<p>No final choice, we still have one to visit and 2 decisions pending. Believe it or not the school she loves the most is Coastal Carolina. She likes the size, the faculty the approach to training. And also the fact that all the BFA majors function as a “company”. We had never heard of it before Unifieds. We don’t have access to formal acting training but her (small midwestern) high school has strong theater program. She has tons of stage experience because she is also a musician and was a dancer for 10 years. She has made the most of every role and every opportunity she could dig up in this town in the middle of nothing. All of her talent is raw and not formally trained. (except for some voice lessons at a local branch of a major university) I wish the schools would just say that they want kids that are half way there, instead of saying they are looking for untrained talent. Just be straight. Say it like it is. Stop blowing smoke. Tell those kids that if they aren’t at a PA school, they need a coach. And summer programs and anything else they can think of to start their formal training before they even get to college. Which I mistakenly thought was where they would be getting their training.</p>
<p>Wow! You can be REALLY proud of her if she got into Coastal Carolina! That is growing to be an outstanding program, and as folks realize it, is affording to be really picky. And, of course, we all appreciate the fine advice and overviews of the program that we get here on CC from Alexa and kjc!</p>
<p>Sounds just great! Well done!!!</p>
<p>Christie2 - thanks for defending Coastal Carolina - I was kinda offended by the “Believe it or not”…</p>
<p>In our case, we started with a public high school that offered a minimal theatre program. By that, I mean not really any instruction on acting and none in singing and dancing. Auditioning was just never approached. There was no possibility of a PA school in our area. Soo, I feel we were blessed to find a Great Summer program and a Fabulous Coach. My D was much more confident approaching her auditions, especially after meeting several kids at her summer program that had attended PA schools. I think both avenues helped her be the very best she could for auditions. My D enjoyed and worked hard finding her own material, but, definately needed assistant from professionals as to how best deliver the material. So far I would say we have been Very pleased with many opportunities and options she has earned these last few months. I feel we were blessed in a situation that we weren’t given much choice to do in the first place.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry do-what-you-love. Not meant to be insulting at all!! The reason I worded it that way is that it was not a school that was on her list. We had never heard of it before Unifieds, and perhaps we would have if we had known to hire a coach? That she has such a passion for a program that she didn’t even apply to in the first place. That’s all. No need to be offended. CCU is in INCREDIBLE program. Too much here is misinterpreted I’ve noticed. Hard to get a nuance across in a typed paragraph. Anyways, she couldn’t be more thrilled with her options. She definitely got lucky considering how little we knew about this process.</p>
<p>My point in all of this (and then I will stop because I am obviously not being understood) is that I really wish some of these schools would say that they want trained coached kids to audition. Instead of saying they want raw talent with “potential”. Just be straight. Be honest. Our college list would have looked very different if we had known. That is all.</p>
<p>Is it required to already be a trained MT performer? Yes. (And that was somewhat surprising until I read all the CC posts my daughter’s sophomore year). Coached? I disagree. Coaching helps you display what you have to offer in a way that highlights your training. Many of the program websites are very clear on how to select a song. There are books out there that help kids and parents understand the process. There are some kids who instinctively know their type, some who have teachers other than coaches who are good at pinpointing material suitable for college auditions, and there are some who will do this poorly but whose talent will still shine through. </p>
<p>We were fortunate enough to be able to afford coaching with MTCA. I can assure you that my daughter went into the audition season feeling confident and well-prepared, especially due to their help, but they in no way used connections to help us or anyone I know who used their services. Also, the coaches are very careful to not overwork the pieces so the kids’ material still feels fresh. It helps and I would hire MTCA again and recommend them in an instant, but it is NOT imperative for everyone.</p>
<p>Also, my daughter went to French Woods for 9 summers, starting at age 8. It developed her love for musical theater and gave her so much experience in the field, and it is probably her favorite place in the world. But I do not see it as a place to go to prepare specifically for college auditions. It is a place to grow as a person and as an artist. She wouldn’t trade those summer experiences for anything.</p>
<p>Talent is talent. Would I get help for my kid with selecting a good audition song and monologue, YES! The rest is all overkill. Also, who cares about all the kids at unifieds who had this or done that or know this one or that one - means nothing!</p>
<p>The auditioners are looking for talent or in some cases diversity. The basic lump of good clay they think they can mold into a performance artist. I am of the belief that getting too much coaching and training and summer camps can hurt you. The auditioner may look at all that training and figure that that’s as good as you can get.</p>
<p>It also seems like at least meeting with a coach initially (like a consultation?) to help you put together a list of schools (balanced) and pick audition material suggestions could be very helpful.</p>
<p>I would have (and have said) the exact same thing as beenthereMTdad but seriously, this year I’m starting to wonder. Maybe it is just the mix of posters in CC this year just happen to be heavily coaching oriented or have things actually changed?</p>
<p>theatermom2013, where did you do Unifieds?? My daughter did Unifieds in NYC and never even saw her coach, and it was not at all obvious to me who had a coach and who didn’t. I think in Chicago it may be different. :/</p>
<p>theatermom2013 - haha - I read it differently - thanks for explaining!!! :)</p>
<p>I really do hope your daughter decides on Coastal Carolina!!! It will be great to have another Michigander!!!</p>
<p>Unifieds in Chicago at the Palmer House Hilton. Awesome experience all around but definitely a humbling experience for D and a learning experience for both of us. It all worked out but, to the topic of the thread, it seems a summer program is a good idea so that the student can get an idea of what the BFA life is like (mine did CMU’s 6 week pre-college for MT) so they are sure about what they might be spending the next 4 years of their life doing and then at least a meeting or two with a good coach to sort out college choices, and perhaps select audition materials that will work with what you are trying to show the auditioners. Some kids can do this on their own and be successful but I do think it adds confidence to the mix and therefore can give you a boost at auditions. Anything you can do to increase your comfort level. One thing I did notice at Unifieds is that a lot of the girls actually LOOKED the same. About the same height, long hair (various colors but all very natural), in a variation of the same dress (in a rainbow of lovely solid spring colors) and character shoes. Looked like a Macy’s catalogue come to life. Which is LOVELY. But there was an obvious theme there. Or maybe I just noticed because that’s not my kid at all…(in her neutral colored but butterfly print belted silk dress, lace tights and tall boots–wouldn’t be caught in character shoes unless she was on stage or in dance class-- and her chin length choppy blonde hair) she tends to go towards the bo-ho side but not all the way. She’s definitely an original. And all this time I thought that was a good thing. 
So to the original poster, a little bit of both if you can swing it, will help your child a lot in this process.</p>
<p>Theatermom2013 - I actually think that you have hit on something interesting. I think we are batting around a variety of terms that mean different things (and probably mean different things to the different MT schools.)
Talent, Potential, Trained, Coached - These are all very different things. I think that it is easy to understand that a person may have been born with a certain degree of talent or ability to play a stringed instrument or play football, but neither is probably going to into a well known Music Conservatory or a big 10 football team if they start training their "talent when they are a junior or senior in high school in this day and age.</p>
<p>Of course, MT is made up of a variety of “talents” and deciding when/how to get the most of those talents and the right mix of training can be tricky.</p>
<p>My daughter’s coaches did not help her pick her schools. That is the one thing she really did herself because she was very picky geographically, wanted to be in a city, not too far from NYC and not too far from home. But it did help her to hear which would be reaches, what certain schools seemed to look for, and other scoop. These coaches really do know SO MUCH about the whole process and can save you buckets of time doing research. The coaches did help her pick songs, and the mock auditions were great because it helped her really know what to expect on audition day so she was a lot less nervous. They also are really good for moral support, lol. And really, the more work/research/practice your child is willing to do on their own, the less the coaching will cost. And you CAN do it without coaching, as many have shown, especially if you have good teachers at home and a motivated kid willing to do a lot of their own research. Summer intensives can be a great experience too but don’t count on it getting you into that school. It CAN (I believe) actually hurt you because they might see flaws/weaknesses that they might not see in a 5 minute well-prepared audition. Do it more to see if YOU like that school and don’t expect it to work the other way around.</p>
<p>Calliene that’s great that your daughter, at such a young age was so sure what she wanted. Mine figured it out along the way as she auditioned for schools. We did as many on campus auditions as we possibly could. (only 2 scheduled at Unifieds, but she ended up doing 3 total) IF you had asked her 2 years ago where she would like to go to college, her answer wouldn’t be anything like it is today. They are so young. <sigh> And for so many of them, they don’t know where they fit until they “feel it”. Once she found what felt right, she realized it’s what she needed all along.</sigh></p>
<p>And for the record, D did not attend CMU’s summer program hoping for an advantage for admission. She didn’t even know that CMU HAD such an amazing reputation until last year when we were looking for summer programs. (I know! gasp! We must be living under a rock huh?) She was accepted into a few different summer programs but chose CMU for the length of the program (longer rather than shorter) and the quality of the teachers. She learned so much last summer, made some amazing friends and had the time of her life. It also made her very confident in her decision to study acting. She had no delusions about getting in there. She did go back to audition at CMU but it was the most fun audition BECAUSE she had no expectations. She just went back to see her teachers from the summer and spend the day in Pittsburgh again. It was a great audition and it all went as beautifully as it could have. Worth it for the experience alone.</p>
<p>My daughter had a great experience at CAP21. She felt like she learned more in 5 weeks than she had throughout her 4 years in a performing arts program in high school.</p>