Folks, this is a difficult life at every stage… Getting into a training program is extremely selective, and so is the post-grad job market. In both cases, we DON’T have the upper hand most of the time. Casting directors and college recruitment folks call the shots…they want what and who they want. No one ever said it was easy, or fair. This is the life our kids have chosen, for better or worse. And we, their parents, have signed on to help them pursue their dream. We need to stick together… For them.
@FROG65 Like most auditors/casting directors, I don’t think people know what they want until its is staring them in the face. At professional auditions, my D has not fit the breakdown, but been called back once they see her. It is really hard to say if they were specifically looking for performers of color on that day. My D’s senior BFA class is extremely diverse. Not close to all white. Includes all colors and many LGBTQ performers. In addition, it wouldn’t be unusual that there are a majority of brown/brown and blond/blue females who are all super talented. If they have seen them already, they may feel that the performers they saw today were not better than the ones they have already seen so no reason to keep them. My D was an “alternate” at a school that creates their waitlist by accepting one person, then adding one or two alternates behind that person who are the exact type both physically and voice wise. To make it worse, my D got a full tuition scholarship based on merit during the academic acceptance. Needless to say, the first choice accepted the offer and we were out.
I think it is fair to say that if your performer really wowed them and was better than that type they had already seen. she would have been called back. Please don’t take this as an insult, it is not. Your D may be fantastic, but the auditors liked someone else better. There is no way for them to tell when watching prescreens who they will accept so they invite all of the performers that have potential.
@FROG65 - ask yourself if you would have even NOTICED if all 6 called back were white…
@toowonderful That
@frog65 My non-white D was not called back, and I did not take care to notice the race of those who were. It was not her best audition and we left it at that. Considering how incredibly stressful this whole process is, leaving race out of it might be a wise idea, especially considering that not everyone on this board is white.
@toowonderful Yes, I would’ve noticed if there was a specific type called back regardless of ethnic background. I would’ve noticed if it was all blondes, brunettes, males, females. It was our experience and I can’t change that. My D has gone on casting calls outside of this college auditions. The college auditions are compared to “wait until there out on the real audition lines”. My D wouldn’t go on a cast call that called for a specific type that she didn’t fit. The experience with this school was very obvious.
@FROG65 Can you explain what you mean by obvious? Are you saying that the college only had the intention of calling back performers of color and that you felt duped by being called to audition? As I said above, this is very late in the audition process and I imagine they already have an idea of who they are offering spots to. With that in mind, they would have called back any kid who totally blew them away. Maybe none of the other kids did. Maybe the performers of color were SOOOO much better than those they had already seen and felt they needed another look to see if they fit the class better than the kids they were already considering (who had auditioned earlier).
I apologize if my comment seemed offensive to anyone. That really wasn’t my intention. People are comparing this to the real auditions outside of college. I was trying to point out that cast calls list a type. I understand and agree that there should be more diversity in the Performing Arts, and including colleges. My D would’ve done something different and saved money from this trip/audition.
For starters, this does indeed happen in the professional theater world.
Anyway, while I realize this is a brutal process (been there with my own kid and have been advising other applicants as my job for 16 years), I can’t help but observe on this board every year people talking about how long the wait is until decisions are released as if this was unique to BFA in MT admissions! I have a daughter who applied to college (not MT) and have advised lots and lots of kids applying to college not for MT too, and the wait for the majority of their results was until very late March or April 1. MT admissions is no different or not a longer wait. If anything, many of these MT programs notify before late March, though clearly not all by any means. I realize waiting is hard, but most of my advisees who are not MT applicants have not heard from the majority of their colleges either and won’t for another month. To me, this is very normal!
First, I don’t think any kid should be completely shut out of all their colleges because every applicant should have two sure bet safety schools on their list (granted, no BFA programs are safeties). If a student has zero acceptances, my feeling is that they either didn’t have an appropriate college list or a well balanced list. In terms of a student who doesn’t get into any BFAs but does get into BA theater/MT programs, that is not a bad route to the profession. But even if a student IS shut out of ALL the colleges on their list, there are a lot of positive aspects to a gap year and they can try again. This is not their only shot. I have a nephew who was pursuing a degree in the arts (not theater) and they really didn’t know what they were doing in creating his college list and so forth. He did not get any acceptances. He took a gap year that was very fruitful. During his gap year, I took on his entire college process with him and we created a new college list and also went about the application process much better. He got into almost all of his colleges/programs. Things often work out in the end. This college admissions thing is not a do or die matter.
@FROG65 - you say you would have noticed if they were all one type… but within the group called back, was there still variety? Tall/short? Heavy/thin? Soprano/Bass? There is more than one “type” in an ethnic group after all…
@FROG65 I am not sure you have understood my previous posts. There is no way that this school started the day thinking “we are only looking for performers of color today”. They had no type. Your D passed the prescreens. I am sure she was given just as much consideration as anyone else. The fact is, she just didn’t wow them enough for her to be considered for their program. Coincidentally, other performers, who happen to look different from your D probably did. You have no idea of the talent level of any other performer. They wouldn’t have called you to say “stay home, we only want certain colors today,” because EVERY performer has the exact same chance to blow them away. I would just move on.
@FROG65
I’m sorry the day didn’t pan out for your daughter. Even if not intended your comment is inflammatory and bound to stir up some strong feelings. Everybody’s nerves are a bit shot at this point in the process.
I vote let’s leave it alone and move on.
@berrytenor - so is it phone call or email for UNCSA? You said phone call first then email? Is it both?
Woohoo!!! Done! And home! Bittersweet day as S finished his auditions today. It was nice meeting folks and watching the kids connect with one another and establish friendships. All the best to those waiting!
@32barMom my friend was notified by phone she was in consideration, and got notified by email she was accepted. Acceptances have went out yesterday. I believe they are rolling out in waves.
@berrytenor what about rejections? Do they come later?
Anyone log on to the Ithaca portal today?
@Brecktwins19 my S tried and it says it is unavailable. Probably bad news coming soon. ?
My D also unavailable.
I called the admin office to see what an unavailable portal meant. The person on the phone could see that a decision had been made but because she was a student, she didn’t have access to see what the decision was. She said he should be getting a letter eitjer way soon. It’s possible that they turn off the portal for accepted students too but that doesn’t make a ton of sense. Holding out hope until the letter arrives.