<p>Every school knows with precision what their historical yield has been, but the musical theater programs are getting more competitive all the time.</p>
<p>Some of the top schools accept only the number they want. Carnegie Mellon is one of those, and that school has a “priority wait list.” I believe at that point if, say, a female belter declines the offer, they’d go to a female belter on the priority wait list.</p>
<p>Ithaca, where my son attends in MT, has not used a wait list in the past. They are in a “bulge year” now, because very few students declined the offer of admission, compared to statistics for past years. Between that and the hiring of a new program director, they may change their approach for this year. Ithaca seems to be a bit of a hot school at the moment.</p>