I think a student getting “in the room offers” against school norm is just an exception, not the rule. I don’t think that is an indicator of a change in rules. I’m betting they have happened for years, but social media makes it easier to hear about now.
At BW, you are told that you will be notified (yes, no, maybe) from your November audition in December. They also seemed to make a few January offers from their late December MTCA audition last year. The rest wait until March. I’m not sure if that’s rolling with 3 specific notification dates? What is it called at other schools who notify at 3 specific points? When applying ED, aren’t you given a “yes,no, maybe” also? A school with EDI, EDII, and RD is called what? Rolling? I’d love to be able to explain it to friends auditioning this year and looking for advice. Specifically people with older kids in non MT programs, they want to tie the terminology to something they understand.