Wait List or Deferral? I am confused

There have been CCM waitlists that seem to be more like “holds”, and same with Rider. I thought a WL was the list they went to if they didn’t’ get all their offers after May 1st. These WL are classifieds more as, “we will let you know, but need more time to evaluate your application/audition”. Whaaa? Can anyone share insite?

That’s what I thought it was supposed to be too. But ours are more like a ‘we like him, but stand by while we audition everyone else and we’ll let you know at the end.’ Even if the audition was in the fall. ;/

Deferred or hold is a status some schools use to let you know you are still in the pool from which the class will be selected… Schools that do this generally make all their offers at once. Wait List means that you are not being made an initial offer… But may still get an offer if not enough of their initial offers accept… And some schools wait list by type… So you will only get an offer of someone of your type declines an initial offer.

Good explanation @kategrizz‌!

I think it is yet another example of schools doing things differently. One of the things that genuinely tested my sanity (or at least my control issues) last year was the fact that there seemed to be no consistency from school to school. It was like figuring out the rules to a dozen games at the same time!

The way I take it is holds and deferrals mean no final decision has been made yet… no yes, no no, no waitlist. A waitlist is a yes IF room in the program opens up. The schools sure seemed to be using this more this year than last at least.

I think that MTMajorCook has it right. A deferral is a ‘you’re still in the running until we see everyone’s audition’ and then a decision, yes or no or waitlist, will be made. A waitlist is a ‘Yes decision, we’ve made all of our offers but if we do not receive sufficient numbers of yes responses, we will then go to the waitlist of those we have already decided are a yes’. Some schools may be using different terminology but these descriptions are how it generally works. Best thing is to inquire if you receive one of these notifications and ask for an explanation.

Instead of “deferred”, some schools used to put students on “priority hold” if they were still in the running but no final determination had been made. Texas State and CCM both used this terminology. That was a 2 years ago so not sure if they’re using the same terminology this year.