<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>