<p>Got my waitlist decision in the mail today for Purchase. Definitely still excited that I might have a shot at getting in!</p>
<p>any other decisions made for Purchase? We are still waiting here have not heard anything good or bad and its 3/23/11??? Still waiting patiently with my S for word of some kind?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about your specific case BATTKISS, but i would think that any other admissions/ waitlist decisions will slow down until a few more of the big acting schools release decisions… That way people know what their options are, visit, and can rule things out.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Hey guys! I’ve been waitlisted too. Has anyone from the waitlist heard any news lately? And has anyone else’s mypurchase account not changed since they were waitlisted?</p>
<p>Mine hasn’t changed. I just recently emailed them to check my admission status, still on the waitlist. She also told me there was at least dozen men on the waitlist, I imagine it’s similar for women as well.</p>
<p>Are there any courses offered in the summer or winter for Acting BFA requirements, non general ed? Or is the program setup to take four years?</p>
<p>Sadly, No. The conservatory program is set up for the four years of study. From Fall to Spring. If you have time during the summer and winter breaks. You are more then free to take summer courses to get rid of your general education requirements.</p>
<p>Those of you who were in the wait list, where you called back the same day you auditioned?</p>
<p>in terms of the vibe at these auditions- it is profoundly different from one to the other and I think it is a mistake to simply let them off the hook for creating an environment that feels toxic, which is how I would describe SUNY Purchase. Cattle call…ugly, nasty. For those of you who seem to let them off the hook because it needs to be “sooo selective”, I would venture a guess, and from what I hear from current students, this feeling flows through to the student experience. In other words, even though we probably won’t get in, legitimately we left feeling like we wouldn’t want to go there even if we did get in. Contrasting-CalArts was absolutely inspirational, so was Cornish and UCLA. (maybe its a west coast thing), Emerson was OK, but SUNY was downright awful- the combination of lack of friendliness and pretentiousness makes it a No go, regardless of industry stature, afterall industry stature will not get your student mental health while they are there</p>
<p>Sillymoms, I agree that it is reasonable to factor in the “feel” of an audition, though it can’t be the only point to consider. </p>
<p>I used to run auditions for a symphony orchestra, and we were in the situation where we had one position to offer – one very, very, very good position – with perhaps ninety well-qualified musicians auditioning. We didn’t have to be nice to anybody. BUT we knew we were going to be entering a relationship with one of those people, a relationship that might last for decades. We wanted to start off on a pleasant, professional footing. Also, all ninety auditioners were going to spread the word around the country about how they were treated at our audition. It would affect the reputation of our orchestra in the musical community. For these reasons and others, we always went WAY out of our way to be cordial, helpful, and welcoming to all ninety. That’s how these schools need to be. Some are. And some aren’t.</p>
<p>For my son, the nice ones have been Shenandoah, Emerson, and Carnegie Mellon. The OK ones were Ithaca, Rutgers, and Purchase. His nightmare audition was USC.</p>
<p>^^We have had great experiences at almost every school (Muhlenberg, Ithaca, Otterbein, BU, Hartt, and DePaul at Unifieds). The only exception was Evansville, which was weird and hard to describe but definitely did not feel friendly or collegial. Ultimately my son chose not to audition at many of the schools whose auditions sound unpleasant–and those descriptions may have been a minor factor in his decision. For him, the audition atmosphere has definitely affected whether he felt “on” for the monologues, if that makes sense!</p>
<p>My D had very nice auditors everywhere but one place. The woman who auditioned her for Montclair at Chicago Unifieds had her re-do one monologue, but partway through waved her hands and said, “Forget it, don’t bother.” Unfortunately this was her very first audition, and it set off her nerves immensely for the rest of the week.</p>
<p>I know these kids are supposed to be tough and keep a good perspective, but as Times3 says, they’re only human. How people treat them does affect their ability to perform. And my D, who was always “on” for any other audition, definitely was much more nervous when it came time for college auditions. As with the symphony job, this isn’t just a one-gig deal - the results can change your whole life. I don’t blame any kid who gets a little shaken by the process.</p>
<p>Ha, we tried to get our Purchase discussion moved to the proper thread, and now we’ve morphed into another subject. I guess we all just like these dynamic conversations!</p>
<p>Interesting points, that a bad experience can really color your impression of a school. My daughter did not like her Emerson audition experience-- she didn’t connect with the auditor and got negative vibes-- so that she walked away from the experience feeling the school was definitely not for her. While she was auditioning, I was at a parents’ info session run by a sub (someone was out sick) who didn’t seem to know as much about the acting program as the parents in the room… so I left with a negative impression, too. One might point out that a different hour, a different day we might have both had very different impressions. But it’s what we had to go on. Anyway, stacked up against many other schools where she had a positive experience, it was easy to let that paricular college drop to the bottom of the list. So it wasn’t much of an ouch when Emerson rejected her. I think it’s harder when you love a place and feel a real connection, but are rejected.</p>
<p>There must be some people who enjoy the atmosphere at Purchase.</p>
<p>My son’s very first college audition was a horrible experience and it caught all of us off guard. It is a very good school and others have had a wonderful experience so I am not going to name it. Emerson was also not his favorite audition, felt like he just never connected with the auditioner. All his other auditions he really felt positive about and whatever the outcome, felt like they were really rooting for him to do his best.</p>
<p>Purchase was my son’s number 2 choice when he auditioned several years ago, and that was after he sat in on some classes, talked to the dean and saw a show. I think he liked what he felt was a bit more edginess to the Purchase curriculum than some of the other colleges. One of his good friends went their for tech, and was very satisfied with his instruction and is now working in the industry. I’m also probably one of the few people who kind of got a kick out of the look of the place, is a surrealistic sort of way. Saying all that, however, It never felt to me as nurturing as some of his other choices. That probably bothered me as his mother more than it bothered him. It also seemed not as many students made it through all four years to graduation, although we were told that was because some of them got professionally cast. I think my son would have happily gone there if he had not received a good scholarship from his number 1 choice. The cost is hard to beat, and the proximity to the city was a plus.</p>
<p>I would say that the example that you give is really different. One is for a professional role and the other is to be a student. In one case you are a fully functioning adult and in the other case you are looking for a place to develop. The school has an obligation to remind itself however selective, it is still a school, still needs to be nurturing or it shouldn’t be in business for any reason, regardless of this selectivity crap.</p>
<p>I didn’t think the Purchase campus was that bad either, pennmom. It’s in a beautiful, upscale suburban area. The building that houses the dance and theatre department is lovely, its inside corridors flooded with natural light. The performing arts center has a remarkably large, state-of-the-art black box theatre. </p>
<p>Granted, some of the buildings have an odd, quirky modern design that is now a bit worn and dated.</p>
<p>But gee…I’d been expecting a gulag! </p>
<p>One amenity that was mentioned on the tour was that the dorms are connected to the central dining hall through an underground tunnel that permits students to go to meals during bad winter weather without going outside.</p>
<p>There are very valid reasons why the Purchase theatre program would not be a good fit for many students. However, it’s hard for me to understand all the fuss about the physical appearance of the campus.</p>
<p>I mentioned earlier in this thread that I know 2 kids in the BFA acting program at Purchase who said they like the program but don’t like the school. I just found out that my friend’s daughter never went back after the Christmas break. She is a freshman and was so incredibly unhappy she wouldn’t go back. We were all shocked because we know how difficult it must have been to get in there!</p>
<p>I don’t know, I think everyone has to choose for themselves what components of a program they find positive, neutral or negative. It’s so individual. Components include physical buildings and location, but they are not limited to that at all. And sometimes what seems important in the beginning turns out to be not important at all, and vice versa, as others have said. It’s hard to judge for sure. How much is just your mood that day, the weather, the particular people who happened to be there? How much is indicative of the program itself on a deep level? </p>
<p>That said, we did go on ‘gut’ feeling a lot. A few times, my D would go to the campus, and it was obvious even at a glance that she didn’t fit in, or did; more often, the fit was obvious after she spent time with the students, in classes, and talking.</p>
<p>My son actually really liked the students at Purchase. I often wonder whether his life would have been different had he accepted their offer. He was indeed turned off by the buildings, but not nearly as much as I was. He was more turned off by its relative isolation, to him–it’s not very easy to get into Manhattan (if I remember, a bus to the train). However, he did click right away with the students, many seemed just like him, and he had this immediate feeling of belonging. That is huge. For some, that outweighs ugly buildings. </p>
<p>Mommy5, I do have to say I know of several highly regarded programs, not just Purchase, in which very talented people drop out abruptly. There can be many reasons for this, and a few reasons do put the program in a bad light–but this is not unique to Purchase.</p>
<p>I don’t think any college has an obligation to be nurturing.</p>