bluebane

Wanted to share this with you guys... special shout-outs to this thread! http://www.theatrebayarea.org/news/228412/

FSU doesn't seem like a serious program -- you don't direct their grad students (WHAT?), have no interaction with Asolo Rep, and the whole things really seems like a community theatre feel (nonprofessional community actors, very safe and marketable shows). So that was a pass. UCLA is too pricey and the communication I got from them was very nonprofessional and strange. UCI was a big mistake -- i had to choose between visiting the Midwest (Indiana, Ohio) and visiting UCI, so I let it go. i had two friends who went down there and absolutely loved it. Whoops!

Rejection from UCSD in the email today. Wonder what the story is on their faculty (if they replaced their head of directing).

Well, I'm officially done with my season -- declined a finalist visit to UCLA, UCI, and FSU, declined an offer from Ohio, rejected from DePaul, Yale, Brown, and I'm an alternate at Indiana, but their first choice has already accepted. Long and painful process this year. At least I can spend a year reflecting on what to improve on for next year, and try to come out swinging. Good luck to everyone who still has outstanding prospects -- I'm rooting for you guys!

Rock on, clementiney! Congrats!

DePaul rejection in the mail today. Wuh-wuh.

Vitality, how did you hear about DePaul?

So directors, let's check in! What are you remaining prospects for this year and how would you rank them? I'm assuming schools I've heard nothing from (Temple, UCSD) are out of the picture. So for me, it's down to: 1. Indiana University (love the program, love the campus and facilities, faculty and students seem great -- feels like an awesome fit.) 2. DePaul (pretty much my dream school but the lack of funding is brutal) 3. Ohio University (mixed feelings on school and location, probably would pass on an offer) Already rejected from: Yale, Brown Presumably rejected from: CMU, Temple, UCSD No longer interested in: FSU, UCLA, UCI Where are you guys at?

Hi vitality, UCI has contacted people for campus visits by now -- she emailed right after the URTAs. I have a couple friends going down this week for that visit / callback. Outlook not so good Ohio and Indiana visits were really fun -- I've got a mixed bags of opinions on Ohio and am very excited about Indiana. They both said to expect results in about a week.

Hey playwrights -- I'm an MFA Directing prospect and was at Ohio last week for a finalist visit. Cute school. The students seem very happy (I chatted with one of their first year playwrights for a bit). Charles Smith (head of playwrighting) is super nice and seems like he'd be great to work with. Their main theatre space is gorgeous. Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer from spending a couple days there.

Nice to see some new faces on this thread! I think we can surmise from reports from DePaul interviews that there are 10-12 finalists. Did any of you ask about when we might expect to hear the results from DePaul? Going out to visit Indiana and Ohio this weekend. Let me know if anyone has any insight on the programs! @Bacchanalia, thanks for the info on UCSD.

It was just me and one other guy at the Los Angeles DePaul callback. What about in Chicago? And man, nobody I've heard from has heard back from UCSD -- strange that they're so quiet.

Got the Brown rejection letter today. Which since I'm teching a show over their final interview weekend, is kind of a relief.

Let me know how DePaul goes for you! I heard back today from a couple URTA schools -- FSU and Ohio both invited me out to the campus for a final process.

I interviewed with Damon from DePaul yesterday in LA, vitality. It was really awesome, but really intense -- get ready to have your work dissected very critically. I personally loved it. If he could point out that many flaws in my process in thirty minutes, imagine what he could do in three years! The only bummer is that it's not a fully funded program -- about 50% of tuition is covered, but there is no TA / assistantship work and no stipend for living expenses. Going 100k into debt for a theatre degree would probably ruin my life, but everything else about the program is exactly what I'm looking for.

Interviewed with CMU this morning via Skype. They're notifying finalists at the end of the month, and having a campus workshop day the third week of March.

Did anyone else apply to UCSD? It's been a while since the deadline and I haven't heard a thing.

Same story regarding CMU. What the hell? How do you not contact your applicants to let them know you've cancelled? Anyway, I flew back to CA last night, so I don't have another opportunity to see them in person. They reached out to me and suggested a Skype call.

clementiney, CalArts is part of URTA, so they should adhere to the URTA ethics policy: no offers before Feb 16, offers guaranteed through March 8.

Crazy day yesterday at the URTAs! How did your interviews go? I got a great feeling from a few of them, and Temple has quickly shot to the top of my interest-list. Unlike the "pat you on the back" style of some of the other interviewers, the guys from Temple were clear, direct, and specific, which spoke for their talent as teachers/mentors. They made a strong case for the Philadelphia theatre scene as well. Also felt good about Indiana, UCI, Ohio. Was put off by a number of things from FSU, and UCLA's lack of funding is a dealbreaker. Tomorrow is my CMU interview, and then it's preparation for Brown/DePaul next weekend!

Got my Yale rejection today. Wuh-wuh. Onwards and upwards!

@EpicNinjan - I also interviewed but have not heard back. Let's cross our fingers they're still deliberating! @vitality - Didn't know that about UCLA, thanks! I hear what you're saying about Sara, but I kind of like the casualness. It's refreshing in a process that is overly formal and you never know what anybody is thinking! I do think she shouldn't send emails when she's tired, though. We're interviewing with CMU on the same day, btw!

Just out of curiosity, why did you rule out FSU, Indiana, and UCLA? I'm interviewing with everybody except CalArts -- they required a separate application and fee through their own site, which I found exploitative. My CMU interview is also in Chicago a couple days later. In other news, still haven't heard anything from the Yale interview, so that's probably slipping away. Onward and upward!

Oh wow, nuts that's you're doing them both on the same day! vitality, which schools are you interviewing with at the URTAs?

Got my URTA schedule today for Chicago...should be fun!