<p>alwaysamom, I was aware of this from reading things online myself and informed my daughter about it yesterday as she didn't know. I feel badly for all those in the cast. Yes, some left other jobs. Most assumed this was to be their job. For my D's friend, it was her Broadway debut.</p>
<p>Meg - my D will be starting at NYU (CAP21) in the fall. She started to look at MT programs during her freshman/sophmore years, and fell in love with NYU. Even though it was her first choice, she kept an open mind, because she knew that the odds of getting in were slim, and she applied to a bunch of schools. Things worked out well for her.</p>
<p>To prepare for this very competitive process, she simply worked hard in school, took (some) challenging courses, kept up with her training in dance, voice and acting, participated in a variety of activities (not "just" drama), and, once audition season was around the corner, immersed herself in selecting monologues she could relate to, and songs that showcased her range. Much of this you will need to do on your own, as it is really difficult for anyone to make choices for you. She read complete plays (after first reading the synopsis to see if the storyline included someone she could portray, and if the play appealed to her), because only that allowed her to really dive into the character. Another thing she did, was that she did most of her applications over the summer (she had printed out copies of applications the year before) just to get a head-start. Now some components will be fresh every year (essays) and so you may need to wait, but this definitely allowed her to get things done before many people started. She met with her school college counselor the week school went into session, which helped expedite recommendations, and helped in some cases to get audition slots right away (some schools require you to complete the application) etc. This made my life easier when I had to schedule the travel arrangements for her auditions (which is pretty much the only thing I did but still :))</p>
<p>Hope this helps you a bit :D! Good luck, it seems you are on the right track!</p>
<p>MTgrlsmom, thank you so much! I feel like I can really relate to your daughter. I've already made my resume to send in for the TISCH CAP 21 Summer Program... and I thought I was the only one to plan this far ahead! Haha my own mother thinks that I'm crazy to be obsessing about college during the summer vacation before my sophmore year! But I do want that head-start! </p>
<p>Good tip about the monologues. I'm at a vacation house right now but I'm leaving tomorrow, so once I get home I'm going to head to the library and check out a few plays. I actually snagged a few plays for cheap at a used bookstore while I was here on vacation! (Just a tip for fellow monologue searcher-for-ers)</p>
<p>It sounds like your D had a very helpful counselor in high school. My counselor isn't as helpful; he told me that we should be "lucky to get credit for going to a class and just singing," and he also suggested that I "re-adjust [my] goals." And when I asked him about schools for MT, he seriously told me to go home and google it myself. Oh well, CC is my new MT-College source now!</p>
<p>Thanks!,
Meg</p>
<p>megasinger - For the record, I should probably clarify that my D's counselor was really only useful for admin purposes, i.e. the counselor recommendation forms :D.</p>
<p>She most definitely had no clue about anything BFA, and actually did not even know you could "major" in musical theatre. She kept trying to convince my D she should be applying to UC's, and focus on her other interest instead (forensic psychology). Sounds familiar huh?</p>
<p>Ironically, she turned my D into the "go to" person for some rising seniors, who were interested in pursuing drama (once D had been accepted ED at Tisch).</p>
<p>MTgrlsmom, it's good to know that I'm not the only student that struggles with finding a helpful counselor (esp. for pursuing a BFA!).</p>
<p>I have a video on youtube now of myself singing On The Steps of the Palace from Into the Woods. It's not as good as I would have liked but I would be happy to send the link to/recieve feedback from anyone who would like to PM me for it!</p>
<p>Meg</p>
<p>MTgrlsmom, I don't mean to threadjack, but do you think your D applying ED to Tisch helped her chances? I'm just asking because I'm pretty sure I'll be applying ED this fall as well :)</p>
<p>_Arianna, I don't know that applying ED helped her changes per se, because she also has quite a few friends who were accepted RD (I think this year at CAP about 35% was accepted ED and 65% RD). </p>
<p>In her case, she knew that NYU was her #1 choice, and she had been saving up (along with us) to the point that the financial aspect did not play a critical role (when you apply ED, you don't know the details of the financial package you will be offered once accepted) . </p>
<p>By applying ED she did feel she had the opportunity to communicate she really wanted to go there, in spite of her, not necessarily top notch, SAT scores. During her audition she really felt that they made a big effort to get to know her while they worked with her; I would venture that the audition is a whole lot more important than whether you apply ED or not.</p>
<p>MTgrlsmom</p>
<p>Just curious where you got your % acceptance for ED & RD for CAP-21? Those numbers sound a lot higher than I remember from when my D was accepted 2 years ago?</p>
<p>jashner - thanks for making me realize that my post could be misinterpreted! </p>
<p>I actually meant that this year's incoming CAP21 class is comprised of 35% ED kids and 65% RD. In other words, from the 63 kids in this year's class 22 came from the ED applicant pool. Hope this clarifies things!!!</p>
<p>-Arianna et all, again, please know that I was not talking about the actual admission acceptance rate. In fact, I understand that general admission at NYU was at an all-time low, because of the increased number of kids applying this year. That said I don't have specific numbers for Tisch Drama, or even CAP21, but in the past people have mentioned on CC that acceptance into Tisch is below 10% and for CAP21 apparently even lower than that.</p>
<p>Thanks MTgrlsmom....that does make more sense! </p>
<p>_Arianna - My D was accepted ED for CAP-21 '10, and although statistically the acceptance rate between ED & RD wasn't a big difference, we felt that it was an advantage to go ED. Especially the relief of knowing mid december, and canceling all those other auditions! lol. </p>
<p>That was the last year that CAP-21 still had the dance component as part the audition.</p>
<p>I think college admissions folks will tell you that applying ED at most programs does give a student a slight admissions advantage, for a simple reason: the college knows that if the student is accepted, the student is definitely coming there. In other words, the student who is accepted is then sure to accept the school. (Of course, if you don't have the "goods" -- in this case, the talent and the grades/academic record -- to get in, then this won't matter. :))</p>
<p>However (and this is a big "however") one should only apply ED at any college or university (for MT or for, say, engineering or history or chemistry!) if you are absolutely, positively sure/certain that this is the school to which you want to/are willing to go, and you can afford it. </p>
<p>That means that if your financial aid package is a consideration, applying ED for a program as expensive as is NYU might not be in your best interests, because you essentially have to take whatever they give you, moneywise, and then cannot compare offers from various schools.</p>
<p>haha yeah, thanks for all the info! okay, back to the thread. I feel bad for taking over! :(</p>