<p>I hate to say it, but being a legacy might help your child with academic acceptance to a college or university...but it will NOT help that same child get accepted into a music program that requires an audition. Also, the "date of the last audition" does not translate necessarily into the date that all auditions are heard. Often schools have regional auditions where the prospective students are video taped. The faculty then reviews all of these videos. This can take a significant amount of time to do. Prior to my son's applications to colleges, he found out how many students were going to be accepted on his instrument and decided not to apply to places where there was potentially one opening only...with one exception. He really wanted a chance to study with a particular teacher and that teacher was accepting only one student into his studio (I would call that "limited studio space). DS did not get accepted. He got a personal letter, however, from that teacher before he got his letter from the university, saying that he had done very well and had all that the university wanted in a student. BUT there was only one opening. Our guess is that it went to an instate student. Good luck with the choices your student does have. I would guess he'll find his place. These auditions (and waiting) are very trying.</p>