<p>No call here in Illinois :(</p>
<p>(RD to CIT, 1550/800/800/780/750)</p>
<p>How do you know for sure that you're in if you've received a phone call?</p>
<p>I don't think that you can bank on the phone call at all. If it is important then thats great, but I doubt it. About the interview, I wanted to schedule an alumni interview and I e-mailed the admissions office. They replied and said not to worry about it. I would email them if you want to schedule one. It would be interesting to see if they say the same thing to you.</p>
<p>sgiovinc...sorry I have not checked this forum in a very long time but was just reading this thread now and I am just curious what draws you to make the conclusion that a phone call from a current student at CMU indicates an admission? On what do you base such an inference or conclusion? </p>
<p>I cannot imagine this to be true but if I heard your reason, it would help. My D is an applicant. She got such a call a few months ago. I KNOW she was not IN at that point because at CMU, as an applicant to the musical theater BFA program, 90% of her admission rides on her audition. She had that audition three days ago. She got another call from a current student last night which we brushed off as meaningless in terms of admissions and assume that all candidates get such a call if they have questions. I mean I highly doubt she was accepted within two days of her audition. They said decisions go out in March. </p>
<p>If you are reading this, can you indicate what you are basing such a statement on as in your post regarding meaning a candidate is IN? Just curious, thanks.</p>
<p>Check the other thread... As I said earlier, when I talked to one of the kids who makes the calls he said they are just to let kids know where the process is.</p>
<p>If you read my response, you would know that I said.."You're in! Not necessarily to the program fo your choice, but you're in!" I can only relate that my D got such a phone call early on before admittance letters were sent out asking her if she had any questions about the school, etc. I just so happened to receive the call that day. She never called back as it was NOT really her first choice school although it became her first choice when she spent a sleeping bag weekend there. She WAS ultimately admitted to her first choice Mellon College of Science and so did choose to go there. She is having a great time coupled with a fine education, I might add. My only other observation from these posts is that they are trying to lure girls into the school as it is predominantly boys...and are attempting to create more of a balance between the sexes. While I am not sure whether the audition for anyone's daughter is going to make or break her acceptance, I am curious as to whether anyone else's daughter might have applied to other schools at the university and also received a call. It seems to me that it is the university's attempt to attract, like I said before, female enrollees. I think you have a slight edge if you are a female applicant for CMU. I would be interested in knowing if my theory is correct...and would be surprised if SOOZIEVIET's daughter is NOT accepted to CMU. My take is that the application has made it through the first round and the applicant will be accepted to the school SOMEWHERE! Anyway..good luck. I cannot see them expending all the time, student energy, and funds for long distance calls to students that they haven't at least given cause for serious consideration for their school. Wouldn't make any sense if they did that!!!! </p>
<p>GOOD LUCK ONCE AGAIN.</p>
<p>SUE G.</p>
<p>BTW, the call from the student was from a FEMALE currently enrolled in CMU. I suspected that she would be sharing with my D how there was no cause to be alarmed about the male/female ratio, etc. Not that my D would have a problem with that!!!! She has two older brothers and consider male friends to be the most supportive, sympathetic, and "faithful" of all her friendships!!!</p>
<p>sgiovinc...It seems to me, therefore, that you are using both experience and logic to make that conclusion. As far as the experience end of it, your D got such a call and then was admitted. I am not sure how one can conclude if you are called, you are admitted. Have you ever spoken to anyone who was called and not admitted? I am not sure it follows necessarily, in other words, even though that is what happened in your D's case. On the logic end of it, it makes sense somewhat but again, one cannot state that if you are called, you are in. As I mentioned, we got a call from a current student months ago to talk to my D and I KNOW she was not yet in the running for CMU as she had not had her audition yet. </p>
<p>I realize that you are not up on the audition process or the competitiveness of the BFA programs at CMU (nor would expect you to be as your child did not apply for that). My child is ONLY an applicant for that and nothing else. If she is not accepted into the BFA, she will not be accepted to CMU. She would only go there for BFA anyway so that is a moot point. For the BFA programs at CMU, the head of the program stated this past Saturday at auditions that they will audition 1200 kids for 18 BFA slots for Acting and for 10 BFA slots for Musical Theater (my D auditioned for the latter). For musical theater, they will accept only 10 kids for the 10 slots. They do not accept extras to yield ten. They will go to a waitlist if someone does not accept the offer. This program is one of the top 3-4 programs in the country for this field. As you can see, the odds are very very very slim to be admitted. Further, I am 100% positive that 90% of the admission decision rests on the actual AUDITION....it is in all their literature and was stated at the auditions. Just wanted to clarify those facts as it differs from what you posted in this regard. </p>
<p>So, I am not going to go by "you're IN! but just not to the program of your choice" because she can ONLY be accepted for a BFA but nothing else as she only applied to that and has indicated she would not go for anything else. As well she got such a call a long time ago and again this week. I would have to hear someone state if there were kids out there who got such calls who were not accepted to draw any conclusions. At this point, I am assuming these were outreach calls. </p>
<p>By the way, the student who called my daughter a few months ago was male. The one who called this week was female. Again, your logic makes some sense but it is not factual. Actually in the drama program, we were told that they will accept more boys usually than girls even though more GIRLS audition for it. They said that this field has more opportunities for males and so they try to keep their program aligned as far as slots for males in it. There are definitely more girls who apply than boys for this degree program as witnessed at every audition we have been to this season, including at CMU.</p>
<p>I only WISH your statement was true about the audition not making or breaking the admission decision for mine or anyone else's kid. But I can tell you it is what the decision rides on! And that is true at all her schools.</p>
<p>My D applied to the School of Design...had her portfolio review at end of Jan. The prof who reviewed was most positive and encouraging, but, of course, made no commitment.</p>
<p>She also stayed for sleeping bag weekend, and loved it. CMU is her first choice school by a wide margin.</p>
<p>She got her phone call Mon. night from a very nice young girl. "just letting you know that you app. is complete and is being reviewed, and did you have any ??s" D really didn't have any ??s that hadn't already been addressed at her official visit last summer, or at the portfolio review, so call was short and sweet.</p>
<p>What they are telling the applicants is all info readily available on your own, by checking the 'where am I in the process' site. You can see right away if your file is complete and that it has been read, at least for the first round. You can also see what finaid forms you need to get in.</p>
<p>Logic tells me that these phone calls have no bearing on admittance. But would CMU really waste these student interns' time calling all the applicants the school had no interest in?? This is their busiest time of year....isn't there filing or paper shuffling or something more pressing for these kids to do? Why would they want to initiate a dialogue and possibly put their interns on the spot, having to answer pointed ??s from applicants that CMU assumes will find a better mutual fit elsewhere?</p>
<p>OR...is this all wishful thinking on my part??!!</p>
<p>BEACHY and SOOZIEVIET: Please do let me know if your D's are accepted. My theory still stands regardless of other's attempts at dissuading me from what I consider to be a "cost effective" approach to attempting to lure in success oriented young females. The only glitch may be in SOOZIEVIET's D's case. It may be that they place potential female applicants who are "very likely" in a telephone calling pile without regard for program. In that case, SOOZIEVIET's D may have been put in that pile without serious regard for the difficulty that entrance into that program entails. I may be wrong, but in following all of SOOZIEVIET's postings, I still believe her D has a really great shot at acceptance..and how they love those kids from the more obscure states!!!!! like Vermont and Utah.....and, when my S was at Harvard, had a friend from S. Dakota, too!!! Just an opinion....let's see if my theory holds up. PLEASE keep me posted as CONGRATS may be in order!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!</p>
<p>will do, SGIOVINC1.....but I did think of a possible fly in the ointment here, at least as far as my D goes...I know CMU is heavily male and would be looking to recruit females, but as far as the School of Design alone goes, my info, if I remember back to last summer right (and that is questionable, since I sometimes can't remember dinner 3 nights ago!!), is that their enrollment is pretty much split 50/50 m/f. So that would make my D just 'one of the gang' in the applicant pool there....no female advantage.</p>
<p>Sgiovinc...I only WISH being from Vermont could help her chances to get into the BFA program for MT ;-). Believe me, it won't in this case. That might be so in the general scheme for admissions to college but not when they are taking 10 kids and 1200 audition. It WILL revolve around the audition. Being female will not help. In fact, in applying for a BFA in MT at ANY college, it kinda hurts, not helps. As anyone familiar with admissions to BFA programs in theater could tell you, many many more females apply/audition, than males. It is harder to get in as a female than male....too many vying for same number of slots as boys get. For instance, at some programs, we are told 400 will be auditioning for BFA in Musical Theater for 20 slots. They will give equal slots to boys and girls. But it is a fact that the breakdown of audition kids is not 200 female and 200 male. Way more are female but they are vying for the same number of slots that males get. It gets even worse in this regard at CMU. They said they do not attempt to give five slots to males and five to females of the ten slots offered. They tend to take more males because in their view, there are more opportunities for males to make it in this field and so their numbers reflect that. So, you have not only way more girls auditioning than boys but more slots may go to boys. The long shot odds for a girl to get a slot here is quite daunting. But thank you for believing in my daughter. I believe in her as well but there are way more highly talented kids out there than 10 and they only take ten. So, while I believe she is "good enough", we are both aware of the difficult odds. And unfortunately there is no advantage in this program to being female, and it is actually a disadvantage. Nor is there an advantage from being from rural Vermont. Also there is a lot of subjectivity in admissions for this kind of program, which depends little on the stats on the application itself. It is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. But hey, I hope my D gets in, Jamimom's S, and Beachy's D too! Would be so great!</p>
<p>Also, I don't see on the website where they actually indicate that your application is being read or has been read. It only lists which documents are received or complete. The admissions office told me they will mail out decision March 21 and that they will go online March 24. Maybe if you see something about the application being read and I do not, it is cause for my D, FIRST she must make it past the audition and be in this teeny pile that gets sent to the admissions office and then they make sure she is ok academically to get in. That is the process so it does differ from some others' experiences here who are just going through the admissions office only.</p>
<p>soozie....on my D's 'where am I...' page, under Admission Documents Received, there is a listing starting with most recent date first...the older ones show her app arriving, test scores, teacher recs, etc.....then there is an entry dated early Jan. that says 'Folder pulled, Committee read'....this would have been a good 3 weeks before her portfolio review.</p>
<p>You may be right about the theatre kids not having their apps read until AFTER they audition, but do you think the same theory would apply for the design. architecture and fine arts kids - who all need portfolio reviews?? Now I'm really confused....</p>
<p>beachy, I have no clue. I did not notice that statement on my D's page. But my thinking is (and it is "thinking", not fact) with the BFA theater students, if they have 1200 audition and they take 10 for musical theater and 18 for acting, I can't imagine reading 1200 files for nothing. They said that 90% of the decision is based on the audition. So, once the dept. files the list of kids they want, I think they have to pass the academic "muster" at admissions. I really doubt they go through 1172 academic files for nothing. At OTHER schools, many actually say that once the dept. gives a list of who they want, THEN the list goes to admissions who decide on the rest of the decision. In my D's case, only NYU does this differently, as they weigh the audition 50% and the academics 50% and both those processes are going on simultaneously. So, for my kid, I doubt CMU is going through her file unless she lucks out to be one of the ten chosen. I can't say how it works for design. I have another D who is a college freshman with an interest in architecture who was at one point going to look at CMU but then decided against the five year BArch degree and opted for a liberal arts degree in architectural studies (would have to go to grad school for MArch). So, I never went through the portfolio review process as she opted out of that type of degree program. She is now at Brown. I wish I could answer how it works for your D's dept. but I can't and maybe you can talk to someone in it. I am only familiar with the BFA programs as that is what we researched and also just returned from CMU and heard the presentation, spoke to current students, one of which is my D's friend, etc. </p>
<p>Fingers crossed for your daughter. I will try to read here in a few weeks to check how it is all going. Seems like there will be three weeks to go for this school.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>soozie - the BFA in Design works like NYU's program, I'm told, with 50% portfolio and 50% academic. I think they admit around 40 from an applicant pool of several hundred.</p>
<p>I agree with you that it would be a huge waste of time to plow through all the theatre apps, knowing a large percentage of them won't pass the audition part. Would think the audition review committee would pass along about 20-25 names to academic review, knowing that a percentage of them won't pass academic muster and that they will offer admission to maybe 12-13, assuming a handful will attend elsewhere....though why would you NOT attend CMU for theatre, unless finances are a big consideration, as is the case with us.</p>
<p>Beachy, now that you explained the review process for a candidate for Design, I would think they ARE reading your D's application file at the same time as the dept. reviews her portfolio, similar to my D's process at NYU only (for her BFA program). But at CMU for theater, I imagine the academic file only being looked at for the ten kids who the dept. wants to make offers to. Also, while your logic makes sense to make offers to 12-13 kids to yield ten for BFA in MT, other programs do exactly that (they tell us this at auditions) but CMU does not. They said they will only make ten offers for the ten slots and then have a waitlist for slots that are declined. My D's friend, a freshman in the program got in last May off that waitlist. The reason that CMU does not make additional offers beyond the slots is that it is a prestigious program where the yield is high (many WILL take the offer) and they are small and do not want to risk having all 13 (for example) say yes, they will come when they only want 10. Another prestigious program in this field, UMich, said that they want ten boys and ten girls. But last year, they accepted 14 boys for the ten slots and all fourteen said YES, we'll come! So, they had more than they ideally wanted. This year, UMich they said they would make offers to 12 girls and 12 boys to yield ten of each, and then go to a waitlist. </p>
<p>I also don't think the audition committee is going to pass along 20-25 names for academic review at CMU for Musical Theater (as you surmised) because this particular school is NOT weighing the academics too much for this program and I think the bar is not that high so unless a kid is quite below it, they likely can pass this "muster". This is true at many of the BFA programs for MT. The ones where I believe the academic part is set higher than most are at NYU and UMich. Everywhere else, including CMU, do not set the bar that high for the academic portion and many can pass over it, and the audiiton is the main factor. For instance, I have NO worry for the academic review at this program for my kid (though frankly, she has quite good stats but I mostly mean that you don't even have to have ones as high as hers to pass the academic muster for this program). The theater tour guide, a current BFA student in acting, even said all this and that he was not a good student for the most part ;-).</p>
<p>Your D's situation is different and frankly, the odds seem better too which I am real happy for you. I hope she let them know that CMU is her first choice. I HOPE she gets it!!!
Susan</p>
<p>soozie...thanks for the good wishes....am keeping fingers crossed for your D, as well.</p>
<p>The only school at CMU I know of that makes a real conscientious effort to attract more females is the School of Computer Science, where my S is a student. And I think it's a little easier for CIT for females. The M/F ratio has been lowering in recent years so it's now a respectable 3/2 or maybe better in the latest classes. Enough schools have that kind of ratio, I've been there many times and it isn't so noticeably lop-sided. Quite a few schools have the opposite, near 3/2 F/M.</p>
<p>I can't help but think gender has nothing to do with these phone calls, but I could be wrong. The phone calls may just be a PR tactic to get a more personal touch into the cold, impersonal process of college admissions. Long distance calls (cell phones esp) can be cheap, and I would guess they are using students on work study (working in admissions) making $10 per hour to make the calls, so it might be fairly cost effective. I doubt if the calls have much to do if you are in or not.</p>
<p>Good luck D's of beachy and soozievt. I knew MT programs were selective but I didn't appreciate how much. And I thought the computer science was tough getting in...</p>
<p>thank you for the good luck wishes. yes, the general public would be unaware of the competitive nature of BFA musical theater programs. They hear the name of the college itself and think, gee, that school is not that hard to get into. For example, Penn State. The musical theater program, like the other seven my D applied to, takes 5% of applicants. They auditioned 350 kids and take 16. That is not what people might imagine if you say you got into Penn State. Not that any of this matters but simply making the distinction that the admit rate into these programs is nothing like the admit rate in the colleges themselves. Frankly, it is worse than the Ivy League and I had thought that elite admissions with my first child (currently a freshman at Brown) were tough odds! </p>
<p>CMU's BFA program in MT and in Acting are tops in the field. So, besides the extremely low admit rate, it is likely even more competitive than the other low admit rate programs due to its reputation. And of course, CMU as a univesity itself is UP there! </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>just as a note, i'm male (asian-indian) and got the call. applied to mech eng... :)</p>