OK, I haven’t posted here yet. A lot of you have seen my posts elsewhere and are probably sick of hearing the story, but for those who don’t know it and are still on the fence and/or waiting for that first acceptance, I felt your pain last year. They don’t call me (and my D) a Class of 2018 Survivor for nothing. Here is a partial post from last year (after the horror was all over!). It proves there are happy endings out there where you least expect it:
"D applied to: NYU Tisch (early decision – sister is an NYU Gallatin student), CMU, The New School (acting), Pace, Wagner, Molloy/CAP 21, SUNY Purchase, UCLA, UC Irvine, AMDA New York. All except for Irvine were audition programs.
Prescreen : Pace – passed
Auditioned on Campus: NYU, The New School, Pace, Purchase, Wagner, Molloy/CAP 21, AMDA
Auditioned at NY Unifieds: CMU
D did not attend UCLA audition because she was in the emergency room that day (she’s fine now, but it was scary). They were nice about it and allowed her to send in a tape…but D changed her mind about going to school in CA and chose not to submit it.
"Re-directed”: Wagner, Pace – both with huge scholarship lures.
Waitlisted: SUNY Purchase
Accepted: AMDA, Molloy/CAP 21
Rejected: EVERYWHERE ELSE
Final Decision: MOLLOY/CAP21
Her Wagner audition was a NIGHTMARE, putting it mildly. Had a sleepless night in a hotel (I had to call the manager at 3:00 a.m. to get the folks next door to shut up; should have known there would be trouble in a place where they put earplugs on the pillows!). Very disorganized, even though it seemed like every student they had was there helping out. About 200 applicants were there. They divided the kids into three groups. My poor D was LAST to go in her group. By that time, she was hungry and exhausted, and the auditors weren’t even listening by that point. They rushed her through and only let her do one song and one monologue. She came out of there in tears. Then she was shuffled off to audition for a scholarship from the music department, but the Theater department didn’t bother to tell her dad and me… In fact, they seemed to have no idea where my D was! Totally disorganized and poorly run! This was her dream school, and now the dream is dead…there is no way she got in. But if the audition was any indication, I’m glad about it…they couldn’t care less about their students. The ride home that day was one of the worst experiences of my life…me trying to drive through NYC traffic, complete with potholes, ahead of yet another storm, and D sobbing the whole time.
So what happened?: Talent is not enough…D thought because she is the diva in HS, she would have no trouble. I tried to tell her that the process is very competitive, etc., but she interpreted that to mean that I had no faith in her and she stopped listening to me. D’s biggest problem was allowing herself to be intimidated at auditions; it was the wrong time to discover that there are other talented kids out there, too. She thought everyone else was better than she was. What they really were was better prepared! Her dream school was first NYU (although she came out of the audition saying the current students were mean to her and she didn’t want to go there), and after she was rejected there, Wagner. Both auditions were train wrecks, but Wagner’s was an annihilation worthy of its own entry on this thread. Her confidence was in shreds after that. She wanted to give up and go to Wagner anyway for a non-performance major, or to AMDA, which did accept her.
After I posted about the Wagner audition nightmare on CC, another poster told me about Molloy/CAP 21. I pretty much forced D to audition only one week after Wagner; she fought tooth and nail. I thought she would intentionally blow the audition for spite, but her dad and I secretly hovered outside the door when she sang…and she nailed it! I give a lot of credit to the two CAP 21 audition evaluators…they let her warm up and were very encouraging. D came out of the audition all smiles. One month later, she was in artistically as well as academically. We were not sure about the Molloy part, but our campus visit yesterday sealed the deal…they are pouring money into the place yet the tuition is thousands less than the competition; the brand-new 550-seat theater is state-of-the-art; and the professors really care – the student/teacher ratio is 10 to 1! D also got a huge merit scholarship because her grades are amazing."
This is the end of last year’s posts.
Fast-forward one year: D loves Molloy/CAP 21; she has a foot in both worlds – college life and conservatory training. She’s been in 2 Equity shows already. She and her pals could have gotten housing in NYC for next year, but chose to stay on the Molloy campus in a suite. Oh yes, it was a happy ending, and a happy beginning, too. So hang in there; good news is coming!