<p>Do students typically send a "Thank you" to the MT department after receiving an acceptance, even if they aren't quite sure they're going there yet? Seems appropriate to send even a simple 2-3 line email but was curious about the proper protocol and what others have done....</p>
<p>I would Really recommend handwriting notes to theater programs. They really do get passed along to the head and they do appreciate it.</p>
<p>YES. Please. Acknowledge that you have the offer in hand. Email is fine, handwritten notes are lovely but anything is better than nothing. We (the programs) know the student is weighing options. Heck, we are likely to know one or two of the other offers. But please all you incredible students out there. Acknowledge the invitation. Then, when you have made a decision, positive or negative. PLEASE let the schools know as soon as you can. </p>
<p>And yes CarneigieMT2012, we often do get the notes and we do appreciate them. But like I said, email isn’t nearly as quaint, but it is fast and keeps the channels of communication open. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>To expand just a bit on kjgc’s response… Although you don’t HAVE to respond until May 1, if there are acceptances you have definitely eliminated, do the schools, AND the kids on waitlists a huge favor, and let the schools know as soon as possible that you won’t be attending.</p>
<p>Does this apply to non auditioned programs also? Because acceptance there is not really an issue as the only acceptance is academic. Furthermore, all of the “non auditioned” BA programs actually did have auditions which were for money, not acceptance, so although it would clearly be very polite, would it be of as much importance? (because they aren’t capped and in fact aren’t really an offer because that would have come, again, from regular admissions)</p>
<p>(also…how do you even know what some of the other offers are, kjgc? do you talk amongst yourselves?)</p>
<p>School reps know what other offers some kids have because they post them here on CC. It’s not too hard to figure out who some of the kids are!</p>
<p>There are zillions of applicants, however, who do not participate on CC!</p>
<p>^True. But, don’t most schools also ask where you are applying? They probably have a pretty good idea of the competitiveness of each applicant.</p>
<p>I agree with kjgc that a quick email to acknowledge that you have received the offer would be polite. I also agree with MUSTHCC that it would be polite to let the program heads know directly as soon as you have made a decision either way.</p>
<p>My opinion to some questions raised on this thread…</p>
<p>First to the OP…I haven’t truly hear of acknowledging acceptances. My kids never did and I don’t know any who have. I don’t see that as necessary to do so until you make a decision to attend or not and then inform them right away when you do decide. </p>
<p>You have until May 1 to make a decision. Please notify all schools of your intentions by then. If you already know you are going to pass on certain offers before that time, let them know as soon as possible so that they can ascertain their yield and get to the wait list sooner, to benefit everyone in that situation. But you are under no pressure to accept an offer before May 1. Accept an offer before that date if you have indeed made a decision, however! </p>
<p>In terms of other programs knowing where else you have applied…some programs do ask at auditions or on applications (I feel this question is inappropriate!) and that doesn’t mean a student has answered the question fully with a list of all their schools. But even if they have done so, a list of where one has applied is not the same as a list of where one has been admitted. </p>
<p>Why does a school even need to know where else you have been admitted at this juncture in the process? It is not going to affect anything at this point. It is common knowledge that a student is likely to be admitted to more than one school. Colleges expect this! They don’t need to be investigating where else you were admitted (such as on CC) because what does it matter? They expect you to be admitted elsewhere and then for a student to make a decision. </p>
<p>I have a daughter in the graduate admissions cycle right now. She applied to four schools and has heard from two so far (admitted) and unlike undergrad admissions, there is not a May 1 National Reply Date and some programs have a deadline late this month to let them know and my D has been able to get those schools to give her an extension until she has heard from the other schools and attended admitted student events. She isn’t afraid to state that she has other acceptances. Schools know that this is usually the case!</p>
<p>What I do think IS appropriate is AFTER May 1 and decisions have been made where to matriculate, that colleges may be interested in where else a student was admitted so that they can get a handle on cross admits and decisions in that regard. They don’t need to know that information during the admissions process (on the application) or even right now. It may be information that is helpful to them to review once the cycle is over.</p>
<p>In other words, if a college accepts you and you pick another school, they may be interested in such information (where you chose to matriculate), or if they accept you and you agree to attend, they may be interested in which schools you chose their school over. This information may be useful in long range planning.</p>
<p>For example, I recall when my older daughter applied to college and when she had to reply to some of her acceptances to let them know she was turning down their offer, there was a form to fill out and some asked at THAT POINT, where else she was accepted and where she was matriculating. That is the point when I feel it is appropriate to ask, and not on the application or at an audition, or even now when students are deciding where to attend.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the clear and sensible advice, soozie.</p>
<p>Last year, my D had one BFA school that kept calling and emailing to ask if she was ready to make a decision, had any questions, etc. It finally got annoying. D kept responding that she had multiple offers and was expecting more and would not be making a decision until May 1. I think it was meant to be flattering to have the dept head call a student directly, but D found it a little creepy and intimidating! She ended up declining for other reasons (didn’t want to stay in home state, wanted better academics, etc). </p>
<p>I agree that it is important to let schools know as soon as you make a decision. There are usually plenty of kids on waiting lists. D sent quick emails to all schools (even non audition schools) when she made her final decision. For audition schools, she sent emails to both the department (theatre or music) and admissions. She probably should have also contact FA at the schools to decline scholarships, etc. She ended up getting loan docs in August for Stafford loans from a school that she had declined.</p>
<p>When my D applied to BFA in MT programs, I recall one program that accepted her calling here in late March asking if she would be accepting the scholarship, which in my view, was a way of skirting the May 1st National Reply Date…rather than asking if she was going to attend, they asked if she was accepting the scholarship…and we simply said that she hadn’t even heard from all her colleges yet (many colleges send out admissions notifications around April 1) and would let them know once she decided, and surely by May 1. D got into her first choice, NYU/Tisch and so was positive she was going there and let her other schools know shortly thereafter in early April. My other D, when she got all her acceptances in hand after April 1, chose to re-visit her three favorites and THEN make a decision, which she did in late April. No schools called her up to pressure her. Most don’t do this. Fortunately.</p>
<p>i believe my D acknowledged all of her acceptances when she received them last year. It let the school know that she had received the offer and also that she was excited about the acceptance. As she made decisions to decline an offer, she immediately let the school know that she was declining the offer. She also made sure to let admissions know and to decline any scholarship offers from that school. She did receive follow-up communication from schools but I don’t think ever felt any pressure to give an answer before May1. But once she was sure of her choice she was ready to sign! </p>
<p>I do know that some schools are in contact with some coaches about acceptances and that is one way that a school might know about other offers is through the coach. kjgc or KatMT could answer the question about how much communication goes on between the programs themselves.</p>
<p>You have 2 people who are department heads for these programs telling you that an acknowledgment of an acceptance is appreciated. Just sayin’</p>
<p>I realize two department heads here are saying they appreciate acknowledgment of an acceptance and respect that. I just do not think it is common practice for applicants to let colleges know they have received their acceptance notifications. I’m not sure why it is even necessary as one would assume such notifications were received. The applicant’s obligation is to let colleges know their decision one way or the other as soon as possible but by May 1 the latest. What purpose does it serve to say, “yes, I got the admissions decision?” </p>
<p>Also, why does a program need to know at this juncture, where else a student is admitted? In my view, the time to know that is after the admissions cycle is complete and it may be useful information in terms of their planning for things such as yield in future cycles and so forth. </p>
<p>My D did not work with any coaches who had any contact with her colleges. I would hope that if she had a coach who was in contact, that the coach would not divulge other acceptances my child received without our agreeing to releasing such information.</p>
<p>I never said that programs needed to know where else a student had been accepted at this point. I said that I knew that SOME coaches did in fact speak to SOME schools about acceptances. You would have to talk to the coach(es) to find out about permission granted or not by the student/parents.</p>
<p>What does it hurt to say “yes, I got the admissions decision” soozie? You are not committing yourself in any shape, form or fashion by doing so. You are politely acknowledging an acceptance, hopefully to a program that somewhere along the way you thought you wanted to attend. And it tells the program that you did indeed receive their email/letter. Perhaps your email/mail system works perfectly but in my world things get lost, so why not just acknowledge receipt and continue celebrating your acceptance?</p>
<p>I personally do not see the need or the purpose in acknowledging acceptances before May 1, unless you are sure that you are NOT going to go to the school, in which case it is just courtesy and kindness to let the school know you are honored to be accepted but won’t be attending, which opens up a spot for others. Otherwise, what is the purpose of sending a “Thanks for accepting me” email or letter? To get on the department head’s good side? My daughter acknowledged all of her acceptances (this was back in 2008) with a nice thank you note <em>after</em> she had made up her mind about where to go, but she didn’t send anything before May 1. She wanted to get all offers on the table (including financial aid) so that she could make (with our help) a decision. </p>
<p>Do the colleges really contact audition or vocal and acting coaches? That doesn’t sit well with me for a number of reasons. One is that many kids cannot afford or don’t use a coach (or don’t need one) and if colleges are in direct contact with coaches, well, it brings another level of unfairness in, in my view. And two, I wouldn’t think an ethical coach would share any information of any kind (much less where else a kid auditioned or had been accepted) with a college – at least without the kid’s permission.</p>
<p>NMR - I will ask the same question of you that I asked of soozie. What does it HURT to say “thank you” when you get an acceptance? Maybe I am just in the wrong part of the world here but we try and say “thank you” a lot around here and my expectation for my D was that she have good manners and acknowledge the offer. If you don’t have that expectation for your child that’s fine. But you cannot convince me that it hurt my D in any way to say thank you. And it wasn’t to get in good with anyone - she had already been accepted. Guess what - she acknowledged some of her rejections too! Said something along the lines of “sorry I wasn’t a good match but I enjoyed the experience I know that XYZ school’s class of 2014 is going to be great.” These were reserved for programs where she had been in contact with someone along the way and felt it appropriate to bring closure to the process.</p>
<p>Well, we would love to just be over and done with this and be able to do all the programs the courtesy of letting them know her decision but until a few laggards get on with it and end our suspense 
we can’t.</p>
<p>How long after auditions is it appropriate to wait until you send an email saying “uhm, have they been sent yet, and if so did you send them snail mail or email because I DO get misdirected snail mail sometimes”. I mean it does happen. Don’t want to pester but I also don’t want to cause unnecessary waiting and agony, yannow?</p>
<p>So how long after an audition should you wait before asking? We have two from whom we have heard neither yay nor nay and it’s going on the 4th week now.</p>