| Given how much time a lot of us spend sifting through CC for hints, clues, etc. regarding how schools make decisions, any details from the auditions themselves would seem to be very valuable. Even if the comments are painful, isn't it better to know whether a rejection was due to something relatively minor such as the student not fitting some specific need of the school or perhaps due to an apparent lack of polishing and training? In other words, things that are totally out of the kids' control or things that can be fixed with good instruction?
Also, many kids don't have access to highly knowledgeable, experienced people to provide unbiased, honest assessments of their abilities. As a result, a string of college rejections could leave a very talented kid wondering whether they should continue to push forward when in fact what might be lacking are the kinds of skills and training needed to best allow that talent to shine through during auditions.
In my D's case, one of the programs she auditioned for this year offered to provide honest and direct feedback. I'm sure that it's a difficult task for them, but that feedback is having a huge effect in helping her recognize her weaknesses and strengths, which in turn is helping her pick among acceptances and in gauging the significance of rejections.
For these reasons and others, I think that schools should be encouraged to offer information from the auditions, and any that are willing to do so should be thanked for doing a real service. I can certainly understand why schools would not want to open themselves up to angry students or, worse yet, parents, which makes it even more admirable that a few colleges (and at least one of the two-year conservatory programs) are open to providing feedback. |