Has anyone heard of movement off waitlists/alternate lists? My D is an on the waitlist/alternate list for 4 schools. UMN/Guthrie sent an email last week that they will start making offers from the waitlist as early as this week. Also, what is your experience with being permitted to observe a class as a waitlisted student? We’re batting .500.
We were politely asked not to visit when waitlisted for Syracuse.
Some schools allow you to observe a class as a prospective student of any type. Others schedule specific days only for accepted students. Just like every other part of the process there is precious little consistency across institutions.
FWIW My D got an email from DePaul yesterday saying that they will not be offering anyone on the waitlist admissions before the candidate reply date of May 1.
My daughter got a notification of acceptance from NYU Tisch today. They had previously said they would reconsider her application off the waitlist after May 1. So, NYU is going through their wait list now. My daughter had already decided on Pace, so that’s a wait list spot that will pass to somebody.
My D got an email from Guthrie yesterday saying they went to the waitlist Thursday but she would not likely know about her spot on or before May 1 and asking if she’d still like to be considered. My D got admitted off the Pace waitlist and passed so there’s another Pace spot.
^and my D just got off the waitlist at Guthrie. What an incredible 4 days! I am SO grateful she went to visit her waitlist schools. She’s closing her Shakespeare show today and we are sitting with coffee and paper. Decision time! Both SUNY ad Guthrie gave her a few extra days if she needs it.
Wow @artskids! Good luck with your tough decision. Looking forward to seeing what you decide. Waitlist season is interesting.
What great choices to have, @artskids! Enjoy whatever decision your D makes!
Congratulations artskids to you and D!! So happy the waiting brought such great results! 
I know several of you know me from last year’s cycle. I wanted to give you an update:
I experienced some frustrations at DePaul regarding lack of opportunities for BFA Theatre Arts students. The work is very academic and theory-based. I enjoy it - maybe too much. I often find myself stuck in my head, intellectualizing, afraid to take the leap into realizing my ideas. DePaul has, in some ways, broadened my theatrical understanding and strengthened my foundation. In others, however, it has encouraged my tendency to retreat within myself artistically.
I only re-applied to Carnegie, where I was waitlisted last year. Ultimately, I was waitlisted again. This was okay with me. I didn’t fill out the waitlist form and instead focused on finding an apartment and making the most of my prospects here.
…Until Carnegie tracked me down this weekend.
At first, it was just an email from admissions. She was checking to see if I was sure I didn’t want to remain active on the waitlist. It broke my heart, but I told her that was correct - that I had to secure housing for next year and couldn’t risk not having a place to stay in the case I remained on the waitlist. …Then the head of Directing emailed me and asked if I could get out of my housing situation.
Naturally, I panicked. I called my dad, and we spoke for hours. He said I should look into the Carnegie situation and promised we could cancel my lease if it came down to it. Admissions was able to get a financial aid estimate to me within 24 hours - and the offer knocked the wind out of me. I don’t want to disclose specifics, but, in short, finishing my time at DePaul would cost me twice as much as starting from scratch at Carnegie, and I’m already on a generous scholarship. Jed Harris, the head of directing, arranged a phone call with me and made the offer official. He even said that he was glad everything worked out the way it did so that he could extend me an invitation.
So, that’s that. Still in shock, but it’s all set: I’m proud to say that I’ll be attending Carnegie Mellon this coming fall!
Wow @HannahMTheatre!
Oh my gosh @HannahMTheatre - that is amazing. Congratulations!!!
Wow. What a story! Congratulations!
Congratulations @HannahMTheatre ! I watched your journey last year, too. One of my Ds co-auditioners for the BoCo CT program chose the Depaul Theater Arts program instead (and my D strongly considered applying, but ultimately didn’t because of feedback similar to what you provided).
Exciting stuff, @HannahMTheatre ! I followed your journey previously, and we’ve messaged, but I didn’t know you were reapplying to Carnegie Mellon. Sounds like it was meant to be. Best wishes to you!
great news @HannahMTheatre not an easy program to get off the WL. Were you the only one coming off the list?
I remember your saga from last year @HannahMTheatre (I’m a big-time lurker) and this is just amazing that you’re actually going to end up at CM! Congratulations!
Thank you all so much!! I love the community here, and I still lurk the forum regularly myself (all my friends tease me about it!). Obviously, I don’t want to be too hard on DePaul or too negative about my experiences here. My year here is what gave me the boost to make it through to CMU this year - and with a vastly larger financial aid package than I would have received had I been admitted off the waitlist last year. Weirdly enough, that means my year at DePaul has made my education more affordable than it would have been had I gone straight to Carnegie last year. So, if anything, this has only AFFIRMED for me that you really do need to “trust the process.”
I don’t necessarily believe that everything happens for a reason - but I do believe our paths as artists often take odd turns that we can only recognize as conducive to our growth after the fact.
@theatred Yes, I was first on the waitlist and the only one admitted from it!
@HannahMTheatre It’s great that you were open to soaking in the experiences at DePaul while also keeping your critical faculty running in the background. I can only hope for as much for my kids on their journey. Kudos and absolutely best of luck to you!