<p>That was very well put Ms. Gwen! I can say from my personal experience that I was sooo “sensitive and aware” and put so much pressure on what this whole process meant to me and for my “career” that I almost didnt even audition. I was so bogged down by the idea of whatelse was out there, who I was competing with, how I could make myself what THEY want and I got some really good advice from a friend who told me that the only thing you can do is your best, no more or less, and when you accept the futility of questioning a complete strangers impression or oppinion about you then you are finally liberated to be the ARTIST that they have been waiting for the whole time.</p>
<p>I love and appreciate all the people on this board because disscussions like this although they seem small can really make the difference for alot of people.</p>
<p>Nick, WORK! do your thang and let me know how it all works out.</p>
<p>I recently learned that the Japanese don’t say something like “break a leg” (or “merde”!) but rather “ganbatte ne,” which means literally, “do your best.”</p>
<p>So…ganbatte ne, everyone!!</p>
<p>And humchun, kudos on your courage and your acceptances.</p>
<p>I totally understand where you are coming from Nick. It must be a very daunting experience to put your future into the hands of a few people who watch you audition for less than 5 minutes and then decide if you are “good enough” for them. I can see that if you don’t go into it with the right frame of mind, it must make you question your entire direction. I also understand that you have to keep auditioning in order to weigh all of your choices. My daughter will have to look at the financial end of things before making a choice. If her “dream schools” don’t offer her the money, she will have to look elsewhere. Just know that some of us parents were waiting outside an audition last week and every single one of us admitted we would not have had the guts to go thru what all of you are going thru during the audition process when we were your age. I admire each and every one of you so much, no matter where you end up, and wish you all the best of luck!</p>
<p>OMG CONGRATS ON ELON! I’m still waiting, I got a deferral, and I was in the October 31st group.</p>
<p>Someone, at Elon when I was auditioning, actually, told me that if you get really nervous before an audition (which I actually don’t lol) say to yourself, “They are so lucky to get to see me give my best to them today.” That has really stuck with me.</p>
<p>I know that you aren’t posting on here anymore but I hope that you will read this. Last year, when I was auditioning as a transfer student, I was sort of in same boat. I auditioned and was accepted at my dream school but I could not afford it. My second choice school rejected me (but offered me the chance to re-audition in at the beginning of the school year, but with no guarantees of admission into the BFA MT program). I felt very dejected and lost because I knew that I wanted to do MT (and felt that I had already wasted a year in a substandard BA Theatre program).
In short, I was unable to attend my dream school and worked hard over the summer to re-audition for my second choice school, and was accepted into the BFA program. In the end, my second choice school became my first choice and I love where I am at! </p>
<p>Anyway, do not give up on yourself. From what others have said on here, you were accepted at Elon. That is amazing! It shows that you do have talent. Just remember, that when one door closes, another one opens. Getting rejected from other schools does not mean that you won’t make it or aren’t good enough.
Also, I hope that you do get the money to attend your dream school. If you really feel like its the place for you, then you need to go there. :)</p>
<p>Finally, just enjoy the ride. There will be MANY ups and downs during your four years of college (I’ve had too many to count in the almost 2 years I’ve been in college). However, with the bad there comes so much good.</p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck in all you do. I hope to see you on Broadway soon! :)</p>
<p>I am so glad it all worked out for you famous actress! It is really sad but true how much the cost of college dictates where a lot of students end up. I really feel that any college, no matter what program, will help in getting you out into the real world and give you the necessary tools to succeed when you graduate. So much of college is just learning how to interact with different types of people and learning how to juggle tasks to get a job done. After that it all comes down to talent and being in the right place at the right time. I know at the time it is devastating to find out you can’t go where you want to, but I think in the end, most people end up in programs that are right for them. Good for you to keep on trying!</p>
<p>famousactress:
I’m wondering why you auditioned for a school you knew you couldn’t afford? (Although I have seen postings all over CC saying something similar to that many times). My D has auditioned for only 4 programs. These are programs she knows she really loves AND we know we can afford to send her to if she gets into any of them. I have met many parents along the audition trail whose kids are auditioning at 10 plus schools. Even though I could have let my D do this, it would have been a waste of time and money because we know our financial limits and are sticking to programs that she 1) really likes and would be happy there and 2) we can afford. I think students and parents need to be realistic about what programs they select for auditions. I could have let my D audition for some much more expensive programs but I think that would have been setting her up for heartbreak if she got in and then couldn’t attend because of cost. Just something to think about before auditioning at programs you probably can’t afford!</p>
<p>KABee…from my personal experience and for what it’s worth…most of the schools my D would like to attend are out of our price range…we applied to some less expensive state schools but they do not offer her what she would like in the way of training. That being said, many of us are waiting to see not only where our kids will be accepted but with what type of financial aid/scholarship package. You simply cannot know what kind of $$$ you will get until you’ve auditioned and are accepted… Sometimes, once the numbers come in, it is indeed as affordable to send her to the pricier school as to the less expensive one that doesn’t meet her needs. People should not be turned off by the price tag of a college…most private schools offer way better scholarships and financial aid than the state schools. The state schools are at the mercy of a state budget and typically there are more kids attending so there’s less $$$$ to go around. Also, many (not all) of the state schools are cutting the budget by cutting down on their performing arts department…it is usually the first to get slashed in a budget crunch. If I were to limit my D to only the schools we could afford with just our income then I dare say my daughter would NOT be attending any institution of higher learning! :)</p>
<p>I totally agree with stagemom. My D will be a transfer. Her 1st time thru this process 2 years ago, she got into her dream school which was way beyond our means. However they ended up offering her a great scholarship which brought it down to a reasonable cost for us. She actually got into a couple of programs that offered a lot of money. A lot of the state schools are very limited in what they can offer financially and end up costing more than some of the expensive private schools. My D ended up leaving the program by choice- she didn’t feel it was a good fit for her after all- and she is again applying to schools that are more than we could afford in hopes of financial aid. She knows that she will have to balance out finding a good program coupled with good financial aid. I would not limit audition choice to only those schools you can afford- almost all of the private schools will offer some money.</p>
<p>Our experience, one kid as a BM VP and the other MT, is that the private school aid packages were far better than state schools. PLUS loans are our friend!</p>
<p>As I read all of your posts, it is like reliving the process last year with my son. He is a freshman at UMich and once again we will be patiently waiting to see how to pay for the next year. I can completely understand the theory of only applying/auditioning for schoosl that you can afford, but putting your hopes on a large amount of money from any of the schools this year (unless you are really need based) maybe unrealistic. My s was accepted to several BFA programs last year and all of the aid given was merit based. There was no money given for talent. It is sad but true that there seems to be loads of money for athletes and top academic students, but very little in the way of scholarships/grants for a middle class, talented student. Also, some of the schools send out their financial aid packages after the May 1 deadline to commit, so it makes it hard to compare offers if you have several to chose from.</p>
<p>I wish all of you all the luck in the world and know that you will find a way to make your child’s dreams come true as I did.</p>
<p>Stagemom-
I understand to a point what you are saying however, I think you can get a good idea what kind of financial aid you can expect from most schools if you do your research first. My D did audition at a private school that would be out of our reach IF we just planned on paying for the whole thing out of our pockets. She is an excellent student though and all of the schools where she applied have already accepted her and let us know what scholarship money we could expect for her academics. (We knew this BEFORE we set up any auditions). You can visit a school, see what their academic scholarship requirements are and know ahead whether you are likely to get enough money to even things out or get it within your reach. Some of these programs are $40-50K per year to attend and they just don’t give out enough money to cover that! It’s pointless to spend time and money auditioning for a program that won’t possibly give you enough that you can afford to attend. And yes, we are going to be getting student and parent loans, but just because you CAN borrow $40K year doesn’t mean it’s wise to do so! Also, many “state schools” have excellent programs and shouldn’t be dismissed because they are public universities. A high price tag does not equal better training!</p>
<p>Also, you are certainly right that private schools give out way more money. My D was offered $10K per year at a private school which did bring it nearly in line with the state universities she also applied to. That’s why she did audition there-because we knew ahead that if she got in, the balance of the cost would fit in our budget. But at many private schools even $10K per year for a program that costs upwards of $40K doesn’t really help much!</p>
<p>britbrat1961…First off…I hope your son is doing well at U Mich…what a wonderful school to be attending!!
I understand where you’re coming from and I totally agree with you about the schools having tons of money for athletes and geniuses but I myself have no unrealistic expectations for gobs of talent scholarship monies. That was not the point of my post. We are expecting and have already been offered both merit and talent scholarships. The merit scholarships are by and far much more generous than the talent scholarships but then this is exactly why we stressed good grades, community involvement and other non mt activities to our daughter during her high school years. She has taken AP/college honor courses and is graduating in the top 10% of her class. My D is no genius but the words smart and actor are not mutually exclusive anymore. She would have approached college the same way even if she wasn’t pursuing MT. Unfortunately, most (but definitely not all) of these colleges want the grades AND the talent. It is a better investment for them…especially if they are footing some of the bill with scholarships.</p>
<p>KABee…agreed. I have nothing against state schools. My D has applied and been accepted to 2 very fine state school programs. We just don’t think they are a perfect fit and they both in locations that even the cows would find remote!! We as parents all are free to choose how we would like to pay for college…some do not want to be in debt while others will gladly borrow money for their child’s education. That is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer. We need to borrow money for school as we have had our home flooded 3 times in 5 years and our entire savings was wiped out trying to repair are house. We would have had to borrow money no matter the price tag. Yes, we did our research on scholarships but things change every year… last year may be very different this year. And as this is our first child going to college we were also waiting to see how FAFSA would turn out…it seems as though we will get very little if any from them. But we did not know that back in August when my D made her audition plans. I really really wish there was a program she liked that came with a more affordable price tag but right now were just trying to get through the auditions and then we’ll see where the cards may fall. I kinda feel like you are judging those of us who are considering these more expensive private colleges …as I said, financing college is a personal choice. This is an age old argument that will never come to a resolution…we merely must do what is right for each of us in this situation. And btw… I have been researching colleges since my D was a freshman so I have done my homework. I merely wanted to tell my experience and offer a little food for thought. Ok…now off my soapbox I go!! :)</p>
<p>On a similar note to the financing discussion above, maybe we didn’t do enough homework to find out but it is not always so easy to tell what you will be offered in financial aid. D is a good student (10% at a weak urban school) with OK test scores around 80th percentile, but no where near what would be needed for big scholarship money at most state schools. She has the HUGE benefit of being from an ‘underrepresented’ group. For her the bext fit schools were primarly state schools and although she has a wonderful range of acceptances so that she is making a choice. The school she likes best, and really does fit best with what she says are her academic personal dance goals is an out of state public that gave her almost nothing (when compared to Out of state tuition). When she applied we did not know whatthe 'required; scholarship levels were, yes we knew she would not be getting the full ride, but no numbers were posted under that levels.
So we must decide if we can afford to pay for the school she loved from the audition and is the best fit, but will be very expensive for us, or if we say no we can’t do it, here are your other schools that we can afford because they have offered bigger scholarships, and they will be OK - close but not perfect.
If I had known the first school would have offered so little, I would have discouraged the audition to avoid being put in this position. The other schools are a mix of in-state public full ride DD does not like the program, to privates and other out of state publics. So it has been a real mixed bag for us.</p>
<p>Stagemom, I am NOT judging anyone for choosing a private school! My D’s first choice is a private university! However, what I was trying to say is that it’s not fair to your child to deliberately pick a school that is just way beyond your financial reach whether you are planning on borrowing money (which we are) or not. I KNOW we will have to get loans whatever school she goes to, but we also have a dollar amount in mind that we are willing to borrow and kept that in mind when “shopping” for schools. Most of the money out there these days really is for academics, not nearly as much for talent, so that needs to be kept in mind too. And you usually can find out pretty close what kind of academic money you can expect to get at most schools prior to auditions. I hear some of these people on here talk about taking 2nd mortgages out on their homes, going in debt with loans upwards of $200K just so their kids can go to a private school. Yes, I personally think that’s nuts and I would not do it! Especially in this economy. Yes, you are right each of us has to decide WHAT we’re willing to do, but what I’m saying is maybe that should be thought out a bit more ahead of time so we don’t set our kids up for heartbreak.</p>
<p>KABee…Not trying to be devil’s advocate …truly a honest question here…what schools could pinpoint scholarships and aid before application? all of our choices had ranges on both the merit and talent scholarships…like $2-12K or $5-15k. There was no way I could figure out how much of that she would get. It not only depended upon HER statistics but also upon how much awarded to others and what her competition might be. Admissions would look at her high school transcripts etc, and said “well she qualifies for this, this and probably this but not sure on the exact dollar amount.” This is why I’m so confused! Are you saying that you looked at the possible ranges of scholarship/aid outcomes and planned from that? Help me out here! :)</p>
<p>Stagemom, I didn’t say before APPLYING to a school, I said BEFORE AUDITIONING. Two totally different things! My D applied to, was accepted and received academic scholarships from all the schools she applied to. We visited the ones we had not already visited, and ruled out one even though they offered her a ton of money. We could just tell it was a bad fit. So yes, you can find out before you AUDITION pretty close what kind of academic money you are going to get. You are absolutely right, you can’t possibly know that before you apply. Researching first will narrow your list, applying and visiting should narrow your list even further as you find out scholarships and then whether you even like the place and the program before going on to audition.</p>
<p>Ok… But most of our schools don’t accept until at least mid-March…and you have to audition before you even know if you’ve been academically accepted. Hmmm…this is quite a convoluted set of circumstances!!!</p>