<p>When we inquired with Rutgers yesterday, we were informed that all students who would be invited for callback weekend have already been notified by e-mail. We were also told that all students would be re-assessed prior to final decisions being made, and that not receiving an invitation to callback weekend did not necessarily mean that a student would not be admitted to the program. Final decisions are to go out by the end of March.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post! Lame. Good to get them off the list though.</p>
<p>how accurate is that, because I haven’t been able to get in touch with Mandy Felier, A.D for the past two days.</p>
<p>Yeah…thats such bs. I hate that they still persist in saying that if you don’t get a callback there is still a chance in getting into the program…so have al the emails been sent out for RU?</p>
<p>Generally, in theater, getting a callback means that you have made it through a cut. Surely the Rutgers committee knows that the students who are auditioning for them, all of whom have experience in the theater world, recognize what a callback usually means. I prefer the way Juilliard does it: no callback means that the process is terminated. They send an email the next day confirming it, so that nothing is left to the imagination. The rejected applicants then have some closure, so they can move on. </p>
<p>To me it seems unlikely that Rutgers is considering any of the students they did not invite for the weekend, except perhaps as very low down on their wait-list.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with glassharmonica. If it turns out not to be the case, then Rutgers really should get their act together and make the process more clear for the next audition cycle. They have obviously caused an abundance of stress unnecessarily for the applicants this year. It’s not as if they’re new to theatre, which might make it somewhat understandable for a new program. However, if this is indicative of the ‘new’ program and new individuals running it, it clearly is disappointing and definitely needs some work.</p>
<p>I totally agree with you both, and we are not holding out for anything further. I also agree that they may say “all candidates are still being assessed” to cover the rare case where an applicant may be taken from a wait list who wasn’t invited to callback weekend. I imagine that most of those invited back were also called back during their initial auditions (although I don’t know this to be the case.) I included that information in my post however, to communicate exactly what we were told when we inquired. Best to all those called back and to those still awaiting good news :-)</p>
<p>What I don’t get is if your child did not get a callback at their original audition and was not invited back for callback weekend, why have they not changed the status on their Rutgers site. My daughter was accepted to Rutgers but as for Mason Gross- it still says Pending Talent Assessment. She auditioned February 5th! She got a callback for Penn State and that status has not been updated yet either- although I think they are still auditioning kids. One of my daughter’s friends who did not get a callback for Penn State at Unifieds at least got a rejection letter the next week! Seems disorganized!</p>
<p>Oh- and my daughter is okay if she doesn’t get accepted to Mason Gross. She said she felt like she did well in her audition and took the approach that she wasn’t what they were looking for at this point. She said she wouldn’t have changed a thing! It’s the nature of the business and I’m glad she has this confidence. She just said she wished the program would just make a decision so she can move on!</p>
<p>I wonder if they’re still sending emails?</p>
<p>I really have no idea how their process works… or how any school’s process REALLY works, for that matter. However, I think it’s important to note that half of the current first year BFA class at Rutgers was not called back last year.</p>
<p>DePaul also states emphatically that a student who is not called back is no longer under consideration.</p>
<p>From ssjjkk: “However, I think it’s important to note that half of the current first year BFA class at Rutgers was not called back last year.”</p>
<p>May I ask from what source this stat comes from? Is this just referring to the Unified callbacks? Was there a “callback weekend” last year for Mason Gross BFAs?</p>
<p>Agree the process is belabored. Agree it is preparation for what our children can expect from this career choice.</p>
<p>Found out today that my daughter was accepted into the BFA Acting program for Northern Illinois. This is her #1 choice! In their junior year, students spend a semester in Moscow! It’s a gem of a program located about an hour from Chicago! It’s on a “real” college campus and exactly what she was looking for plus EVERYONE has been so warm and friendly! She can keep taking dance classes as they have a BFA dance and can still study voice. The acting program is one of the few Meisner programs in the country.</p>
<p>“Agree it is preparation for what our children can expect from this career choice.”</p>
<p>Actually, I disagree with that. I think that most professional auditions are more open & consistent about the process. Ditto for professionally done college auditions, as with Juilliard and several other colleges.</p>
<p>Almost always, if a professional production is interested in you, they give you a callback, and if they are still deciding, they give you more callbacks, as many as they need. In the case of the college, they have a clearly spelled out and consistent audition process and they stick with that. If you don’t get a callback, they are almost never interested. Done. </p>
<p>They don’t say mercurial things like “we may be interested in you even if we don’t give you a callback; wait a month or two,” and thereby leave you hanging indefinitely. In professional productions, they are usually also a lot clearer about what it is they’re looking for–what type, what age, what looks, what experience. That doesn’t make it easy–rejections are definitely part of the process and sometimes their choices can be peculiar. But I think what some posters are protesting here is how inconsistent and very murky the whole process at Rutgers has been.</p>
<p>Oh- and Kathryn Gately, who runs the MFA program and oversees the BFA came from Rutgers. She trained James Gandolfini (sp?), Amanda Seyfried, Kristin Davis, Calista Flockhart, and so many more! There is a video about her on youtube that’s very impressive! One of my favorite actors, Joan Allen, is a graduate of NIU! My son is a sophomore at NYU in NSB at Tisch. He’s making NY connections now my daughter can make Chicago connections. She wants to be like the Guylenhalls (sp?) lol</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS, supportive!!!</p>
<p>Thank you! She’s not only looking forward to the school and program but she can’t wait to see snow! We live in north Florida and she has never seen snow! My son saw it for the first time last year.</p>
<p>Well, she’ll definitely get her fill of snow in Chicago! 
Congrats again!</p>
<p>ssjjkk: half of the BFA freshman class at mason gross didn’t get callbacks?</p>