<p>My daughter was asked to sing, but this was on their very first day of auditions. It is possible that her singing traumatized them so much that they stopped. (I think the other kids who auditioned when she did also sang. Maybe they have evolved their process since then.)</p>
<p>HoveringMom - my son was in the 11 a.m. group. I dropped him off, and returned to pick him up at around 12:30. If you were anywhere around the lobby then, I was the plum, middle-aged “redhead” in a purple corduroy jacket and black leggings.</p>
<p>My D auditioned for Rutgers in L.A. she did her 2monolodges was not asked to sing but, she to is aMT performer,no one in her hour was called back including a boy who had attended there summer program.The women at the desk said since on the spot callbacks are new she did not no how they would come into play, also on there website it states there " MAY" be a callback weekend not written in stone I believe this is new for this year to.</p>
<p>There is definitely a callback weekend–they handed out a huge packet and that was part of the info. But they didn’t state outright that if you weren’t invited you weren’t being considered, as many programs do. Although I don’t see how they wouldn’t invite you if they were considering you. And I’m pretty sure NO one was asked to sing at the 10 or 11–people were talking about it. Maybe they decided they didn’t care anymore about that? THis whole thing is SO confusing! I’m thinking they’re evolving as they go along. So to set the record straight-when the Freshmen girls said they didn’t get a callback last year, they were being disingenuous, because NO ONE got a callback last year? That’s so odd–why make SUCH a big deal that you didn’t get a callback last year without mentioning that NO one got a callback? Ah well. One thing they did seem to evolve to though–they were very adamant that the instant callbacks were no indication positive or negative. As I said, this was repeated many times, by many people–it definitely sounded like a organizational decision.</p>
<p>My daughter was in the 11 too! But I stayed inside the theatre hovering next to my daughter, as per my apt name. I may have seen you, stagemum. There were very few boys auditioning and I saw only one alone, so I’m guessing he was your son? Good looking kid with dark hair?</p>
<p>By the way, positives: especially for those who haven’t had a chance or opportunity to visit Rutgers yet–the space is amazing and the new program, which was clearer in the handout, seems even better than the old. I heard a boy mutter, “THis is exactly what I want.” I think most of the kids there felt that way–I know my daughter did. </p>
<p>The theatre we met in was wonderful, a sort of mini-Globe. And Mason Gross itself is physically really pretty, woodsy, with nice buildings. Students also seemed happy and involved. All positives. I’m gonna stop obsessing over this and move on–I’ll just assume that they’re figuring out a couple of kinks as they grow.</p>
<p>Hoveringmom, if this isn’t too off topic, what is is about the new program that seems even better than the old (at Rutgers/Mason Gross)?</p>
<p>NJTheatreMom–First overall, it seems even more focused in its vision. The new head seems very impressive. The main thing that was different was that they’re moving to 3.5 years for both BFA & MFAs. So for BFAs it’s shorter, and for MFAs it’s longer. As my D isn’t doing an MFA (at this point!) I skimmed over the info on that, but for the BFA, the last half year is spent as an active but optional transitional period between college and professional, with opportunity to partner with and work at a professional theatre (blanked out on name) in the area and earn full equity, not to mention experience. My D took the info and I’m too tired right now to go get the paper. If I have a chance, I can pm you what they specifically say. IT seems super cool.</p>
<p>Try to look at this from the school’s perspective . . .</p>
<p>They have a finite amount of time for this process. The purpose of the callbacks is to clarify the people that are “maybes”. If you are a “definite YES!”, then why would a school waste time on a callback, if you are already in the “yes” pile?</p>
<p>It is very unusual to be such a “definite YES!”, but it does happen. Until you get your admission, you probably should operate on the assumption that you have NOT been admitted. It’s a lot like looking for a job. I know of one university that is considering me for an open faculty position, but I need to assume that that will not work out, and I should still keep looking for a job.</p>
<p>I just thought i might throw in some input. I auditioned at the New York unified auditions, I was asked to sing(which was nice because i really wanted to), and did not get a call back, Actually no one in my hour got a callback. I did have a long conversation with the guy at the front table for Rutgers, and he said that the same day callbacks were just for people they felt they did not get a very good look at. He assured me, that you could definitely not get called back that day and still make the callback weekend.</p>
<p>So has anyone here gotten invited to callback weekend? Wondering if they’ve started calling…</p>
<p>cbraves - I auditioned yesterday and we were told that they would be sending invitations via email sometime this week… they had their last day of auditions today so I doubt that they sent out any invitations yet.</p>
<p>We were at RU today also, don’t know if anyone sang and in 3 hours they called back 1 boy. We thought that maybe these callbacks were for bubble kids- academically or talent wise.</p>
<p>What are “bubble” kids?</p>
<p>I was called back. My audition was the first day of auditions in NY (and, I think, the first audition day they had), so my experience may be different from those called back later in the process. However, in my callback, they simply herded the 7 of us into the audition room and spent a good deal of time basically selling the program to us. Afterwords, we play a brief improv game, but I was not under the impression that they were in any way judging or re-evaluating us. Like I said, I auditioned on the first day, so their process may have changed, but I felt as though it was almost a formality. I don’t see how they could have narrowed their choices at all during the callback.</p>
<p>drama94, they may well have been re-evaluating you and the others in the group in the brief improv game. Why else would they have done it? Just to waste time? No, because they are always short of time.</p>
<p>If you were perfectly comfortable and relaxed and enjoyed the improv game, you probably were what they were looking for. And maybe the others in your group also were as well.</p>
<p>It’s like the person who goes to a job interview and afterwards says, “that didn’t seem like a job interview, it just felt like having a friendly chat with someone who worked there.” That person has probably passed the job interview.</p>
<p>I believe I was in the callback group for drama94, and I agree; not sure what they could have glenned from it. Mostly because they weren’t improv games per se, so much as energy games, the kind you play to get people in the same mindset.</p>
<p>awesome, thankyou ssjjkk. This little post is so helpful!</p>
<p>auditioned at mason gross on Sunday!! will we find out about callback weekend via email, phone, letter???</p>
<p>also there weren’t any callbacks in my hour.</p>
<p>anyone hear about callback weekend?</p>