@“boola boola” - was this his first audition with USC or this was a callback (second audition)? My son audition in New York on Feb 2 but now I’m wondering if they were doing call backs which will mean that my son didn’t make it 2nd round. They never mentioned there will be callbacks. Oh Gosh I’m so stress out with this process.
@Positive2019 Hi! Are you sure your son auditioned for musical theatre with USC (So. Cal) in NYC? My understanding is that they did their process much differently than any other school (this will be the first year for their MT program). They took all the prescreens and then selected about 50 kids to attend their “Callback Weekend.” They only had one weekend, so you had to accept or you would no longer be under consideration. I think USC does have regional auditions for their acting program. Maybe that’s what your son auditioned for? I don’t know anything about that process (callbacks, etc). I hope this is helpful. And best wishes to your son!
@Positive2019 - For sure your S auditioned for acting. There is no callback. He will either be accepted, redirected to their awesome (and extremely competitive) BA Drama program (assuming he indicated that he was open to that as a second choice on his application) or rejected altogether. Good luck!!
So for those who did the USC MT weekend - what info did they share about the new program? Does it have its own faculty or are the MT students truly studying under 3 different departments/schools at USC? Any info you can share would be helpful for next year’s applicants!
@CaMom13 Neither I nor my wife was able to go, so my son went solo. There was a parent meeting, so hopefully a parent who was there can chime in. With that said, my son said that they are drawing faculty from all 3 schools, and will be bringing in a few new faculty as well. How all that will mesh together remains to be seen. But, given the individual reputations of those three schools, I think it’s a safe bet it will be incredible training. And I don’t believe USC would have rolled out the program had they not been ready. This has been under consideration for quite a while, and they decided not to roll it out last year.
@“boola boola” you are correct, he audition for Acting… wow I can breath again 
Thank you for the clarification 
@Positive2019 You’re very welcome. I know the feeling! I think most of us could use some slow, deep breathing, coupled with the mantra “All will be well…” lol
Using the “no news is still potentially good news” approach as my S awaits results from his last audition. We had hoped to hear something by last weekend, but nothing as of yet. This definitely is worse that the actual audition.
S received the “Congrats! No, thank you” email from Montclair…he’s totally fine with it…I liked this one, and am disappointed bc it’s the closest one to home! Oh well…
IMO, I see nothing wrong with schools sending an encouraging letter when a prospective has been redirected. Schools do not know who the lucky ones are that have been excepted to other schools/programs and who the unlucky ones are that have been rejected by every other one. At least they have a choice. Perhaps some would prefer that the letter read : we regret to inform you that you have been excepted into the school of theatre as a BA Acting student. That really makes you feel wanted. By nature, when you read the word congratulations you continue reading but stop when you read we regret.
Does anyone know what order TX State will start sending out decisions? I see that some have received acceptance calls. Will they send out priority hold, waitlist and rejections after calls are made?
@GloriaVaughn I get what you are saying. But my D got a congratulations to the BA, without a direct acknowledgement that she didn’t get BFA at MIllikin. So until I came on here I was confused. The rejection needs to be clearer and upfront. Then follow it with a “but congratulations we’ve got another option for you to consider…”
@berrytenor He auditioned at Chicago Unifieds.
@GloriaVaughn I see what you’re saying, but all of us had already received the academic acceptance - they had already sent us an update months ago that began with “congratulations.” The new update that we are receiving then has exactly one thing to update: accepted to MT or not accepted to MT. It’s one thing to be encouraging. It’s quite another to lead a person to believe that they’ve gotten the “real” yes. I’m sure that they don’t do this on purpose. It’s likely just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
@gloriavaughan, bad news is bad news. Pretending it’s good news doesn’t soften the blow at all, it just makes it worse by misleading you. Better to say “Thank you for auditioning for the MT BFA program. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you a place in that program. However, we would love to invite you to attend Montclair as part of our BA program!” And then go into detail about that program. So that way, you’re up front about the bad news, but then offer a consolation prize.
"It’s likely just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. "
@ZukAndSowash - You’re being very charitable. From bitter experience, I don’t agree…the schools know exactly who’s been accepted to MT and who hasn’t… and those that are rejected artistically but accepted academically are still fair game for the school…they are trying to lure you in. Big scholarship money, free computer, honors program status - just wait for the bait, baby, it will come.
Totally agree @actorparent1 - it’s the same with the constant phone calls from Pace before BFA results come out - surely the school know that the kids have applied for a BFA program and anything else is a disappointment. They should be sensitive to that. Don’t call and ask for a commitment before decisions are out, don’t send congratulatory rejections, don’t treat redirects as if they were the original goal. It’s fine for them to be positive in their approach but they also have to be grounded in reality. “We are sorry we cannot offer you a place in your original major of choice but we think you are a great fit for for major 2 and we hope you agree” is easy and appropriate.
@ZukAndSowash Totally agree with you. We got that same Montclair letter yesterday. It was misleading but we got over it quickly and moving on. Anxiously wait for all the other responses. Also, those are form emails that are sent. Some kids on campus have jobs for the aid they are given. Somebody should really read it over, especially if there put their signature on it.
We are still waiting on Montclair BFA, Acting. I just checked the portal &reviewed the rejection for BFA MT and the letter was revised from yesterday with different wording. I guess they heard everyone’s complaint. It’s little late but they did change it. We never got a notification to check the portal.
“You’ve gotta cross over the anger bridge and come back to the friendship shore.” — Cal Naughton Jr.