Point Park

<p>I auditioned at unifides in NY and there was no call-back. The only thing that you need to have ready is, although they only asked for one sixteen-bar song, have another piece prepared. I sang my soprano song and they asked if I could belt, than I had to run out to the hall way, get my tape, and sing another song. They also asked me to do my mon. a different way, so maybe that is the mini-unifides version of asking you to do more, but theres no call back. and everyone had to attend the dance call.</p>

<p>When my son auditioned at PP last fall, there was a callback in the afternoon, and if you weren't on the callback list, that meant you were not being considered for admission to the conservatory- although you still might be admitted to PP academically.</p>

<p>Hey everyoooone. =) This is my first post on here. I'm going to be applying/auditioning for musical theatre BFA programs for the fall of 2008. I'm not done with all of my applications yet, because I really want my essays to stand out, but I was just curious as to when everyone had their applications in by. Sooo, I guess this question is directed towards people who are already enrolled. I'm just a bit confused on the whole waitlisting thing...? Answers would be greaaaaaaatly appreciated. Thanks! =)</p>

<p>My D applied to PP and was sent a letter saying she was academically accepted. She won't be auditioning till February at Unifieds in NY. They are asking us to send in a tuition deposit by November. Is that what all the schools will do?? I am new to all this. Do you really have to do this? I hope I don't have to do this for all 10 schools. Yikes!!!</p>

<p>Any info would be appreciated.</p>

<p>First, congratulations on your daughter's acceptance to Point Park (the university itself). To tell ya the truth, this topic comes up every year on CCs in relation to Point Park. </p>

<p>I know others who have received that same letter from PP, but this school is VERY unusual this way and NO, it is NOT typical at all and it really is against the "rules" and I find it very annoying. As a point of reference, NONE of my D's 8 BFA schools (nor many others) did this. In fact, Point Park is really going against the rules set by The National Association for College Admissions Counseling in the Students' Rights and Responsibilities. You will see the following:</p>

<p>
[quote]
You have the right to wait until May 1 (which actually is the National Reply Date) to respond to an offer of admission and/or financial aid. Colleges that request commitments to offers of admission and/or financial assistance prior to May 1 must clearly offer you the opportunity to request (in writing) an extension until May 1. They must grant you this extension and your request may not jeopardize your status for admission and/or financial aid.

[/quote]
</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/32AC7935-7A99-40FE-A9C2-019AB11E498D/0/StudentsRtsNEW.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/32AC7935-7A99-40FE-A9C2-019AB11E498D/0/StudentsRtsNEW.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If it were me, I would ask Point Park to have until May 1 to put down the deposit and I would reference the policy according to the NACAC. Actually, I have heard from students/parents that the letter states "strongly recommend" which is how they must be getting out of compliance by not saying it is "required." Ask them what effect it has to wait to put down a deposit by May 1 which is the National Reply Date according to the NACAC. I suppose you could give the deposit if it is refundable but it is wrong and they may not require you to do this. Other schools do NOT (so no, you will not be laying out this money for all your schools, don't worry!!) You could follow the NACAC procedures and ask for the extension to commit to enroll, along with the deposit (which IS the commitment, basically, to enroll) until May 1. This is the procedure colleges are to follow and most do. I know Point Park is a fine school (I mean I even recommend it to my advisees) but this is one thing that I don't personally like about Point Park. There is no reason to hold your money until May 1. May 1 is the date you must commit to enroll and give deposits. They can't require you to do so sooner. Ask for this in writing. Point to the NACAC and ask for the extension and ask what the difference is if you send a deposit by the National Reply date which is your right to do, and what the purpose is to send it now and if you can have this extension, would it makes any difference. It should not. Again, you won't run into this with too many schools. I never have with two daughters and 16 schools between them or with my clients except in rare occasions and Point Park is the one I remember most as doing this.</p>

<p>Very interesting. I guess it's good news that it isn't the norm. On the other hand I will be talking to PP tomorrow. This is one of the schools we did visit so I met her counselor in person. I'll post back with her response.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info.</p>

<p>Please point to the NACAC policy that schools follow. That way you come across as....well, savvy and in the know, and that you know that a deposit cannot be required to hold a spot as you have until May 1 to do that on the National Reply Date!</p>

<p>That's the plan. I'll let you know.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>So, I just visited Point Park's site to look around and here's what I found.... Go to this Page where they outline the steps of their process:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.pointpark.edu/default.aspx?id=2590%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.pointpark.edu/default.aspx?id=2590&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Basically (of course!!), they need your deposit before they send you an invitation for the REGISTRATION FOR CLASSES DAY which goes out in March/April. So, there is no need to send a deposit now as they can't take your spot away in the class but you simply can't go to the registration day until you pay your deposit! And so in April, you'll figure out where you wanna go, like everyone else, and if you choose Point Park, pay the deposit then and proceed to the next step of the enrollment process. In other words, there is no advanatage to give them money now....none. Your acceptance is good until the National Reply Date. Your admission offer still stands until then. Know your rights when you call. I know this won't be a problem. There is no way that students are going to tie up deposit money to every school. You will send ONE deposit only.....to the school you wish to attend, by May 1. Please know this. :)</p>

<p>Point Park will gladly let you extend to May 1st so you should have no problem there. Elon works the same way. They had some type of registration weekend around April 15th i believe that you had to have sent your deposit in to attend. My daughter also asked for an extension at Elon which was no problem but she could not attend that weekend without paying first. Emerson also asked for a deposit when my daughter was accepted last December but they were also fine with waiting until May 1st if that's where daughter chose to go. </p>

<p>I think that even though schools may "request" it from you, as Soozie said, you don't HAVE to have it in until May 1st. Congrats to you d!!!</p>

<p>I remember when we went through this 2 years ago it was the housing deposit that was the main issue - there was some threat that if you didn't send money right away, if you ended up attending there would be no housing for you.</p>

<p>Yes, Elon has a situation where you have to give a deposit to attend the event in April. I also find this an unusual practice. Most colleges hold an open house event for accepted students during the month of April as students are deciding amongst their list of acceptances, where they wish to attend. In other words, the events are not just for those who have committed via deposit. With both of my children, we attended accepted student events in April and none required deposits to attend and many attended who were never going to end up enrolling because that was the whole idea of it. The deposits are due May 1. It sounds like Point Park and Elon hold these events for accepted and DEPOSITED students and they even register for classes and so forth at that time. However, even for those schools, you really do not need to send a deposit now but simply in order to attend that event and then it is still refundable through May 1 I believe. I had a client get into Elon's BFA last year who wanted to attend the event but was deciding between two schools. She had to pay the deposit to attend the event (but didn't pay this far in advance) and attended but opted to attend the other university and got her deposit back. However, most schools don't have a deposit to attend an accepted student event and they use that event to show families their school in the hopes they will choose to matriculate. But no school can make you commit before May 1 unless you are applying Early Decision. Imagine if every school wanted your deposit now, and you'd be tying up thousands of dollars, let alone may not have it. The idea is to weigh all of your options in the month of April when you have all your acceptances in hand. Encouraging families to do otherwise goes against the intended process, in my view. In any case, familiarize yourselves with the students' rights as I linked you to them.</p>

<p>PS...while I am giving both my opinion of this practice, as well as my knowledge of the procedures, I want to reiterate that both Point Park and Elon are GREAT MT programs and I suggest both of them frequently to my advisees and in fact, many have applied or are applying to these schools.</p>

<p>My son received academic acceptance letters from PPU and from Otterbein, and they both asked for deposits, although PPU was much more forceful about asking, even stating a date in November by which they wanted the money. Does putting in a deposit make a difference in terms of obtaining housing at these colleges? No matter what, it is too early to write any checks! He hasn't even auditioned for the conservatory part of the programs, yet! I'm glad I noticed this discussion, or I would have become quite concerned. Thanks!</p>

<p>We never got far enough with Point Park to know your answer on housing (and we didn't ever work out visiting or auditioning for Otterbein), but for the initial request at Point Park, we wrote a letter asking for an extension date, until after audition results were known. We were granted an extension of time for giving the deposit. Later, my son was asked to come for a Presidential scholarship interview, and by that point he had several other options and had made the decision not to go to Point Park. He actually wrote them and gave up the acceptance for MT and for academics, before the scholarship interview and I think before we ever sent any money for a deposit.</p>

<p>Soozievt: I e-mailed my son's admission counselor at about the deposit, and his respoonse was that "the deposit is refundable up until May 1, 2008. If he decides to attend another school all that he needs to do is e-mail me and the school will refund his money." At this point, he seems pretty clear that the money should be in by Nov. 19th. Is it correct to specifically ask for an extension? I really can't believe that many families would be able to tie up hundreds of dollars at each school for the next 5 months. Thanks!</p>

<p>It wouldn't hurt to try asking for an extension.</p>

<p>I would do as I suggested earlier and bring up the National Reply Date and a student's rights to not have to commit before then and to request to not have to notify or deposit before May 1. Point to the NACAC policy. You are entitled to request in writing for an extension until May 1. </p>

<p>Imagine if every school required you to hold a spot via deposit all these months. They cannot make you do that.</p>

<p>Today I had my son's school college counselor contact PPU. He talked to the Head of Admissions, who said that if the money were not sent, PPU would simply keep exending the deadline cited in correspondence to us, up until May 1st. They no doubt will keep sending letters. He did not get the impression from the conversation that we had to do ANYTHING, such as write to request an extension. As you have said, a college cannot require a student to commit in any way until May 1st.</p>

<p>Just an update from me too.</p>

<p>I called my D's counselor directly last week and left a message and I also sent an email to the admissions department. I never heard from anyone. So just this morning I sent another email and voice mail to the counselor quoting the NCAC rights and responsibilities and requesting that they get back to me with a response. When and if I hear from them I will let you know. </p>

<p>kimoki</p>

<p>letsfigureitout....exactly....they can't make you commit or give a deposit until May 1 and your child would not lose his/her slot which cannot be given to someone else. I'm not saying you have to put a request in writing but just be clear with the school that you can do this. You can. If they didn't let you, I'd not be too keen about that myself. Again, if every school required a deposit in advance of May 1, imagine all the money you'd have tied up!!! (that's even if you even had the money to tie up in the first place....I dont think a lot of us would.</p>