Rejection Letters

<p>THE letter has arrived in todays mail. We were expecting it today or tomarrow. After reading these post, I ask my S what he wanted me to do; call him at school, wait, etc. He said definitly do not do anything, just wait for him to come home. So it is sticking up in a bowl of oranges in the kitchen waiting for him. And unless he request it, his dad and I will not stand around looking at him when he opens it. It's hard to wait and of course he has a long rehearsal after school today!</p>

<p>My son received word today he was accepted at NYU- GSP- he's very excited and now happy that VAnderbilt rejected him ED. All things work out for the best!</p>

<p>I liked this statement from Susan and decided this is exactly how my son is approaching this process (not necessarily how mom always feels):</p>

<p>From SoozieVT this morning: "Come to EXPECT it. My children surely did. It was not a surprise. At many schools you have a 95% chance of getting that rejection letter. Think of an acceptance letter as a surprise and the rejection letters as a likely outcome."</p>

<p>My son first got into professional theatre at a Children's Theatre in our city in 5th grade. From that time through middle school, he auditioned for and performed in many shows, but his rejection rate was much higher than his acceptance rate into shows he auditioned for. He also sometimes got a lesser role than what he wanted. I think these rejections early on helped him never to expect anything and to always be excited when he got a role, even a small role. In high school, he has been fortunate enough to be selected for most roles he auditioned for and to be offered several shows without even going to an audition, because people have gotten to know him. He feels blessed and fortunate for this turn of events. He has actually had to turn down opportunities this school year due to college auditions.</p>

<p>His college news this year has gone both ways. He has amazingly bounced right back from rejections (I think due to the above experiences), and he has been absolutely thrilled with acceptances, and in every case has said he didn't think he would get it. He is his own worst critic and never seems to feel very good about auditions, at least not what he will share with me. This is probably good and probably why he is able to handle rejections well. As Susan said, that acceptance should come as a surprise. I'm proud of him!</p>

<p>Scrowman, your son applied to Tisch and was referred to GSP? I've never heard of that happening before. How can that possibly work with the studio system? I'm very curious.</p>

<p>AlwaysAMom, I have this feeling that Scrowman's child is not an applicant to theater programs. Perhaps he came to this thread about rejection letters and is posting on that topic, not realizing everyone else here is mostly involved in musical theater admissions.</p>

<p>If you search his posts, his son's college list is not theater schools and he applied to CAS at NYU, not Tisch, and was accepted into GSP.</p>

<p>My S finally got home at 8:30 from school and opened THE letter. We'd been staring at it all night waiting for him to come home, he grabbed it up and ran to the other room to open it, then we heard shouts of happiness! He got in and with a wildly generous merit award. I have never been so glad I waited, the look of joy on his face was superb! OCU here he comes.</p>

<p>I just thought that i would put in my two cents about this what not...</p>

<p>I'm a transfer student. I've done this college thing twice now! My senior year, I applied to one University (BFA MT), thought I was a shoe-in, couldn't imagin getting rejected..and guess what? Yes...i sure did.
... it sucked...i honestly don't know how else to say it. I had to watch my friends go away to college while I stayed at my local CC but, it just made me work harder..I was so mad that I threw myself even more into theatre and came out very much on top...
So, to the parents...let your kids be angry/sad/what ever else they may be, because it will just make them stronger...and hopefully want to work even harder at their craft.
And to the students...rejections are part of what we all WILL face at some point. If it gets you down...let it. Just make sure it pushes you to get up again and work harder...in the end, everything will work itself out..I am here to tell you...It alllll works out in the end!</p>

<p>oh ya, and ps....dont open letters for kids...i was peeved about it.</p>

<p>Tell us more about how you came out on top! Are you in a BFA program now, or working professionally? Tell tell! :)</p>

<p>miabella --</p>

<p>please, do tell!! i'm somewhat in the same situation as you were before, though i did apply to more than one school last year.</p>

<p>All things come to they who wait..................</p>

<p>How wonderful for your son and for the entire family!</p>

<p>I do love happy endings.</p>

<p>PS you might have to take your post out of the "Rejection Letters" thread - ;) - jk. But do post on the acceptance thread so more CC'er's can share your joy.</p>

<p>I agree with what miabella was saying. I got that straight out rejection, and I also missed a conditional offer (in Britain, some offers are given on the condition that a student achieves certain grades in exams they still have to sit. Often the unis will still accept people if they miss these conditions, but the one I was hoping to go to decided to be mean about my maths grade). They made me re-evaluate exactly what I wanted out of a degree, and somehow I managed to get on to my ideal course at the last minute.<br>
Having rejection behind me and being given a second chance has made me work a lot harder. I also feel I have to prove that the faculty were right to take a chance in letting me in, and I find myself a good sight more enthuasiastic than some who got in "the normal way".<br>
Had I not been rejected, I wouldn't be on the absolute perfect course in a wonderful city, so it was all for the best in the end :)</p>

<p>Alwaysamom- He applied to CAS-not Tisch</p>

<p>You guys have the BEST attitude and that is what is going to take you very far. Life is full of setbacks and obstacles. You have to be determined, motivated and work hard to persevere and you'll make it. Most successful people didn't have smooth sailing all the way. While it is true that not everyone got closed out of a BFA degree with rejections, they have had other obstacles to overcome. You guys have kept your eye on the goal and that is what you need to keep doing. Whatever happens along the way, pick yourself up, readjust, push forward. My D was lucky in the college acceptance department but ya know, her life almost ended right after her college auditions last year and it was a long haul to recover and one does see things differently after that. Just the fact that she is back at her game and even dancing considering her injuries, is a come back and there has been a lot she has had to overcome physically and emotionally to do it all again. There is a girl in her class at CAP21 who is confined to a wheelchair for life. This girl is an incredible inspiration. My D had a wonderful director/choreographer for a musical once (who demonstrated all the dances including tap), who had danced on Broadway and has won an Emmy for choreography, and this man lost both his legs as a young child and has prosthetic ones and accomplished all this. </p>

<p>Each person's obstacles vary and some are more difficult than others but they all carry on. So, anyone who gets these rejection letters, can find a way to their goals. We have seen folks on CC who got closed out of BFA programs last year and they have found ways to pursue this field. I can tell you guys will make it somehow because the drive and desire is there. So, go get 'em!</p>

<p>Let's also remember that even after a degree or what not, that this field is going to mean LOTS and LOTS of rejections in auditions to get some successes. It is a magnification of the college audition process. There will be many more "no's" than "yes's" in casting auditions. For each person you see who wins a Tony, they endured many "no's" to get there. You can't take each "no" in this field as defeat, but just keep on carrying on.</p>

<p>PS...srw....YAY for your son!! I'll catch on you on the acceptance thread!</p>

<p>soozievt's comments about the choreographer who had lost both legs and carried on and was successful despite those odds reminded me of an article I read recently, about a young lady who was badly burned in a house fire when she was very small and today is studying acting at a public arts high school.</p>

<p>I tried to dig the story up on the newspaper's web site, but was not successful. However, I found it here, if anyone is interested:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/baltimore/unison/20060206/p18_19.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/baltimore/unison/20060206/p18_19.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>L</p>

<p>Ah, okay, scrowman. I understand now! :) I got confused since you posted it in the MT forum.</p>

<p>Theatermom, Thanks, point taken! I think I was hanging out on this thread not knowing what was going to happen. And I got great advice about waiting for S to open the letter in his own time, and was more prepared to help him, just in case. But with much affection I will move on.</p>

<p>That is so great to hear DramaPrincess!
and what a fantastic story soozievt, how uplifting!</p>

<p>First of all...it is so nice to hear all your support. This thread is filled with the most sincere, sweet individuals. As for "coming out on top," I am in my last semester at my CC, working professionally as a choreographer for a company in Laguna Beach and was taken 'on the spot' to U of Miami, my dream school(of course, its pending because its not tech. official without my transcripts) and am waiting to hear from a few others. That single school I auditioned for my senior year just wasn’t the school for me. On another note: I have been able to do so much regional theatre that my resume is just sparkling (Finally!!!) which would not have been the case had I attended a University.
In my opinion, everything worked out the way it was supposed to and I am so grateful for it. Its funny, I remember all my friends senior year where so dead set on attending a University, they forgot that auditioning does not only come once in a life time..there are always second chances, third chances and so on. I am here to tell you...If you don't happen to get in your senior year, then try, try again...
...things just have such a way of working themselves out. It is so exciting to see where life takes you!</p>

<p>Several people here and on other threads have mentioned getting thin letters that were actually acceptances. Care to share which schools those came from?</p>

<p>My son received a thin letter from one of his schools, but it was just an academic acceptance and the audition result wasn't included. That "Congratulations on your acceptance...!" is very misleading when it's inside of an envelope with the return address of one of his favorite schools!</p>

<p>Just curious about the thin-envelope MT acceptances!</p>

<p>UM sends out (at least they did two years ago) two "letters" if you are accepted. You are supposed to get one from the School of Music, which is the skinny kind you are talking about - at least my D's was - and you are then supposed to get a large packet of materials from the University a few days later (or so we were told during the parents meeting at the audition). For some reason, my D got the large package from the University first and the skinny acceptance letter the next day. However when the large package arrived with all kinds of enrollment info, we knew the good skinny letter was on the way. But we were warned that all decisions - accepted, deferred or rejection - would come in the same size envelope, so the reversal of the delivery was a real blessing.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info. Did she have a long wait after her audition before hearing anything?</p>