Hi all, is there an average # of schools you/your kids have applied to for MT? Seems like my D’s list is very long
And of course I think the costs are crazy with fees. Her non MT friends average maybe 5 applications.
She has a range of BFA & BA, mostly audition, a few pre-screens but I keep shaking my head
At this whole process, so much harder then if she was going for a straight BS/BA in another field
Is this really the way it works?!
We have seen a wide variety from 4 or 6 to over 16. Most people we’ve talked to are 12 or more.
When my D gets ready to apply next year we are trying to keep the list to no more then 10 schools. We will see if that works out lol. I don’t think we could manage more then that truthfully between scheduling the auditions etc!
I think, generally speaking, boys can get away with applying to fewer schools. My D applied to 16 schools three years ago, and most of her female friends applied to 12 to 20+. There are some people who apply to 26 schools…I think that’s overkill. If you have a good mix of schools, and some non-audition programs that are not an academic reach, you should be fine. Just make sure that your child would be happy to go to their non-audition safety, and you’ll be okay. My D applied to so many b/c she did not have any non-audition schools on her list. If you have a non-audition safety that you love, you can do way fewer.
A tip for next year’s applicants–get your pre-screens in as early as you can. Early results may determine whether you apply for additional schools before the deadlines. If the pre-screen results are not all you wish, you might suddenly find in mid-November that you have only 6 viable MT schools, not the 12 you planned on auditioning for.
wise advice @claire74!
I have 17, but the actual number will be past 20, if I can squeeze in walk ins and the open audition. My best advice to you is to breathe. It’s a lot and there are days where it may seem too stressful, but schedule everything out now and keep organized and I can assure you everything will be okay! (Ps keep on the look out for emails from colleges that waive your fees like Shenandoah, TCU, Rider, UArts, etc)
I believe the numbers were … applied to 15, auditioned at 8 and accepted to 2 BFA programs.
My S applied to 15 schools last year. We have friends whose D is in the audition cycle this year and applied to 21.
D applied to 12 schools, a mix between BA (some safety- some reach) and BFAs. In the “real” world that number looked big- even the teachers at her PA HS told her it was a little large (their recommended max for BFAs is 6, she had 8) In CC world it is a small number. I totally get the odds, and the need to have a balanced list and cast a wide net. BUT- as I said on another thread- don’t feel like you HAVE to follow “cc rules” and audition for 20 schools in order to have a shot.
D has applied to 17; one non audition safety (to which she was already accepted - she’s going somewhere!); so she has 16 auditions scheduled.
I applied to 16
We have 21 but many did not require an application because of Moonifieds…applications – probably 17
Applying to over 10 schools makes me almost ill at the thought of the work and stress involved …applying to 21 is almost unfathomable to me lol
Applying to 15, but 5 are non-audition
Thank you all for your replies. Makes me feel a little better but it is stressful. Good tip on getting pre screens in early ,had we realized that for some of the schools, D would’ve waited to hear on if passed screen before actually applying so now there are schools applied to that if she doesn’t pass screen, she wouldn’t have applied to. Not sure if that makes sense… We had such a busy fall w multiple activities really feel like we should’ve done nothing more
Then figure out this whole process. D was crushed to learn that she already missed an audition scheduling for a
School she applied to early, misunderstood their whole timing process. Wish all the schools could be a little more uniform. Ugh
My D has applied to 14 BFA programs. She will audition at Illinois Theatre Festival, so some additional opportunities may come from that since it is an open call type audition and all the schools present will see her.
My S applied to 12 programs this year, all audition-based and most considered to be very competitive, but his 2 “safeties” are (1) a school that accepts video auditions (and he has been accepted artistically - yea!) and (2) a music school for voice/songwriting (still an audition, but very different from the BFA-MT programs)…lucky for all of us parents, each and every one of our kids is unique, and so too will be their journeys! I hope that all of our kids end up exactly where they were meant to be! 
I originally wanted to hold the line at 8-10 applications, but she couldn’t get the list under 12. Added a safety and one more prescreen…now we’re at 14
Last year S applied to 11, did not pass 2 PS’s & ended up dropping one school… So auditioned for 8, accepted at 3. No non-audition or safety schools.