<p>NotMamaRose, many of the students I know did audition at the unifieds but also did some auditions outside of them, on weekends or over the 6 week winter break DePaul has between fall quarter ending before Thanksgiving and and the first week of January when winter quarter begins. As someone who applied to some schools as a transfer (and also international) student this year, I know how accommodating schools can be when it comes to auditions. (NCSA auditioned me on New Years Eve for god sakes). And students transfer from on college acting program to another all the time, and yes the auditors/faculty at the top BFA schools know about DePaul’s cut system and know that students audition from there for that reason, but also students audition to transfer because they’re not sure the program is right for them, and for many other reasons. </p>
<p>And in response to ‘To me, this would make the other schools less likely to offer a coveted place in their classes to someone who is only seeking a place “in case.”’ you may be right, but if you think about it, a freshman applicant to say, CMU is mostly likely not just applying to CMU, they are most likely applying to NYU, BU, and a myriad of others so what’s to say that the DePaul transfer student doesn’t have just as much chance of accepting their place (if they’re offered one) as the freshman applicant who may also get into 5 other programs… PLUS many schools, CMU included, would make a transfer student start over in freshman year and that transfer student who’s already done a year at DePaul is most likely going to be better prepared for the rigors of the training at CMU than someone straight from high school.</p>
<p>Also as a transfer student myself, who is two years out of high school now, 19 and has studied and acted professionally quite a bit since I graduated, I know that I am better equipped to enter a BFA program than I was two years ago, and the faculty at the schools I’ve applied to seam to know that too based on the caliber of schools I’ve been accepted to this year versus when I was 17. </p>
<p>SO this may be true to of a DePaul transfer student, it’s possible that CMU might have been his or her first choice when he/she was auditioning as a high school senior. but may not have been accepted and may have gone to their second choice, DePaul, but then when they auditioned as a transfer student “just in case” they may be accepted this time because they’re older, wiser, better trained, more mature (etc.) and then they have the option of transferring to their first choice… it happens more than you might expect,</p>