<p>And I agree totally with Soozie and SeniorMom....whether a BFA rejection or a rejection from a business interview...there is a protocol on how to word the letter. A college sending out a letter with this wording is rather shocking.</p>
<p>"And the proof is that someone who gets into CCM, but not OCU or someone who gets in UMich but not Penn State, or someone who gets into NYU but not Emerson, or someone who gets in CMU but not Otterbein, or someone who gets in CCM but not Syracuse (all examples I know in real life) were obviously qualified but the odds are that they could not be accepted at every program given the very low admit rates."</p>
<p>As a mom of a kid who just received a rejection from Penn State but has been offered a spot at UMich, I wholeheartedly agree. Not every school is able to see each kid's talent, and not every audition each kid does goes off without a hitch. My son knew halfway through his Penn State audition that he would not be selected for the program. He simply did not feel the connection with the auditioner that he had felt with other schools.</p>
<p>As I learn more about this (better late than never) I see that there are so many variables that go into the selection process. To say that someone does not possess the "ability" necessary to succeed in a MT program in many instances is them taking the easy way out.</p>
<p>NODad, a lovely woman who used to post here (artsymom) has a very talented MT daughter who went to College of Santa Fe for musical theater. Perhaps you can search her name and see if you can find some of her posts. Also, if you PM her, she may very well see the message and answer any questions you may have. Best of luck!!</p>
<p>off topic a little, but what's the difference or "ranking" between OU and OCU?</p>
<p>If you want to learn more about OU's program (which sounds top notch to me), try PMing MTMommy, who used to post here a lot. Her amazingly talented and beautiful daughter, who got into several other really good programs, chose to go there and is there now.</p>
<p>I realize you are all on pins and needles and especially sensitive at this stage of the game as you wait to hear from your respective schools, but I don't find that wording "snotty" or beating a kid down. I think they were very careful to say "your AUDITION did not demonstrate..." It did not say you (personally) are totally without talent and not good enough. Maybe they saw 300 auditions that weekend, and your child's was not among the best they saw. That's not to say that the next weekend at XYZ school her AUDITION might be the best they see all day. I know from first-hand experience that the people at OCU are very warm, friendly and considerate. I doubt seriously they intended for the letter to be interpreted as you have taken it.</p>
<p>I am very sorry that NoDad's D got an unpleasently worded letter from OCU. I am also surprised. Being there in person the administration and faculty are definately not snotty and are very accessible to students and parent alike. Basically it's just not their style and I have not heard of this happening before. I don't know if there's been a change of some sort. There used to be someone who worked in the music department's administrative office who was on this board occasionally, but I haven't seen them for a while, but someone down there needs to know about this.</p>
<p>musicmom1215, almost everyone who has seen that letter is very surprised at the wording. Having received some other rejections, this is the one that seemed it had to hammer home the point that the audition 'didn't demonstrate the level of ability neccessary to be in that program.'</p>
<p>My daughter was in the summer program last year and found everyone there to be pleasant and nice.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that my daughter was fairly judged, and OCU has very high standards and is an excellent program. </p>
<p>I am right now in the process of having to hire someone and I have several good interviews and resumes and I intend to take people's feelings into account when I have to turn most of them down.</p>
<p>In my opinion, there were better ways to word this. A kid already knows when they are rejected that they weren't good enough, no need to hammer the point in like a nail.</p>
<p>Look, that's life in this biz, and I understand that. However, there is no reason, in my opinion, to have worded things this way.</p>
<p>I can never shut up...</p>
<p>OCU is a tremendous program...it's teachers, those that we met were great. Everyone cared. The audtion process and everyone involved was fair, pleasant and made us feel welcome.</p>
<p>I did not like the wording of the rejection letter. That's it. It just surprised me.</p>
<p>I guess I have always been a little "Pollyanna-ish" about trying to look at what other way one might interpret something. I get that from my mother. Anytime I would complain that a friend had hurt my feelings, she would always say that maybe the friend didn't mean it that way. Geesh, now I've become my mother! I am sorry that your daughter did not get in. Even though I'm sure OCU did not intend to be rude, the letter could probably be worded in a different manner.</p>
<p>On that note, if you all were the college admissions/music/theater departments, how would you word the "perfect" rejection letter? Would you prefer just a general, "We are not offering you admission to our program," or would you prefer more? Have any of you received any letters that you thought were exceptionally good? (Well as good as a rejection letter can get.)</p>
<p>I agree with NODad that the program and the faculty are good and all that. Still, one can think that the wording of this letter was not appropriate. I don't even think it is entirely true that each rejected student doesn't have the ability to attend the program. As far as how to word it, thousands of colleges send out such letters. They can thank the candidate for their interest and let them know that this year, the selection was very difficult since they saw so many qualified students but they are unable to offer this student a place in the class and wish them well in their pursuits at whatever college they may end up attending. </p>
<p>Again, in my opinion, when a college or program has a very low admit rate, it is simply UNTRUE that every person who was denied admission wasn't talented or qualified enough. It is true for some, but not all. So, I think this wording doesn't reflect reality. On top of that, it just was not a kind way to put such a letter and that's too bad as the program itself has a fine reputation and so some rethinking of the letter is in order since they will undoubtedly care (I would think) how the letter is perceived by others.</p>
<p>I audition and hire actors, singers, dancers on a very regular basis for a company that is very "selective" and for the many others I direct for. No matter how nice and supportive the folks at OCU are, it is NEVER appropriate to word a rejection in the manner that was described here. It isn't necessary. It isn't warranted. It isn't the way it should be done. It puts all of us who do this for a living in a bad light. The business is hard enough as it is without the need to ignore the feelings of those who are "putting themselves out there" so that our shows (and out college programs) can look good. There is NO excuse for it. Period.</p>
<p>DisneyDirector and soozievt are right. How much time and effort would it take to say "We see many talented students and unfortunately cannot accept all whom we see. Regrettably we are unable to offer you a position in next year's class."</p>
<p>Sounds like the admissions staff take themselves a little too seriously and are more than a bit callous.</p>
<p>NODad -- I'm curious, are you planning to contact the OCU Admissions office to ask about why her letter was worded this way? If I were you, I definitely would. In fact, for the benefit of all students who might be receiving a similar letter in the future, I hope you will. </p>
<p>I'd be very curious as to their response -- did ALL the rejection letters say the same thing? Do they have different letters they send based on the overall "score" an applicant received? Are they seriously trying that hard to tell kids they don't have a chance? I'm incredibly surprised at the letter your daughter received, but would be very interested in hearing OCU's explanation for that kind of wording. If you do contact them, please let us know! Maybe we all need to have our own letter-writing campaign back to them! Lets all hope and pray there's a really good answer . . .</p>
<p>Although I didn't audition at OCU, it appears they are one of the colleges that would stress the hard work portion of the MT life for 4 grueling years, and take out all the FUN! I agree the letter should have said "We had an extraordinary number of talented applicants and unfortunately could not take all of them."</p>
<p>Well, the fiery hurling meteroite named "Rejection" careened itself right into our mailbox today. It's origin? CCM MT. She was very, very sad.</p>
<p>The good news is that an acceptance to CCM Ballet Department was also there, but just between you and me - she would much rather have prefered the opposite.</p>
<p>The better news is she received a very nice letter from Otterbein (Dr. John) letting her know, she was in the final pool of applicants for MT. She was ecstatic.</p>
<p>Rejection from UArts today</p>
<p>hushinfazen, that's great about your daughter's other options. She must be very talented.
Julliard actually sent out a very nice rejection letter for their pre-screening CD for vocal performance( My D is auditioning for a few music schools also.) They listed the criteria they look for in applicants- elements that are important for classical singing (correct foriegn language diction etc) but all technical elements that are studied in college. I know I'm not expressing this right, but the wording was very encouraging and the letter stated repeatedly that a rejection did not imply anything about your basic ability as a singer. It was so much nicer than saying someone simply didn't measure up!</p>
<p>PATheatre - </p>
<p>That was very nice of Julliard. It probably reflects the quality and organization of the school. On the other hand my D applied to Steinhardt back in October. She sent in a CD very early in January leaving a time slot open and hoping to audition at the Feb unifieds while we were in NYC. After receipt Steinhardt sent an email saying if they had any more questions they would contact her. </p>
<p>From October till mid January she received almost DAILY correspondence from NYU in the mail. Many trees were killed with brochures. They even telephoned twice. (Academically NYU is probably between a safety and match for her) This all ended abruptly after receipt of the CD. To this date she has never heard from them again. I guess silence has a loud voice. </p>
<p>Looking back the CD didn't demonstrate her ability. I was tempted to send a DVD even though they said on the site to send a CD. And if she had it to do over she would have applied to Tisch instead. But we aren't angry or bitter as I really think this was a case of everything happening for the best and she is going to end up somewhere better for her. I just think that after 2 months it would have been polite to send off a quick email or letter and say she wasn't being considered. It's actually kind of comical since our NYU folder at this point is about 8" tall of correspondence so I know they have her address.</p>