I am well aware of the "professional atmosphere" involved at professional auditions, having been a mom with an "Annie Kid," growing up. She has auditioned for, and has quite a few professional credits on her resume. Sometimes at auditions you were in a large group and you just stayed until the end...or you left early. Far more often you were asked to come back a second or even third time to reaudition for other people. (Thankfully the colleges know better than to do that!) Due to growing up this way, My D (and I) are really quite tough and she really had no complaint whatsoever about the way PSU ran their audition, or their cut policy.
My observation about PSU's "process" is that the school is not going to be paying my D for her time/choice to attend. She is paying them (30K?) for their services of educating her. Therefore, perhaps the school could be a little less obvious in the way they handle things, as this is truly not a professional gig the kids are trying for, but a shot at getting into a program at a well respected University.
Also, to make it clear that I am not a "stage mom" who hangs around wringing her hands while my D is behind the door. At PSU's audition I dropped her off, relaxed with my book elsewhere while the info session was going on, catching the last few minutes when a student found me and made me go! Straightened up my D's things, left, went shopping, came back and found the room where the kids and a few parents were, gave her a hug, put on her IPod headphones, and started packing. I couldn't help but notice though, the brave young men and women coming out of the room one by one with their heads down, grasping for their things, only to head for the door. It made me, and I'm sure everyone, very uncomfortable and sad.
College denial is par for the course, especially in this genre. My D and I have our eyes wide open about the odds of getting in. My take on the subject of auditioning for college stands, and it is that a college is not a professional gig, but a place to prepare the kids for one. Perhaps the lesson about callbacks would be better served when the kid is in the program as opposed to trying to get in.
As a MT parent, I love it when my D comes out of an audition with a smile on her face telling me that she did a great job and feels confident about how it went. Time of course will tell one way or another how she actually did "in there." But for all her hard work and preparation, plus the fact that she did travel, see a show, meet faculty & kids, she is entitled to a few moments to think she has a shot. I'm glad most of her auditions have given her that feeling. She knows when she's had a less than stellar audition though, and can prepare herself privately for the letter that may come saying "Thanks, but no thanks." (PSU does send one, even with the public rejection.)
Nuff said, I know in my heart that my D will have good choices at the end of this, and truly she has moved on from that one incident. The opinions here are totally my own, and she would be upset if she knew I even cared enough to write about it! She's so cool
and I am so proud of her!