WaitList Anecdotes from the Past Please!

<p>What is the likelihood of coming off a waitlist at various schools? What are the pros and cons to accepting a spot from the waitlist? Etc. etc. for those who have been there, done that! I have been reading the threads from last year on this subject but thought it would be nice to collect some stories all in one place for this years applicants.</p>

<p>My dd has 2 solid BFA acceptances (and we are appreciative!) but she has been waitlisted for 4 BFA programs that are higher on her list. She has banned me from sharing anymore personal info so I can't name the schools. However, if we could discuss the subject in general and some programs in particular then I'm sure lots of people would benefit!</p>

<p>Also, due to the flagging economy I'm wondering if the waitlists have more kids than past years...probably no way to know that answer.</p>

<p>I just thought of another question:</p>

<p>When a school says it accepts 30 to fill 15 spots then I assume that a waitlist is above and beyond the 30? So if 15 of the 30 accept their offers then there is no need to go to the waitlist, right?</p>

<p>Re: post #2, yes, right. </p>

<p>However, some schools don’t accept a lot of extras to yield their desired number…examples CMU, UMich, Otterbein…and may need to use a wait list. But most schools do accept more students than they want and so extras are built right in and they only need to go to the wait list if they don’t yield their desired number of freshmen from the “too big” number of students they already accepted.</p>

<p>I know several students who were accepted off the waitlist at a very highly considered acting school (does not have musical theater at all). One is a sophomore and one is a freshman and the way they perceive it, there is no bias at all toward those who came in off the waitlist. No one knows or cares who was in off the wait list or who wasn’t and in fact other students don’t know if the waited kid doesn’t tell them!</p>

<p>I am not sure how financial packages fit in with being waitlisted.</p>

<p>I believe that schools who accept smaller classes are more likely to admit fewer “extras” and thus be more likely to go to the wait list. I know of one 08 college grad who got called off the wait list at 2 schools within a day of each other. She accepted one, went on to a great college career, and landed a national tour soon after graduation.</p>

<p>I personally know of 2 kids who got off waitlists last year - one was around April 1, the other was mid-May. These were both schools that have an under-15 class size. The mid-May one had already put down the required deposit at another school, but happily forfeited it to get into her first choice school.</p>

<p>Also, it has been my experience that waitlists tend not to be organized numerically, but rather by type. It doesn’t help you if a student pulls out, unless it is the same type as your child – if their great tenor dancer pulls out, they are going to go to tenor dancers on their list, and your legit soprano daughter is still waiting.</p>

<p>It happens every year; however, I think for your sanity you have to proceed as if it won’t happen. </p>

<p>As for scholarships, academic ones most likely will still apply, but I would imagine in most cases, talent scholarships will tend to have already been awarded.</p>

<p>As many other posters have said in various threads, if you have eliminated some schools to which you have been accepted, you are doing the schools and other students a great service by notifying the schools as soon as possible that you won’t be accepting their offer.</p>

<p>I concur with everything MusThCC posted above.</p>

<p>A few years ago, our son was accepted to 2 schools where he had been waitlisted. One was a school where he was waitlisted/deferred in early December where they only make offers to very few early on. He was offered acceptance off that waitlist in March. The other school was his final choice, where he auditioned in Jan, notified of waitlist in Mid March, and offered admittance a few short weeks later. This is an extremely small class program - about 8 or 10 - where I believe if one “type” spot is declined by the student, the school then goes to the waitlist for that next best fit student. The first school program where he came off the waitlist is about twice the size of the second, where he wound up attending. Hope this helps. Good luck to you!</p>

<p>Please advise. What is a legit soprano? Is legitimacy determined by range or classical training or both?</p>