Hello! I’d love to connect my D to those students if they are willing. If so, send me a message. Thank you!
Hey All- I am trying to connect with a parents/ a parent who has a child at Ithaca- I’ve reached out a few I’ve found on past threads, but am not having luck connecting. If anyone can help, I wold SO appreciate it!! Thank you!
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(MMC) How early are the dance classes and how long is the commute to the studio(s)?
Is your daughter a freshman? My son was considering this. He got the offer off of his prescreen.
Not that you need my verification but I was “there” and can attest this is revisionist history. Like you said, it was around this same time last year and everyone was stressed beyond breaking point not knowing if ‘24 kids would even have programs to go to in the Fall. An exchange happened where you promptly apologized for how your comments could have come off and clarified.
Like you said, this year is TOUGH. To the point of the folks who said that those who came before and will come after can’t possibly have context for what ‘25 had to navigate virtually- abso-freaking-lutley! I bow to all of you who have made it through this unique year of “the process”. I’m crossing all my fingers and toes that campus visits can be your reward, even if they are only self guided tours.
I also happened to pop on my Netflix the other day and saw the number 2 trending movie was a film about the college admissions scandal. Yikes!! I’m not at all surprised at the timing of this release being as decisions role out MT or otherwise. They know everyone is already stressed about this so why not release at a time where it’s going to get maximum views, right? Also suspect timing that this “blog” comes out on the heels of this Netflix movie. Had I watched this right after coming out of D’s auditions I would’ve been 100% on a hair trigger about potential “side doors” suggested in this film. It honestly sent me in to a spin despite my kid having landed and it focusing on athletics not the arts.
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For those who have acceptances from schools with a more urban campus layout, I highly encourage taking a trip to the area if it’s safe and possible for you to do so. There are a few schools MMC, NYU, BU, Emerson, to name a few where the city is the campus. You won’t be able to get in the buildings, but a walk around will go far in giving your kid a feel about whether or not they could see themselves there.
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Correct! Lets not forget people posted here on this forum when they saw William H Macy in the elevator with his daughter at Chicago Unifeds…
There are two other daughters of famous people at MT programs currently (UM and BW).
I’m sure they are talented however nepotism is in every arena not just MT.sports, academics you name it.
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Absolutely agree! Even if you just walk the area/campus it is so helpful! We were lucky enough to visit DS’s top 4 choices, before the pandemic hit and watched #2 #3 drop down, because of the location. Another thing to seriously consider as decisions are made - how important is college life outside of MT/Acting. Not just football games, but academics too. So many factors ans decisions. -sigh-
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(Sorry also wanted to add their is at CMU)
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Hi, my son is a freshman MT at Ithaca. I’m happy to help however I can.
Very true. The more conservatory type programs make it difficult to do much other than train. Some will love that. Others want more flexibility.
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@indigo790 - I’m pretty sure dance is from 9-10:30 daily. Freshman year she went from the 55th St dorm to 2 different dance studios on the West side ( one was W of Lincoln Center the other was upper westside near Central Park. Both were about 20-25 to get there. She didn’t complain. I think having NYC as the background was exciting for my kid. This year she dances on campus every day. In Fall the teacher was there too, but now the teacher is zoomed in and I think there are about 5 or 6 kids in the studio.
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I agree with @dharmawins too. I didn’t know about this site or the college coaching companies last year (class of 2024) until it was way too late in the game (after prescreen deadlines!) So I was pretty much winging it. Thankfully, I have a wonderful friend who works in the arts and knew my child from the personality, academic, and performance perspective so she was invaluable in helping us craft our list. Her amazing vocal coach put us in touch with his friend who runs a one week college audition prep intensive in NY that helps the kids select their monologues, songs, etc. She had a studio about a 45 minute drive from us, so we also met privately with her a few times to finalize song selection. She did privates over the summer with one of her dance teachers at our local studio who had a BFA from FSU, and he choreographed her prescreen submissions. So, we did manage to cobble together a great team, but that was more dumb luck than anything else. I knew NOTHING of this process when we first started. Had I known about the coaching companies, I definitely would have explored the possibility. Despite my lack of knowledge, my daughter ended up in the perfect program for her, and she is happy and thriving. So, yes, it can be done. But, having someone familiar with the college audition process would have made the process less stressful (at least for me anyway!). Once it was all over and I recovered, I put together all of my notes, spreadsheets, files, etc into one big audition prep file, and sent it to all of the class of 2025 families. The friend who was oh so kind and patient with my constant “what have you heard about the program at this school” texts for about 3 straight months got “The Binder”
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100% our school Great on the regular college stuff. At a complete loss regarding the college audition process and could not comprehend why my daughter was after them to send trasncripts, etc in early September (for those early audition prescreen deadlines).
FWIW, I think the CC MT/Drama threads are one of the few places that equalize opportunity for those who have less resources and or have less exposure or information about the process. Even if the cards are stacked for those with the bigger bucks and money, and also know how if you have family in the industry or live in a community with rich opportunities… we learned almost everything we needed to know to prepare ourselves here. Even the FB pages are parent focused (not elle woods), and so those with less parent support lose out on the info shared there. And thankfully some programs still believe in looking for and supporting diamonds in the rough.
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@dramamama2424, im unaware of the famous kid at BW and my D goes there lol, William H & Felicity’s kid ended up at CMU if I recall correctly?
@Sitzprobe - thank you for the accurate recount of last year & yes this time of year is always hard. has been for many years not just 24, 25 but many many years before as @soozievt can attest,
that said this year has quite its own unique set of circumstances that I suspect will yield even crazier waitlist movement bc it appears more kids applied to more schools than ever without the travel requirement
I don’t think that the offspring of famous people fits the term, “nepotism.” Nepotism is more when there is favoritism on the basis of a family relationship. It doesn’t even fit the definition of “cronyism,” which is giving advantages to friends or colleagues.
Children of famous people deserve to be kids who apply to college like anyone else and thought of as getting in on their own merits. I doubt competitive BFA programs are willing to give a spot to someone just because their parent is famous. They have to have the qualifications and talent. If I were one of these kids and others referred to me as getting in due to nepotism, I would feel badly.
I would not analyze why this or that person was admitted. Only the admissions committee knows. Qualified students are turned away at colleges or programs with low admit rates. I would not want my kid to focus on who else got in or didn’t get in and simply follow their own dreams and path.
Yes, the college admissions process is stressful. You say the stakes are high, but in my view, the goal is to land some options. If a student likes every college on their list (and they should or else it ought not to be on their list), then they will land some place and thrive and the schools that denied them won’t matter in the long run. Their college list should be well balanced in terms of odds, have at least two sure bet schools on it, and appropriate to the candidate. Some families craft very unrealistic or not well balanced college lists.
There are many paths to a career in this field. It doesn’t have to be a BFA program. I don’t know what you mean by “wrong situations” that some kids will find themselves in, because they should have had a well balanced college list with some likely options on that list that they liked. They should land somewhere. And I wasn’t talking about “physically surviving” but simply going on and forging their path. Their lives are not dependent on the name or college they attend. Getting into college is just one step along the way. There will be many more to come for a kid who wants to have a professional life on stage. Getting into X or Y college won’t guarantee success and not getting in won’t mean the student cannot be a success. Things have a way of turning out. The fretting while waiting for college decisions is natural, but once you get to the other side, none of it will matter so much in the long run. If motivated and driven, keep pursuing what you want to do. The college admissions outcome is not the definitive moment as to whether a kid is gonna make it in life or career.
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Yeah but they probably didn’t cheat for their kids
Thanks for the UMiami update. Northwestern is also tonight so with both of those coming in we will finally be done with portals in my house and can move on to the decision part…and of course more waiting for those waitlists. @NYYFanNowMTdad so you’re saying there’s a chance 
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