<p>D just got her first notification of a wait list. She is very discouraged, as this school is not one of the 6 or 8 best known schools (yet) for clarinet. She is wondering how she could possibly be admitted to a more competitive program at this point. We are wondering if this has ever happened to anyone out there. Many thanks.</p>
<p>It happens. When an audition is involved there is no certainty and no such thing as a “safety,” only schools where admission may be more likely than at others. There are many reasons why she may have been waitlisted. For example, some schools are reputed to waitlist applicants who are well above the average there because the school feels that they are being used as a safety and the student is really not interested in attending. For another, she may have inadvertently run afoul of one teacher’s idiosyncratic pet peeve and would have been fine anywhere else.</p>
<p>Some questions to ask:
Did she think the audition went well and that she played up to her abillity?
Did she receive feedback from the judges? If so, was it in line with what she thought about her playing? If not, would the judges be willing to tell her how they thought she could improve? It is very important to get feedback, especially when the outcome of the audition is not the one you wanted.
Do you know how many clarinets that program intends to admit this year? If the number happens to be smaller than usual, then this particular school may be a tougher admit than one of the better-known schools on her list in a year in which the better-known school needs more clarinets than usual.
Might she play in a style or with a technique that is not favored by the judges at that school, but that might be perfectly fine with judges at some of her other schools?
Was this an up-and-coming program with a good teacher and lower tuition than programs of similar strength? If so, a lot of very good applicants may apply there.</p>
<p>This is not the time for her to start questioning herself. She has to shake off that audition and start thinking about the next one.</p>
<p>Something very similar happened to my older sister, but for academics, not music. She was waitlisted at her backup state school but accepted at her top choice, a fairly competitive school, and much more competitive than her backup. We were all pretty confused.</p>
<p>The level of “weirdness” in music school admissions decisions seems to be amplified even more. When you’re evaluating something so subjective, the results don’t always come out as you might expect. I’d say it’s actually pretty common that everyone has at least one “surprise” when the letters start coming out - sometimes a good one, sometimes bad. I’m sure this feels like a setback for you and your daughter, but don’t give up hope. If your daughter has prepared well and been guided in the right direction, she WILL get in somewhere. Hang in there, and know that things will work out for the best.</p>
<p>I can’t remember the original post but there is an anecdote that hopefully one of the Dads will remember about voice mjaor being rejected by every school including safeties and still accepted at her reach/dream school which I believe was Eastman. So do not give up hope.
About wait lists, we were at a very good state school’s audition over the weekend and they explained their use of the wait list for earlier audiiton dates. Since they have about 700 applicants for 160 spots, they will wait list very good players earlier in the process so that they haven’t filled all the spots before the end of all the auditions. They did say that they will resolve all the waitlist applicants by March 15. A good friend of my son was waitlisted at this school (friend’s first choice) earlier in the season but he is still very optimistic about being accepted. So don’t give up hope and encourage her to keep practicing for the next audition.</p>
<p>There is no logic to this process, the transitive theory doesn’t apply (I applied at X and Y, Y is better then X, X rejected me, so Y will reject me), each audition is its own unique set of parameters. On top of everything else, most high level programs require pre screens, which means that the one scenario where this might in fact be true (i.e the student and their teacher totally are clueless about the levels and aren’t even good enough for the second tier school) is not likely, since the pre screen would weed this out. </p>
<p>There are a lot of theories out there why this happens, common ones are the ‘safety’ school realizes the auditioner is doing so as a safety, that the student because it was a second tier school didn’t really try on the audition, and so forth. The reality is the audition process is a crapshoot in the top tiers of schools, and all you can count on, as another poster said, was to be surprised. I have heard of and known students who got into what are considered creme de la creme schools, like Curtis and Juilliard and so forth, and gotten rejected from a string of lower tier schools. One big thing to keep in mind is your D could have auditioned at the school that rejects her, and it could be that the program didn’t have an opening in the department she was in whereas a higher level program might have more slots and she gets in…</p>
<p>Probably doesn’t lessen the anxiety much, but I wouldn’t put much weight on the wait list at the ‘safety’ school and don’t add anxiety when you don’t have to:)</p>
<p>I agree with the others that the number of slots makes a huge difference. In the case of my D, some of the better known conservatories (Juilliard, NEC) actually accept considerably more students (8-10+) than say Rice (1) or Oberlin (4). I’m not saying that either is easy to get into, but the numbers do make a difference. Besides, depending on the school, being waitlisted isn’t bad. Some of the schools waitlist until all auditions are completed. </p>
<p>Last year, D’s good friend got rejected at her first 6 schools only to get admitted to CMU, her first choice. You just never know!</p>
<p>The process is crazy. My D’s first audition was at her “safety” and she was rejected a week later. Go figure. She was accepted to her first choice and is waiting to hear from four others. Not sure if we can pay for the “dream school”, so we’re waiting to see what her package looks like.</p>
<p>As an undergrad, the only school that D got a rejection from was her “safety”. And we REALLY thought it was a sure thing. She didn’t even get in the door for an audition.</p>
<p>Momofbassist, it was sopranomom92’s D <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/897086-things-we-learned-music-application-process.html?highlight=things+learned[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/897086-things-we-learned-music-application-process.html?highlight=things+learned</a>
as detailed in the first post there.</p>
<p>Back in the beginning when we began the Master Lists, we also included rejections if they were reported. If you scan the '07 Master Acceptances thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/310197-master-list-music-school-acceptances.html?highlight=Master[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/310197-master-list-music-school-acceptances.html?highlight=Master</a>, there are a few “odd” accepted here/rejected there combinations.</p>
<p>Just a thought, particularly in smaller programs or studios with limited openings where the applied faculty will teach music ed and performance majors is that it is very conceivable that a very strong music ed candidate may win out over an equal or potentially greater performance applicant. One thing to remember is that EACH department may have specific needs, and requirements to maintain an optimum mix.</p>
<p>And this summation I had compiled in an unrelated thread applies to the OP’s point as well: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10151085-post90.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/10151085-post90.html</a></p>
<p>The audition gods are not necessarily kind.</p>
<p>violadad, your link (to the unrelated thread) should be framed and placed at the top of this forum!! D is feeling better today. Loved the “camel trading”. I’ve always suspected there was a lot of that. Appreciate everyone’s words of wisdom.</p>
<p>Pass the Dramamine: We just found out this morning that D got accepted to the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance! This is certainly one of her “dream” schools!! What a rollercoaster ride.</p>
<p>Congratulations CLRN8 and your D!!! Yes, it sure is a rollercoaster!</p>
<p>Congrats CLRN8!</p>
<p>So, after all, the light at the end of the tunnel was NOT an oncoming train!</p>
<p>Congrats! If it helps, I know someone who got into Yale EA and deferred from Binghamton.</p>
<p>CLRN8MOM,</p>
<p>I have taken the liberty of adding your news over on the acceptance thread, <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a-12.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a-12.html</a></p>
<p>I assume that this is for a BM in clarinet performance. Please let me know if that is not correct and I will change the information there.</p>
<p>Yes BassDad, she is in for Clarinet Performance.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the good wishes! We called the school to double check. It is so hard to believe that our marching band girl has made it into such a great music school! It is so exciting.</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS!! I’m so happy for you and your daughter.</p>
<p>CLRN8MOM, Congratulations, and glad the boulder has been removed from your shoulders!</p>
<p>I’m late to the party here, but I would like to point out the obvious – that a wait list is NOT a rejection. They did see something they liked, but had reasons to offer the spot to someone else first.</p>
<p>Congrats, CLRN8MOM and D! That is great news!</p>