<p>We're having a discussion in our house about whether it is appropriate to send a thank you note after an audition. </p>
<p>What's the prevailing wisdom on this issue?</p>
<p>Absolutely, send a handwritten thank you note. It won’t hurt, and it could help!</p>
<p>My son did not send any thank you notes. I would guess that most auditioners do not send a thank you note. In most cases, my son’s auditioning panel had 3 to 8 instructors on it (and they appeared to be hearing from 20 to 35 auditions in a day)–that’s a lot of thank you notes!</p>
<p>Perhaps if the audition was with a single instructor who went out of her/his way to show the student around the school, offered a lesson at no charge etc., then a thank you note would be appropriate. Otherwise, sending a thank you note seems rather like sending a thank you note to the dental assistant who assisted with your filling and who probably doesn’t remember your name.</p>
<p>So, if you have something to thank someone for, then send a note, but if the person was merely fulfilling the requirements of their job for which they are adequately compensated, then the thank you note possibly smacks of sycophantism. Just my opinion, though, obviously–I have always appreciated those whose gratitude is deeper than my own:)</p>
<p>I agree with EastCoastGirl. You can never be wrong being gracious.</p>
<p>I’m a big fan of thank you notes. I think that you should send a thank you note to the admissions counselor after an interview, and to employers after an interview, too. It can only leave a good impression.</p>
<p>I think most people do not send thank you notes. My guess is that those who do, often send email thank yous instead. Sending a gracious, sincere, hand written thank you note will help you stand out in a crowd, and can only make a positive impression. A sample thank you could say something like:</p>
<p>Dear Dr. So and So
Thank you for the opportunity to audition for Joe Blow University at the Chicago Unified Auditions. I enjoyed meeting you and learning more about your musical theatre program. </p>
<p>I will be visiting Joe Blow University on February 16, and I hope to see you when I am on campus. </p>
<p>Thanks again for your time, I very much appreciate it!</p>
<p>Sincerely,
Jane Doe
McMurray High School 2012
McMurray, CA</p>
<p>Now, that only took about 3 minutes to write. Personally, I think three minutes and 44 cents is worth it to jog someone’s memory and make them think “What a nice young woman?” </p>
<p>Can’t hurt. Might help.</p>
<p>Prob won’t hurt, but with a music audition as I understand it probably won’t help either. I think it doesn’t hurt to send a thank you if a student does a sample lesson, or a teacher goes out of their way, to explain things about the school, answer questions, etc, or if someone in admissions went out of their way to help you, it might be a good idea (for a lot of reason, people in the admissions office have a certain amount of sway…). The reason such a note probably won’t do anything with an audition panel is the decision is kind of cast the day the audition is held (least at the programs I have heard about or are familiar with), on auditions the panelists fill in their rating on the student and check off whether they would be willing to teach them, and that determines ultimate admissions, the office goes through those audition results, decide what the level of admission is, and those kids make it. In theory if there is a borderline case, where a kid is good enough to get in and let’s say his choice of teachers are not available, if they talked to another teacher on the panel a thank you might influence his/her decision, but given the number of students they audition, it is unlikely they will have the office say to them “oh, we are trying to get a slot for Jane Smith, could you take them” and have them remember Jane Smith sent a thank you (if they even read it), likely they would try and get a recording of Jane Smith or have them play for the teacher to make that decision. It doesn’t hurt, but it could be a lot of work if you audition 8 schools and had on average 8 on the panel; more importantly, I wouldn’t worry that not doing it is going to hurt you. On more individual things, like someone helping you one on one, on the other hand, it never hurts and can help you:)</p>
<p>If you send a bunch of thank you notes, just make sure to the right note goes to the right school. Thanks Peabody does not go over well when you send it to NEC.</p>
<p>D sent emailed short thank yous to anyone who took the time to speak with her personally or give her a lesson…because for our family it’s what we do, not because she was trying to make points or demonstrate interest.</p>
1 Like
<p>My son emailed thank you notes to most of those who auditioned or interviewed him (the main person, IF there was one and IF he could locate email address online.) In a few cases, he even got unexpected but very encouraging replies.</p>
<p>My feeling is: can’t possibly hurt, and it clearly didn’t. However, I don’t think it can overcome a mediocre audition or get a kid accepted who was otherwise on the fence.</p>
<p>My son was auditioned/interviewed by a panel of four profs for his discipline at his first-choice school. He sent one thank-you note, via email, to the department head (who was clearly the lead at the interview) but included her staff in his “thanking.”</p>
<p>The value of this, apart from good manners, was that she wrote back to him that she expected he would have some “good news” very soon 
Now, I’m clear that wasn’t BECAUSE of the note, but it was nice for him at the time to have a sense of where things were at ;)</p>
<p>I personally tend to remember, and favor, those who take the time to thank me for things.</p>
<p>You can never go wrong with a thank you note, and it also gives you a chance to reiterate your interest in the school.</p>
<p>Hey, I"ve been lurking on this discussion and have a question—what if you dont’ know the names of the auditors? Do you still write a thank you to the head of the BFA program? Or is that silly? Thanks!</p>
<p>Just reporting back that my D decided just to send a thank you note to the professor who was able to meet with her later for a private lesson. I encouraged her to send thank you notes to the auditioning professors, but she was advised otherwise by her contacts. I don’t want to push it, as she is in high stress mode right now with 3 down and 4 auditions to go. Maybe after everything is all done…</p>