<p>I've seen several posts that mention being "accepted on the spot in the audition room". What exactly does that mean and how would something like that go down? Is it done at all schools? Is it a binding offer that a prospect could bank on? </p>
<p>Anyone have experience with on the spot acceptances care to comment? Thank you!</p>
<p>I think this is extremely rare and certainly not done at all schools. Most schools need to see either all the candidates before making final decisions, and even for those with rolling MT acceptances, they typically need to review everything, not to mention the application and academic end of admissions. So, don’t expect to run into this much, if at all.</p>
<p>Lastly, don’t get caught up in auditioners who can be very encouraging in the audition room and equate that with an acceptance, unless they truly state you are accepted!</p>
<p>Inevitably, when this happens, it turns out to be an “artistic acceptance”: the faculty members/department heads/whatever who watched the audition, think the student would be a great fit for their department and they want the student to know they’re interested, BUT the faculty member/department head doesn’t have the authority to accept the student to the college on the spot. </p>
<p>It’s a game they play to make the kid move their college higher on their list of schools they’re applying to. The kid’s transcripts, etc. still have to get approved by the Admissions Office, and sometimes if the grades aren’t good, the “on the spot audition acceptance” can be overriden. Sad but true.</p>
<p>Thank you both for responding. I had a hard time squaring this concept in my head with what I think goes into an admission decision. Maybe at a school that thoroughly reviews the academic credentials first and then turns things over to the audition process carte blanche but even then it didn’t seem too likely that they’d give up consideration for the entire credential set “on the spot”. It would be an awful lot of info to either have in their head or to lug around (x 400). And I wondered what mechanisim would they possibly have to formally admit somebody for example in a hotel space at Unifieds.</p>
<p>I did read at least one post where the student was “accepted on the spot” as was a friend and when the official letters were sent out, both students were denied. Sounds like it could be a case of very encouraging language in the audition room that was misinterpreted. </p>
<p>Thanks. I wanted to know if there was really anything to this or not. It sounds like more a case of encouraging words that were coincidentally followed by an acceptance that went through the usual channels. And dots were connected directly back to what was said in the audition room even though it didn’t mean anything officially. Makes sense.</p>
<p>D was admitted on the spot in two early auditions. The adjudicators told her in the room and then found me in the hall afterwards to pitch their schools. The only caveat was that everything she’d filled out about her academic stats had to check out. Since it all did, the admissions were both real and she later got official letters. Neither school was among her top 3 schools, but both are selective BFA programs that eliminated the need to apply to other safeties. </p>
<p>I’ve heard of this happening to some other people, as well, but I’m not sure how wise it is for schools to commit spots before they’ve seen everyone.</p>
<p>Not the same thing, but we also know of a fellow who said he was told he would be admitted at one of the top MT schools after a summer program, but long before the regular audition season began, and he was later admitted so I assume he was telling the truth.</p>
<p>I suspect, as someone said earlier, they do this to try to lock in a student’s decision before they complete the audition process and see other offers.</p>
<p>S was admitted immediately following one of his auditions and a generous artistic scholarship was subsequently offered. It clearly made the school stand out in his list even though he did stick with his first choice school after all admits came in. The nice thing about the early news was that he decided not to try to make up one audition elsewhere after illness kept him from his original audition date.</p>
<p>Right after one of her auditions at Unifieds, my D was told they would be very excited to have her in their program. The next day she received a call from the head of the department telling her they were accepting her artistically, but she would not receive her official acceptance until all auditions were complete. He then e-mailed her a couple of weeks later to confirm what he had told her. She did receive admittance, along with a very generous scholarship. It made the wait to hear from all of her schools much less stressful!</p>
<p>Ah OK then. Looks like it does happen sometimes. I didn’t realize that the auditionees fill out academic stats at the audition so that the adjudicators would have something to reference at least conditionally in the moment. What you’re all describing sounds like a lot more than simply reading into positive comments. I’m sure it was wonderful to have that info early on. Well done.</p>
<p>OK thank you all for taking the time to respond. Question answered. :-)</p>
<p>There is an interesting ethical issue here. The vast majority of schools limit the number of acceptances. For instance, we accept 4 women. If, in the middle of the day, I offer one of those spaces, I have effectively changed the parameters of the audition process for everyone that comes later. If the offer is given on the first day of auditions in Chicago, what happens to the other prospective students who follow? </p>
<p>Each school does things differently and I am not denigrating anything any other program chooses to do. But it is an interesting question.</p>
<p>kjgc what you were describing was in essence what prompted me to even ask the question in the first place. I have no expectation of an on the spot admission (not that it wouldn’t be welcome, I just don’t think D should expect it nor be disappointed if it doesn’t happen either). I was curious about how level the playing field is at any given moment in the process. Is for example “10 spots for girls ever really 10 or is it just 6”… etc.</p>
<p>I suppose though it would be naive to think that it’s ever truly level. I’ve got to imagine that things like siblings of current or former students, alumni connections, feeder schools, summer program alums etc. could create advantage before even one audition has started. But then again so could having red hair the year a school needs red heads for the company, etc. Anyway, I agree with you kjgc that it is an interesting question with many dimensions. I suppose you could have the same discussion about any college admission cycle regardless of major.</p>
<p>I also think it is far from the norm, and for every person who could share a story of an in-room offer, there are many, many more who received acceptances the school’s “traditional” way. I know that it was an interesting, stressful time at d’s Point Park audition last year, when the majority of the kids came back from the dance call…d did not. As we were waiting (having been told about PP’s optional callback system, and hoping that she was among the few called back for more interest) a rumor began to flow through the “mother room” about a boy offered artistic admission on the spot…and he was already excused/not called back. (So was my kid actually crying her eyes out in some bathroom somewhere???) It turns out she was called back and the small group there were told PP was “very interested” in them, but no promises made. A few weeks later, d did receive a lovely acceptance and talent scholarship from them. Would love to know what outcomes the others had…but we all spun away to different cities, different auditions. At Pace, she and a small group of others were called up and told that the choreographer would love to work with them in their new Commercial Dance major…several weeks later, that formal offer of acceptance came, too. But she also had auditions where there was a lot of great feedback in the room to result in a “no” letter, as well as some auditions where she left with just a “thank you” and later received the very happy phone call… </p>
<p>Although it is a heady thing to consider the possibilities of an on the spot acceptance, I would caution that, from our experience, it’s pretty rare, and an auditioning kiddo has enough mind games going on not to add the worry of “will I be accepted on the spot?” to the list. Also, each audition is different, from school to school, year to year, even audition date to auditon date (d’s friend, who later auditioned for Point Park, reported that there were zero callbacks on her date…it’s up to the school to run the day after all).</p>
<p>I actually think it’s fairly common to hear “on the spot” or shortly thereafter about artistic acceptance…we just know so many with this experience including Momcares’ daughter. Our two kids were at the samel audition and both received several acceptances artistically, on the spot, with letters and scholarship info following shortly thereafter…as Momcares said, none were her first choices, but it did alleviate the need for applying to other back-up schools, because all she had to do was apply academically to these schools, and she then was going to college! </p>
<p>We also know several kids who were accepted on the spot at auditions on campus at another handful of schools.</p>
<p>KJGC, i wonder if this happens largely with schools that do rolling admission and schools that are accepting a larger number to net the smaller “yield”…i know at least one of the schools that accepted D had that kind of program.</p>
<p>Equally as common was the experience for my D of “knowing” she was not going to get in a school. For example, the CMU audition was of her very favorite…she still mentions it…it took nearly 5 hours with all the waiting, at Chicago Unifieds…she ended up doing 5 monologues, over and over again, was sent to the “other room”, etc…all good signs according to the things that are posted on this board. At the end of the audition, the woman (head of program, can’t remember her name) told her she was very talented and could have a viable career in this business, but she must persevere…it was kind, it was gracious, it was really helpful, but my daughter knew it was a “NO”…and frankly it was really a nice way to hear it! She didn’t wait with baited breath for 2 months to see it on paper, she knew…because the woman had been kind enough to make it clear without actually saying it. </p>
<p>The one thing that does happen, that surprised me, after Unifieds, was that a number of schools sent letters or emails saying something like “we have narrowed our field to 50” candidates, and you are among them. Please let us know if you still want to be considered, or if you have decided to attend elsewhere."…still made for a lot of waiting, but at lease we knew SOMETHING. </p>
<p>I think the hardest thing about senior year is all the waiting…if you want more info on any of this, from our experience, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>I am not a big fan of schools offering on the spot acceptances. I’ve witnessed first hand the damage it can cause to the psyche of all the other candidates outside the waiting rooms. I don’t see where accepting on the spot helps either the school or the student. It is still prudent to receive all the acceptances and weighing all the talent scholarships offerings before making any decision.</p>
<p>Ive had some experience with this. I was at the unified auditions last year, and its not worth it to try and read the auditors. I had 2 schools accept me on the spot and tell me that it wasnt something that I was aloud to let get out because they didnt generally do it. Only one of the 2 actually sent me a letter of acceptance.</p>
<p>Dont put much faith in it. Some schools that gave me the cold shoulder accepted me and some that hugged me on the way out the door rejected me. Its a hard wait. But once April rolls around, you will be able to decide for sure, and you arent ACTUALLY missing out on anything in the meantime.</p>
<p>My D got 2 on the spots - but both times the info was given in a way that it wasn’t known to the other auditioners and happily my kid had the sense not to jump up and down and blurt it out and act like a silly. It’s like when the cast list goes up on the board - don’t be going crazy when you know there are hurting people standing next to you. D says she waits until she gets into the car to scream!</p>