<p>evilqueen - I started with the spreadsheets, etc. during the summer while my son was away for six weeks. I was so in the “groove” by the time he came home he didn’t know what hit him I think the process was abstract for him until he did his part, ie. applications, essays, supplements, pre-screens, etc. My son and husband both thought I had gone around the bend, but appreciated my attention to detail after the acceptances came in.</p>
<p>PS This was the one place I could feel “normal” :)</p>
<p>evilqueen - Your D (last year my S) is probably comparing your sense of urgency to what her classmates pursuing “normal” college applications are doing - hanging out at the pool, socializing, relaxing before the “stress” of all that senior stuff. This process is NOT normal. I spent countless hours of my own summer last year preparing spread sheets, organizing information, so that S could focus on “prepping”. S wanted to do “summer break”. The VERY late start of the new Common App update threw a huge monkey wrench in the time lines of many of my S’s cohort. Count yourself lucky that you can get the ball rolling now. You’re on the right track. Your D will thank you. My S finally “got it” in December last year when many of his non-CC-educated classmates were beginning to find out what they were up against.</p>
<p>D really enjoyed attending the Thespian Festival in Nebraska. She received lots of callbacks, passed one prescreen and received strong encouragement in callback sessions and subsequent emails to apply to several selective MT programs. She received two verbal “assurances of acceptance,” one with a scholarship offer (not from highly competitive programs). Some programs took the time in callbacks to give her feedback on her audition, which was great. Talking to faculty from many theatre programs really helped her solidify her ideas of what a good fit would be: some schools moved way up on her list, and some moved down or off. Two schools not previously on her radar jumped right near the top of her list. Her callbacks helped clarify where she is going to probably be most competitive. However, most (but not all) of the schools at the conference are from the Midwest, so this is far from the end of the story.</p>
<p>She was proud that her high grades were mentioned by several programs and she will qualify for Presidential merit aid or similar scholarships at some schools. She was happy that all that hard work will pay off. Spending a week on a very large campus, combined with previous a previous stay on a mid-sized campus, helped give her an idea of what sort of campus environment she would prefer. </p>
<p>Overall, it was really great to spend a week with her entire theatre class auditioning and talking to colleges; she and her classmates came back really focused as a group on moving forward into the college admissions process. It was great that her department head was along on the trip and spent lots of time discussing and explaining programs and callbacks with the students one-on-one.</p>
<p>Some of the most sought-after types (and all the techies) in her class were heavily recruited, some receiving more than 30 callbacks and several on-the-spot “assurances of acceptance,” including offers of full-rides. The petite ingenues received noticeably fewer callbacks than other types.</p>
<p>Overall, well worth the time and expense from my perspective.</p>
<p>Our house has Tudor-style brick so it looks old and worn, making for a decent backdrop. I used the auto-tone adjust button in the photo edit software that came with my PC (Cyberlink Photo Director) and it did a really nice job of improving the picture (which was great because I did not want to read the manual). The entire process, including cropping to 8x10 in the photo edit package, took about 20 minutes to start printing 8x10’s on double-sided matte photo paper (resume on the other side). </p>
<p>I think d’s smile made up for any short-comings in our DIY process.</p>
<p>“some receiving more than 30 callbacks and several on-the-spot “assurances of acceptance,” including offers of full-rides”</p>
<p>@EmsDad - PLEASE beware of any verbal offers made at Thespian Festival in Nebraska. My D’s friend (amazingly talented female) received a verbal assurance of acceptance last year as well from one of the schools on her list along with a VERY generous scholarship. Consequently, my D’s friend counted on that school as her safety and trimmed down her list of audition schools down considerably since she knew she could be happy at the school that made the verbal offer. Long story short, she was told to attend the full audition (as a formality, she thought) and was not admitted in the end. As she had mostly applied to top name “reach” schools, she was crushed by all the resulting rejections and no safety to fall back on. Eventually she moved off a wait list to a top school so her story had a happy ending but we were then warned not to count on any offer not made in writing, especially at a Thespian Festival!</p>
<p>All that being said, I have heard great things about the great experience the kids gain at the Thespian Festivals. Your D is lucky to have had a jump on the audition experience/process. Best wishes on her journey!</p>
<p>@addicted2MT - thanks for a very good story to relate about what can happen - thank goodness it worked out OK in the end. That’s why I put “assurances of acceptance” in quotations in my description of the event. Until you get an acceptance in writing, its just a (possibly empty) promise and this was carefully explained to d and her classmates by their faculty. D’s school has been going to the Nebraska Thespian Festival for many years and students have routinely received verbal “assurances of acceptances” and scholarship offers that schools have honored, but, Caveat Emptor is always a good principal to follow.</p>
<p>It should be noted that this sort of horror story can happen at any audition, including on-campus and Unified auditions (although it is probably less likely than in a Regional or National Festival audition which are more recruiting venues than decision-making audition forums).</p>
<p>It is certainly great advice not to alter your audition list based on verbal promises.</p>
<p>It is the callbacks that you don’t receive at these sorts of events that may tell you the most about where you may stand in the process.</p>
<p>A friend of The D’s was accepted to an acting program at one of the big schools last week at the Thespian Festival in Nebraska, I hope it’s legit!!! She’s very excited about it!</p>
<p>We leave tomorrow to take our son to Philadelphia for the University of the Arts summer program. His contribution to the preparations? In the middle of the night, he shaved off most of his hair. I have no idea what inspired him to do that. I have to say he looks very strange. I was hoping we could use the headshots taken during the program for his college auditions, but that doesn’t seem like a wise choice at the moment.</p>
<p>Well hello there!
I’m hoping you’ll allow me to join the party. While I’m not a MT kid, I’m a tech kid and I make you all look and sound good! There isn’t too much action on the theater major and since I’m interested in many of the same things you all are interested in… I’m a west coaster wanting to end up in a large metropolitan East coast city. I will get the pleasure of attending Unifieds with many of you, but for a portfolio interview, which is making me quite nauseous at the moment. That and the umpteen essays that will be required for my list of schools I plan on applying to. My GPA is decent, but my test scores, well… not so great. I’m only looking for a BFA program in tech theater and really hoping somewhere on my list makes a direct connect. So far I have: NYU, Pace, Marymount Manhattan, Montclair, SUNY Purchase, Point Park, UArts, USC, Boston U, Emerson, and DePaul. Not sure I’m looking forward to this journey together but will be glad when it’s over!</p>
<p>@techtheater - check out the program at CCM, tech friend of D got into several of the programs you listed, but chose CCM. It’s not on the east coast, but campus is pretty urban, and Cincinnati is a great city- and their facilities are GORGEOUS. When D and I went on tour, we took pictures of the prop and costume shops b/c they were so fabulous And CMU is also a really cool urban campus, again, in a non east coast city (Pittsburgh)</p>
<p>We just picked up DD from Berklee’s MT Intensive … and she, and her 3 new best friends all bawled their eyes out because they can’t bear to be apart! </p>
<p>I thought she loved IU’s Midsummer Theatre last summer … but apparently, it couldn’t hold a candle to Berklee. The teachers were all seasoned professionals … and Livingston Taylor who’s a prof there did a Master Class. My daughter said it was life changing for her … she has two full pages (front and back) of notes from his seminar. And I have to say, he’s a very nice guy as well. DH and I were sitting waiting for the full program to begin and he was just wandering through the theatre, shook my hand and said thank you so much for sharing your child with us. </p>
<p>Lots of little things that I didn’t like … communication was a big one and I think I’ve mentioned that before. But like today - Boston (because of the Hurricane) decided to move their 4th of July to TODAY. Great. Parents/friends were supposed to be at Berklee at 12:30pm to start seeing their workshops. At 11:30pm I received an email saying that we should give ourselves extra time to get there because of street closures. Ya think? But overall, she loved it and thrived - and that’s what really matters to me.</p>
<p>@KaMaMom. Livingston Taylor is wonderful! Whew, the whole city was blindsided by the Hurricane. I’m sure they wanted to move it until Saturday, but the Beach Boys couldn’t be there!</p>
<p>@dcsparent, my son shaved his head the day after his final college audition–totally shaved it, to play the king in “The King & I” (director asked him to consider doing the “full Yul Brynner” and he went for it). He LOVED it, and it was still just stubble when he visited his destination school that spring. Just before leaving for a summer apprenticeship this May, he voiced a desire to shave it again, but wisdom prevailed when I reminded him that he wouldn’t look like his head shot! It’s a bold strategy and fine for your son to try now…I told myself, well, at least it’s versatile, as any wig will fit… Take lots of pictures and pray he doesn’t do it again during audition season! ;)</p>
I think the process was abstract for him until he did his part, ie. applications, essays, supplements, pre-screens, etc. My son and husband both thought I had gone around the bend, but appreciated my attention to detail after the acceptances came in.</p>