<p>I keep seeing over and over discussions about is it a callback or not???</p>
<p>In all the auditions my son has done - his 8th grade play, HS plays, Community theater and professional TV, theater and film…</p>
<p>EVER SINGLE ONE HAS HAD A CALLBACK if you were to be considered. NOT ONCE has this not been the case.</p>
<p>I don’t get trying to convince ourselves that College auditions would be any different. </p>
<p>Just because they talk about there not being some sort of callback; I just don’t believe it’s the case. </p>
<p>Whether it is an actual separate callback, a second panel, a movement workshop, phone interview… I consider ALL of those callbacks in some shape or form.</p>
<p>Well… you’d think. But the schools keep repeating that the callbacks and second panels don’t mean anything. With limited information, it’s impossible to know what’s going on. Is it disorganization, deliberate disinformation, or something else that we can’t know because of our limited vantage point? For example, Rutgers has instant callbacks and a callback weekend, the latter which no one on CC seems to have been invited to. Everyone who asked was told that the callbacks mean nothing, and yet it is natural for actors to think that callbacks signify advancement to the next level. Why would the school even bother to fund a weekend for students unless those were the ones from which they plan to pick next year’s class? Likewise, at Fordham, you would think that being seen by a second panel would be a logical prerequisite for further consideration when, after all auditions are finished, the panel reconvenes to select the class. But there are current students who admit to having been seen only in one panel.</p>
<p>In general, you’re right, kcdunlap, although I remember at least one instance where D was not called back from an audition and ended up with a major role. The director had said she was only calling back actors she was less certain about and that was true.</p>
<p>The day D auditioned for Fordham there was only one panel–the whole theater faculty. That was their major fall audition day and I’m sure they will take some people from that day. Maybe they split the panel so as to see more students in February? Being sent to the second room has to be a good sign.</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s better to be called back than not-- if only because it means more people have seen your work. I’m guessing the Rutgers callbacks really are a cut. But we are all in a difficult spot right now, waiting for important answers with very little hard info to go on, so of course we’re clinging to ‘good signs’ and trembling at bad ones. But we just don’t know.</p>
So it sounds as if, on Fordham’s busy February audition days, they split the panel into two rooms, to be more efficient. That might explain why some admitted students report having been seen by only one panel.</p>
<p>GlassHarmonica - I’d love to be more optimistic, but it sounds as if “kcdunlap’s” son attended Fordham’s auditions on the same day as my son, and there were unannounced callbacks for some students and not others. I have to assume that this was part of a screening process, and those students who were invited to receive additional consideration are the ones under serious consideration for admission. I don’t think anybody has been admitted to Fordham-Lincoln Center’s Theater Performance program yet, because they offer neither rolling nor early acceptance options. Schools alter their protocols from year to year, and so current students might not have undergone the same audition process as this year’s applicants. Fordham says nothing about call-backs in any of its application instructions, and they said that the auditions were very short and simple when we attended an information session, but that doesn’t seem to be the whole story.</p>
<p>For years here we’ve talked about how schools can decide on a kids from a 5 minute audition. On the one hand, people say that it’s usually obvious to them within 30 seconds if the kid has what they are looking for (as in many theatre auditions). On the other hand, people feel that this is different from casting a part, and that more care could be taken in evaluating kids. (On a third hand, most college applicants never get to come face-to-face with those who evaluate them at all, so in some ways these kids are actually kind of lucky.)</p>
<p>If more schools are using a two-step process, either through callbacks, or videos so more profs can look at students, or through longer auditions (extra monologues), group evaluations, or in-person and phone interviews, maybe this is a trend to get a better impression of these kids. Maybe knowing you did or didn’t make the next step will help kids get through this long period of mystery and waiting. </p>
<p>But I agree that schools could be a lot more open about their process and that they could be more organized. I’m feeling glad my D didn’t audition for any school that had vague callbacks; she auditioned for UMinn at Chicago Unifieds, wasn’t invited to their weekend, knew that meant she was rejected, and was fine with that because it wasn’t a top choice (honestly she auditioned for UMinn at Unifieds as a warm-up for others she actually wanted).</p>
<p>When my girls were interested in music conservatories there was a screening process where you sent a tape first and then were invited to audition, particularly if you were a soprano or played violin. This was very merciful to the kids and saved a lot of time and money. I don’t have the answer on how theatre school auditions should evolve, but maybe this kind of multi-step process is what we’ll see in the future.</p>
<p>New here today! So dd just told me she was not asked into the second room at Fordham. Two seniors there told her they called students into the second room if they were not sure about them. They were not asked to go into the second room when they auditioned. Maybe they were just being nice but it is another way to look at it.</p>
<p>It does seem like a formula to make everyone feel maximally anxious. My daughter did go into a second room at Fordham, and she did 3 monologues in each of the rooms. So she left feeling good about the audition. However, two weeks later, reading these forums, and what NightOwl2 writes, makes me feel the way kcdunlap feels because her son was not asked into the now-infamous second room. I agree with EmmyBet, that presceening tapes and a more transparent process would make this audition season and its aftermath, the waiting, less painful. Although, of course, making the experience less painful is arguably not a goal. The point is often made that one must learn to deal with uncertainty and rejection in the arts. But the stakes are somewhat different with college auditions because it is a 4-year commitment/investment. Hence the higher level of worry.</p>
<p>Oh how I remember this waiting and reading the tea leaves phase. I feel for each and every one of you.</p>
<p>If I could do it over again I would spend less time combing this forum for signs and clues about the process and my D’s outcome. You really can’t know. And there is nothing you can do at this point but stew. Really, the time I spent analyzing every morsel of news here gave me nothing but anxiety during an already anxious time. </p>
<p>Trite as it sounds, take a walk, enjoy the signs of spring, go shopping or to a movie with your child and enjoy this time before the decision making begins for you and quicker than you can realize they are packed up and gone. </p>
<p>I’m also interested in hearing about third monologues presented at Fordham, when their audition instructions only called for two (with strict time limits).</p>
<p>stagemum, my dd was not asked for a third monologue. She auditioned 2/5.</p>
<p>To all, I agree speculation increases anxiety but I can’t help myself! It would be so much better if colleges advised of callback procedures upfront. Hopefully, when this is all over we can help others understand the process.</p>
<p>Nice discussion.My d is one year away from all of this…and has friends who also had the third monologue reading…Did anyone do moliere, shaw or shakespeare? thank you.</p>
<p>I auditioned for fordham 2/5 on campus. The kid before me was sent to a second panel, but I wasn’t. I was asked to do a third monologue though. I know of quite a few people this happened to. I did a Greek play for my classic, but that was not worked on. My two contemporary pieces were worked on though.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with LeftofPisa. One needs to walk way. Granted that is easier then some; especially if you have at least one acceptance in hand.</p>
<p>I think these schools are being unfair to all when they say their on no callbacks. Actors lives revolve around them being or not being calledback. It just seems silly to try to have a school pretend otherwise.</p>
<p>The comment that someone was told about asking students that they were unsure of to go to the second panel seems crazy. There are way too many students applying that you would spend that much extra time with kids you are unsure of…cut the ones your unsure of and move on.</p>
<p>I think schools should get over themselves and just be honest with those students and parents that will be hanging on to the edge of the seat for weeks on end. Call it what it is and be done with it. Dragging out the pain is just stupid and cruel.</p>
<p>Totally agree! This was what my daughter was told probably to make her feel better. She felt they made their decision that she was not a candidate as soon as she walked through the door.</p>
<p>My son’s first audition was at UArts, where they dismissed him after he presented his first (Shakespearean) piece,without hearing the second. He was distraught, initially, because he believed that his contemporary monologue was stronger. It turned out that they didn’t feel they needed to hear it during the preliminary audition, because they had already decided to call him back on the strength of his classical piece. He presented his contemporary monologue at the call-back, and was accepted almost immediately, but UArts is somewhat less selective than other schools. They, at least, make it pretty clear that students who are not invited to the same-day call-backs are no longer under consideration.</p>