<p>This response was what was supposed to be my pre-screening decision...:</p>
<p>"Thank you for your artistic submission. We have reviewed your materials and at this time the jazz program does not require an on campus audition.</p>
<p>You will receive a decision from the Admissions Office by early April."</p>
<p>I find it confusing on a few levels- 1) Since when does the jazz program not require an on campus audition? 2) There is absolutely no indication as to where I stand in the process right now. I know that other applicants have been emailed if they passed the pre-screening or not, but I have not. 3) I applied as an Early Decision II applicant. Why would I hear back in early April? I'm supposed to hear back in less than a month!</p>
<p>I've contacted the program multiple times, both by phone and by email, and still have not received any decisive responses about essentially anything. The only thing I've been told is that the faculty is on break. Is anyone else in this same position?</p>
<p>Did you apply to the school of Liberal Arts or specifically to Steinhardt. It might be that if you applied to the school of liberal arts you are not required to audition but could potentially still take Jazz classes and be in Jazz bands. </p>
<p>I don’t know how strong a player you are or what your credentials are but I do know one young man who was told he did not need to do a live audition (there was a blizzard on the day his audition was supposed to happen). But that young man had been in the Grammy Band, had strong grades and SAT scores and was obviously qualified. It might be that they just don’t feel it is necessary given the scheduling challenges.</p>
<p>My son’s NYU audition was rather frustrating. They gave us one date and time and refused to reschedle to another time that might be more convenient for us. It was a group audition with just one professor who was not an expert in my son’s instrument. My son was repeatedly frustrated that he could not schedule time with the professor who taught his instrument even after he was admitted. Despite our son’s rejections of NYU he has friends who are there who are happy and doing well. One is about to graduate and is starting to make a name for himself in the Jazz world. He has grown a lot since he entered NYU four years ago and it has been a good place for him</p>
<p>I applied to Steinhardt as a jazz performance major. I don’t have any remarkably credentials- I haven’t participated in any competitions, got a 2000 on the SAT, have approximately a 3.6 GPA- but I would say I’m a strong player, although not strong enough to not have to audition. I find the entire situation extremely confusing, especially the statement that that “at this time the jazz program does not require an on campus audition.”</p>
<p>All I can suggest is keep after NYU to get a clarification, the fact that they bungled something doesn’t surprise me, it hasn’t changed much since the dark ages when I went there (put it this way, the school has a strong computer science program/math, and their registration system was all manual, done on paper, until the early 90’s…and this the largest private university in the world, mind you <em>grr</em>).</p>
<p>It almost sounds to me like they decided you weren’t strong enough to get in early decision but they put you in the general pool for April (I thought early decision generally happens in December, no? Not sure about NYU) and also maybe felt your pre screen audition was good enough that you didn’t need to audition…but that is just me reading the words.</p>
<p>One hint with NYU, persevere, because they are a huge bureaucracy in many regards. I don’t know Steinhardt, but I would be surprised if it is all that much different then the rest of the school. Keep calling the admissions office until you get a clear answer, and ask them if they can confirm the actual answer via e-mail as well, and don’t stop until they do would be my advice. I don’t recommend getting nasty or angry, be polite, play the confused applicant (which you are!), and don’t stop until you get an answer. There is nothing wrong if you aren’t getting satisfaction to ask to speak to the dean of the area or whoever heads it. Especially if they may have screwed up your status, it is important to keep on top of it.</p>
<p>That is indeed incredibly strange! NYU’s jazz performance program has required auditions for years, and I can tell you there were some very strong players in that audition. (The parents were nearby in the office of the man who runs the program, and he invited us in the jam session before it was over.)</p>
<p>Also, NYU doesn’t do a “general pool” admissions for those turned away by their department. If you’re not accepted to your major, you’re not accepted. So I don’t think what you received was a failure to “pass the prescreen.”</p>
<p>I’m extremely skeptical that I didn’t pass the pre-screening- I passed it for every other school I applied to (USC, UMiami, and Oberlin) and know that it was definitely pretty strong. I think I somehow got caught in the bureaucracy of the school and am just having some serious trouble getting out. They lost the pre-screening materials that I sent in from November and, after I tried to contact them for a few weeks, they told it it would be okay if I sent resent everything- but I received this response back. It’s so impersonal that it almost feels like an automated response, especially considering they ignored everything about me being an EDII applicant, but I know it probably isn’t.</p>
<p>I agree that your email was very odd. It sounds like boilerplate, but it makes no sense, given the program you applied to. It’s also not a rejection. Even if the faculty is on break, there should be an administrator who can give you clarity-- if you can get through to them. The administration, not the faculty, would have sent the odd email, so I would assume that they are the ones to talk to.</p>
<p>The only other thought that comes to mind: you mention that they lost your initial pre-screening materials. Could it be that they mistook the second set you sent them as a DVD in lieu of an on-campus audition? Some programs will accept recorded auditions for students who cannot come in person. Perhaps that is where the mix-up happened?</p>
<p>I’ve called the administration’s office about four times now, and they seem to be just about as clueless as I am. The email address that I’ve been contacting is the main “<a href=“mailto:jazzstudies@nyu.edu”>jazzstudies@nyu.edu</a>” address, but no one that I’ve been able to reach by phone has any access to it. The recorded audition point could have been what happened, but I’m still skeptical. I clarified in every single email that I sent, which was about three, that there was a problem with the program receiving my pre-screening materials, and that I intended to perform an on campus audition (which is coming up in only about two weeks!). Again, I find the statement that auditions are not required “at this time” in order to be accepted into the program seriously, seriously vague and strange. Have the on campus auditions have been canceled? Have I been exempt from performing one? Was this just another automated response? Does “at this time” suggest that they are not accepting my materials because they received them a month after their deadline, even though they were the ones that lost my original ones and they told me just a few days before they send this email that it would be perfectly fine if I resent everything?</p>
<p>If I were you, I would specifically leave a message for one of the two men who run the program. If things haven’t changed, they are (number two) Gabriel Alegria and (number one) Dave Schroeder. A little digging and you will also find their emails. They are both lovely, and I imagine they will get back to you promptly and with a complete explanation. You might even get a response today via email.</p>
<p>The jazz studies line will often only lead to a student, if you get a return call.</p>
<p>Okay, I just checked, and their emails are visible here;</p>
<p><a href=“http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Gabriel_Alegria[/url]”>http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Gabriel_Alegria</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/faculty_bios/view/David_Schroeder[/url]”>http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/faculty_bios/view/David_Schroeder</a></p>
<p>I should mention that a friend of my son’s had a “lost” prescreen a few years ago. His parent called one of these two gentlemen, and before long had spoken to both of them… they jumped right in and straightened things out.</p>
<p>Wow. I feel sorry for you, tripsounds. There’s so much stress inherent in the application and audition process as it is. I hate that you have this nebulous, mysterious problem on your plate. I hope everything gets ironed out soon – and in our favor! Wishing you the best! :)</p>
<p>Tripsounds, I feel for you! We had the exact same e-mail last year and never did get an answer from NYU. I posted on this forum about it as were were very confused, not an obvious rejection but nothing positive either. After sending multiple e-mails and speaking to several people in admissions and the Jazz department directly at NYU, including a promise that Dave Schroeder of the Jazz department would call us to clarify, we never heard another word. My son just let it drop and moved on. Not a good experience with this school.</p>
<p>I now take the NYU e-mail to be a very vague rejection.</p>
<p>How could you have never received an answer?! You never got a formal letter or rejection or acceptance? After spending your money on the application fees? Or are you just referring to hearing back about the prescreening?</p>
<p>I spoke to David Schroeder on the phone about a week ago, when I had not heard back from the school at all in regard to passing the pre-screening. I received this email about a half hour later, but nothing else since.</p>
<p>Thank you- this really does not make any sense!</p>
<p>I never got an answer or a formal letter, nothing, NYU did not respond at all beyond the e-mail. We had similar conversations with admissions where they had no idea what the e-mail meant, e-mails from us and voice messages went unanswered, I spoke to a woman in the Jazz department familiar with the entire application process and pre-sccreen process who promised that I would receive some kind of communication from Mr. Schroeder the next day, however there was no follow up call. I called and pleaded with them to just tell us what the e-mail really meant and did not get any answer. My son simply gave up and stopped his application process. His e-mail from NYU was worded exactly as yours, it arrived before he had finished his final Common Application submission. The Steinhardt application, pre-screen and all supporting material was submitted, and received, as the application states. Since he never heard anything more, we pulled the plug before more money and time was spend on this school. </p>
<p>My son also had doubts that his pre-screen material was ever viewed as he was able to see how many view the video had and what location it was viewed from. All of the views were his own. Very disappointing!</p>
<p>This is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard! I’m so sorry you had to go through this, too! Except I’ve already applied EDII, so have really no idea what will end up happening.</p>
<p>Sheesh, musictwins. That is awful! I hate to hear these kinds of stories.</p>
<p>A question kind of coming from left field, zero experience with NYU, and several years under my belt since the last time I viewed a Common App: </p>
<p>Would this be related, by any chance, to any confusion about ‘pre-screening materials’ versus the ‘art supplement’ that one submits through the Common App?</p>
<p>You each sent actual prescreens in, correct? Not Common App ‘art supplements’ versus actual prescreens?</p>
<p>Correct, and I very explicitly identified that it in my many emails, too. I’m not sure why they referred to it as an “artistic submission,” especially as it was an email from the jazz department itself…why did they not call it a pre-screening? Also, I don’t believe NYU has the option to submit an artistic supplement on their application.</p>
<p>^Wow. It is weird. </p>
<p>musictwins story did not end well. How rude that NYU failed to respond in any way after all that effort to apply, answer essay questions, make prescreen recordings, etc – not to mention the money it costs to apply these days.</p>
<p>I sure hope you’ll keep us posted and let us know how this mystery ends. And I hope it has a happier ending than musictwins’ ending! All my best, tripsounds!</p>