While the numbers are stressful, I’d be interested to see the numbers for the total number of people who apply to any MT school and the total number of people who are given at least one offer. So, if there are 200 schools and there is an average of 40 offers made, this would mean 800 MT slots available.
My personal belief is that if you have your talent assessed by a professional and if you have a balanced list, and you are well prepared, you should get at least one acceptance if you apply to a broad number of schools. I also think (and I may be in the minority) that you do not need to apply to a huge number of schools to get these acceptances. Last year, we had a more targeted list and my daughter got a few MT and acting acceptances even with a lower number of auditions. But, we made a list that was targeted and matched to both what she wanted and where her skillset was at the time.
The schools that have 1200 applicants for a total of 40 offers are lottery schools, for everyone. Even top coaches will tell people they don’t know who will get into what school. I did a survey of this last year and people will get into just one school and it will be Elon or U Mich or Carnegie Mellon.
Anyway, as somebody on the other side, it somehow seems to work out in the end.