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This has been bugging me as my DD had the opportunity to mention she had been offered places and scholarship at her interview but didn't.
Do you think it should be mentioned?
I would also say that although we prepared for interviews they were a complete shock to her and she feels that 2 recent ones at colleges were very different she didn't do well in either of them ,one she wants me to email if she doesn't get a place to complain about the interviewer as after every answer he said "okay".
On hindsight I really wish we had done some at places that we really had no intention of going to just for the interview experience!

Dd didn’t mention her other offers.

I wouldn’t have said that saying OK after every answer was particularly an issue, I’d have thought it was a fairly normal thing to say.

Perhaps she does need a bit more confidence/practice.

I would say that if asked, yes. In some situations this leads to offers being made or scholarships being offered on the spot!

lotsolaffs wrote:This has been bugging me as my DD had the opportunity to mention she had been offered places and scholarship at her interview but didn't.
Do you think it should be mentioned?
I would also say that although we prepared for interviews they were a complete shock to her and she feels that 2 recent ones at colleges were very different she didn't do well in either of them ,one she wants me to email if she doesn't get a place to complain about the interviewer as after every answer he said "okay".
On hindsight I really wish we had done some at places that we really had no intention of going to just for the interview experience!

I think it's always a good idea to go for your least favourite first. Then you have a bit of experience in preparation for your favourite. Having said that, DD's first and least favourite on paper turned out to be her favourite, and that's where she is now!!

We did the least likely to be offered a place first and was surprised she got that and scholarship, I didn't think about waiting to be asked first to mention it, she said they might think she is showing off if she said it.
She just felt when he said ok how could he know her well enough and if she was right for the place? I said maybe you gave a precise answer to what he wanted to know and enough was said by you - maybe it's showing you that it isn't the place for you!
Yes,definitely more practice needed she is 15 and I can see how young she is at times.

I would be honest - surely it's a plus to tell them that there is competition from other places What a wonderful situation to be in

I do sometimes feel a bit sorry for the panel at these auditions. If they are auditioning everybody who applies and only actually take on about 1-2% of those, it must be incredibly hard to remain focused on every single person there regardless of their ability. I am not saying that that is an excuse but perhaps it would help those auditioning to not take things too personally. Would it be fairer if they selected auditionees based on their application forms meaning fewer at audition stage - I just don't know. That won't happen though as they would lose out on all those audition fees!!

Caroline A-C wrote:I do sometimes feel a bit sorry for the panel at these auditions. If they are auditioning everybody who applies and only actually take on about 1-2% of those, it must be incredibly hard to remain focused on every single person there regardless of their ability. I am not saying that that is an excuse but perhaps it would help those auditioning to not take things too personally. Would it be fairer if they selected auditionees based on their application forms meaning fewer at audition stage - I just don't know. That won't happen though as they would lose out on all those audition fees!!

I can give a college's perspective on this {Edited}
...and to answer Caroline, we actually do cap our auditions for this very reason. We don't need to see 1000's of applicants to fill our 22 places, so we see people on a first come basis capping at just 250 applicants. Exactly like when casting professional productions we don't see everybody who submits their CV. As you say, it would be a lovely revenue for us, however that's not what we're about. We do want to just take time to see a few people at a time and stay focussed on them. However every college has their own criteria, and every college does what works for them.
That aside, {Edited for greater clarification that this is the useful bit} should you say you have an offer...yes of course you should. I think sometimes everybody over thinks things. We're asking because we're interested. For colleges in a position to offer nice big scholarships, they're more likely to start competing for your DC, and offering incentives for them to attend their colleges. Boys especially tend to do well out of this.
I hope that you're all surviving the 2018 audition period, and that your DC's aren't getting too battered and bruised

That is great to hear from a college perspective. However, I don't think they all operate in the way you operate. I know that the ones mentioned audition all those who apply and it is those colleges I were referring to. Refreshing to hear how you operate.

Caroline A-C wrote:That is great to hear from a college perspective. However, I don't think they all operate in the way you operate. I know that the ones mentioned audition all those who apply and it is those colleges I were referring to. Refreshing to hear how you operate.

LOL No I'm sorry, I know that the others audition everybody. My initial comment was just an aside. My apologies for not making that clearer. My supposed to be helpful bit was about informing colleges that you do have other offers. I hope that that clears it up.

theMTAonline wrote:

Caroline A-C wrote:I do sometimes feel a bit sorry for the panel at these auditions. If they are auditioning everybody who applies and only actually take on about 1-2% of those, it must be incredibly hard to remain focused on every single person there regardless of their ability. I am not saying that that is an excuse but perhaps it would help those auditioning to not take things too personally. Would it be fairer if they selected auditionees based on their application forms meaning fewer at audition stage - I just don't know. That won't happen though as they would lose out on all those audition fees!!

I can give a college's perspective on this {Edited}
...and to answer Caroline, we actually do cap our auditions for this very reason. We don't need to see 1000's of applicants to fill our 22 places, so we see people on a first come basis capping at just 250 applicants. Exactly like when casting professional productions we don't see everybody who submits their CV. As you say, it would be a lovely revenue for us, however that's not what we're about. We do want to just take time to see a few people at a time and stay focussed on them. However every college has their own criteria, and every college does what works for them.
That aside, {Edited for greater clarification that this is the useful bit} should you say you have an offer...yes of course you should. I think sometimes everybody over thinks things. We're asking because we're interested. For colleges in a position to offer nice big scholarships, they're more likely to start competing for your DC, and offering incentives for them to attend their colleges. Boys especially tend to do well out of this.
I hope that you're all surviving the 2018 audition period, and that your DC's aren't getting too battered and bruised

The MTA does seem to have a great attitude to students well-being and high standards. Good luck to you, you seem nice. But surely you don't need to see thousands of applicants because there are really not thousands of applicants that have £32,000 plus living expenses going spare to pay for your course? The reality for the majority of us is that is just crazy money to find - it has to be around £50-£60, 000.

Robin64 wrote:

theMTAonline wrote:

Caroline A-C wrote:I do sometimes feel a bit sorry for the panel at these auditions. If they are auditioning everybody who applies and only actually take on about 1-2% of those, it must be incredibly hard to remain focused on every single person there regardless of their ability. I am not saying that that is an excuse but perhaps it would help those auditioning to not take things too personally. Would it be fairer if they selected auditionees based on their application forms meaning fewer at audition stage - I just don't know. That won't happen though as they would lose out on all those audition fees!!

I can give a college's perspective on this {Edited}
...and to answer Caroline, we actually do cap our auditions for this very reason. We don't need to see 1000's of applicants to fill our 22 places, so we see people on a first come basis capping at just 250 applicants. Exactly like when casting professional productions we don't see everybody who submits their CV. As you say, it would be a lovely revenue for us, however that's not what we're about. We do want to just take time to see a few people at a time and stay focussed on them. However every college has their own criteria, and every college does what works for them.
That aside, {Edited for greater clarification that this is the useful bit} should you say you have an offer...yes of course you should. I think sometimes everybody over thinks things. We're asking because we're interested. For colleges in a position to offer nice big scholarships, they're more likely to start competing for your DC, and offering incentives for them to attend their colleges. Boys especially tend to do well out of this.
I hope that you're all surviving the 2018 audition period, and that your DC's aren't getting too battered and bruised

The MTA does seem to have a great attitude to students well-being and high standards. Good luck to you, you seem nice. But surely you don't need to see thousands of applicants because there are really not thousands of applicants that have £32,000 plus living expenses going spare to pay for your course? The reality for the majority of us is that is just crazy money to find - it has to be around £50-£60, 000.

Oh we don't think for one moment that families have that sort of money readily available to them. However we work hard with the students that are accepted on the course, and who don't have the funds, to find a way to facilitate the student joining us. We are yet to have lost a student through lack of funding, and we definitely don't just attract 'rich' students. We just pride ourselves on working hard with the families to be creative about the payment schemes. As it's a 2 year course, the overall cost works out at around £48k (living inc). . . admittedly still a lot of money

This year has just seen us launch our #50percent campaign. Where it is the college's aim to create a fund which will see us be able to offer 50% of our places with 50% scholarships attached.

It's the bain of being a 100% vocational college, we don't have any government subsidy, so the entire course is funded by the fees. That said we are fighting that too, but as you can imagine, that's an uphill battle. Students are eligible for at PCDL, which could potentially cover a third of the cost. None of it's ideal, but with our transparency policy, which includes open book accountancy, the students can see where every penny goes.

Yes I see you are coming from a good place and hopefully the 50% thing will come off. But with no qualification at all to show for £50,00 - too much of a risk for some of us. Sorry I have side tracked the original post. I think there would be no harm in saying you have offers, shows you have been successful at auditions and might get a bursary type offer.

Robin64 wrote:But with no qualification at all to show for £50,00 - too much of a risk for some of us.

Interesting perspective. DD is a student at The MTA and for her it wasn't even a consideration given that her objective is to perform and the training is incredible. A qualification confers no benefit in any audition as I'm sure you're aware. It would be interesting to know what you feel the risk of not having a qualification is.

Injury, bad luck to name a couple. A degree is a degree and could lead to a pgce or another change in direction. We all go our different course and have our own finances, educational aspirations etc. I am under no illusions that any stage career is guaranteed after this process much as it would be DDS dream job. Its just a bit of back up plus the only affordable option.