Class of 2020 (sharing, venting, etc)

What I hear is they make up their minds in the first 10 seconds, so probably not.

@sydsim what didn’t you like about Catawba specifically? We have that school on our list and I don’t know a lot about it.

@lake4 , if she loves Point Park/Pittsburgh, she should not let the dance part deter her. My daughter isn’t a dancer first and there are quite a few of her MT-mates who are not. They greatly appreciate vocal and acting too! Dance competitions and the such are not necessary.

@MTMusing - I think it’s perfectly fine to have a shorter cut if it demonstrates what you want to show. As long as the cut makes sense and it is an impactful presentation, you will be fine. Always ok to be under time.

I agree with @EmsDad on audition requirements. As annoying as time limits, # of bars etc… can be - if the schools take the time to give those instructions, there is a reason for it. Some auditors are very lenient. But others will assume you a)can’t follow directions or b)think you don’t have to follow directions - neither or which is the impression you want them to have. Find something that fits the guidelines. Then you don’t have to worry about it.

@lake4 - I agree with @GSOMTMom regarding Point Park. We know a fellow who just graduated from there and he was not a dancer at all - had never really taken any formal dance - until he got there. So if she likes the school, I would look into it further.

Hello all - been lurking for a few years, but I guess now is as good as any to jump in. DD is a senior true soprano (non-belter) who has been singing for 10 years, and acting/dancing for 9. She works w/two voice instructors (one is more classical, helps her w/district/region competition pieces & the other helps w/MT) and takes private dance + advanced tap at school. She started working w/Dave Clemmons after TXMTW 2 summers ago, and his advice & coaching has been very helpful for her, but priceless for me b/c he’s kept me from falling down a rabbit hole or two during this process (so far)!!!

On the surface, DD is a typical brunette you might see in leading or supporting lady type roles (for example she has played Cinderella in Into the Woods, Chava in Fiddler), but she is a strong actress & has played some fun character roles too (grandma in Addams Family, the nurse in Medea, a witch in Shrek) - I’m hoping the programs she auditions for will be able to see beyond her face & see some potential for diversity on her resume. I think singing & acting are her strength, but she holds her own dance-wise (esp. jazz & tap). She is looking for BFA programs primarily, but considering some BA’s depending on the situation of the program. She wants performance opportunities & networking & prefers a more nurturing/mentoring environment, but also a good old fashioned college experience. She will be attending Moonifieds in November & has 13 schools on her list to audition for there, and also Unifieds in Chicago - she’s researched a good number of schools, and we’ve left it to her to decide her focus.

We feel strongly she should not get her heart set on any one school, though we’d love her to stay in Texas, so Texas State and TCU are on her list; Sam Houston is something of an up & coming program so it’s on the radar, and WTAMU is a safety school she will keep in her back pocket (it is a BA program & requires audition but she is familiar w/the talent there b/c several of her friends from our area are there now). I won’t list all of the out-of-state schools she’s got in mind, but Oklahoma, Coastal Carolina, Ball State, and Northern Colorado are high on her list. She recently said she might also like some study abroad opportunities as well. Soooo, we will follow this and the other threads closely to see if there are any programs we might have missed…travel from our hometown is not the most convenient (yes, we have an airport, but it takes a full day to get anywhere not in Texas or a contingent state), and we are trying hard to minimize her number of school days missed.

ApplyTexas apps & Common App are done, some Acceptd prescreens are done as well; the process of collecting letters of recommendation and writing supplemental essays is happening bit by bit. We just keep reminding ourselves that he only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time… My biggest problem is knowing it will be March(ish) before we have any idea where she might be headed next year.

@WTXMom - Baylor has a new BFA MT Track program you may want to look at if you are considering TCU, West Texas A&M, and Sam Houston. They spend a lot on their musicals:

http://www.baylor.edu/theatre/index.php?id=85111

http://www.baylor.edu/theatre/index.php?id=927345

As I recall, d’s Baylor application was free if you did it online through their website. They had an early November audition and her acceptance and large academic scholarship came pretty quickly - it was nice to have that one before Christmas.

At St. Edwards in Austin you can graduate with an Equity card or close to it (they run an U/RTA Equity theatre). Their program draws several kids every year from my d’s PA HS here in Texas.

https://www.stedwards.edu/humanities/performing-arts

If you are looking at Northern Colorado and Ball State, I would recommend looking at Western Michigan, all three programs are somewhat or very similar to me. D especially enjoyed her Ball State and WMU auditions. I posted in the WMU Forum why D chose WMU.

@WTXMom - I should have also mentioned Oklahoma City and Tulsa (even though they are in Oklahoma - smile). These may already be on your list:

OCU is an excellent program with a combined VP/MT option that may be a good fit to your daughter.

Tulsa is an non-audition BA MT program at a school with excellent academics, rated VERY DIFFICULT for admission by CollegeData.com.

Finally, over in our neighbor to the East, Tulane has an interesting MT program at an excellent school that might be a good fit (also VERY DIFFICULT for academic admission).

Thanks for the scoop, @EmsDad. I think I read your post about WMU & intend to point her toward that one for a look see. OCU was on her early list, but she has eliminated it for a variety of reasons; Tulsa has not really gotten her attention - maybe b/c it is a BA? I’m not sure. As for Tulane, I’d like her to consider them, but her Dad is not a fan of the idea of turning her loose in NOLA. LOL. She’s lukewarm on Baylor (mainly b/c I am…) but I’m sure it will eventually get closer consideration. Interestingly, UT Arlington has started a BFA MT and they will be at Moonifieds. At first we thought we wouldn’t bother - my husband graduated from there, we grew up in that area, and well, it’s UTA…but Dave Clemmons suggested we not be so quick to judge b/c as you say, new programs often have extra $, and being in the metroplex wouldn’t be terrible (all our people are still there). I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around all these possibilities. Can’t imagine how she’s feeling, and she still has to deal w/school & ongoing productions, etc.

@theaterwork ,well, it was too small and quiet for DD and the students that we encountered, well, DD felt that they seemed more “high schoolish” as opposed to semi-mature college students. (This coming from someone whom I felt was still “high schoolish” herself).

JMHO

Are you sending ACT or SAT scores to all schools you are applying? I am trying to figure out if we need to send the act scores to everyone, for example prescreen schools…

We sent scores to all schools, including prescreens when we applied in August/Sept. Then D took ACT one more time (she had a number in her head she wanted to get to) in October. And she got there- so we sent scores again when that came in (I want to say early December?)

I didn’t think I’d have to put together an artistic resume until the winter but I’ve found you have to upload them to Acceptd to schedule your audition. Anyway, did you guys include non performing theatre work on your resume. In the future it may be unnecessary but considering I’m just in high school I think it would be good to include. I vocal direct Jr. musicals with this theatre company over the summer, and I’ve done other technical positions with musicals at my high school like make up, stage management and audio.

Of course, performing credits are my primary thing to show and I’ve done that the most but I feel like there might be some merit to including other things as well to add variety to a high school resume. Also, to those who were/are in this situation how did you organize and group your resume. I’ve seen such variety of examples online

@ParachuteBoy - you should definitely list non-performing credits on your theatrical resume (coming out of high school). Colleges are always interested in well-rounded applicants with a variety of experiences not only in performance, but in all aspects of theatre. Everyone has to do several semesters of crew work in college (it is usually called “Theatre Practicum” or something like that) and having prior experience is a great thing to show. My d was told that if you are pressed for space, drop a couple of your less significant and less recent performing roles from your resume in favor of listing crew and work experience.

I agree! Did you group crew work in the same heading as performing credits? I am trying to figure out how to organize the resume. And should the more tech-y crew things like audio be in the same boat as vocal direction? I know I ask a bunch of questions it’s just there is a lot of unknown stuff to figure out in such a short time because of all these deadlines and it seems crazy how fast the deadlines creep up, it’s already over half way finished with October. I also feel like I don’t have enough schools on my list but also too many.

My d listed “Technical/Management and Work” credits under a separate heading - per the resume standard template at her PA HS. At her high school, everyone had to do significant tech/crew/house work in addition to performance - you couldn’t even audition for main stage shows until your Junior year and all upperclass theatre students had to take crew leadership assignments for shows that were not cast in (and it was not possible to be cast in every show). Basically all the students from her school listed as many tech credits as performance credits and most of them did not list every performance credit that they had.

All non-performing credits, like costume crew, assistant music director, and summer acting teacher were lumped into the “Technical/Management Credits and Work Experience” section.

D’s resume had the following sections:

  • Performance Credits
  • Technical/Management Credits and Work Experience
  • Training
  • Honors, Awards, and Special Skills

@EmsDad Thank you that was very clear and helpful!

I also found out something that I wasn’t sure everyone is aware of on here about a school. Columbia College Chicago which I thought was non audition for their program and then you can audition for the BFA track after freshman/sophomore year. Turns out they do auditions beforehand now for their BFA MT program. They do not participate in Unifieds but they do have auditions the Saturday beforehand in Chicago. The BA program along with the stellar acting department is still a decent safety option. The program has a senior showcase and they allow outside production participation in Chicago. Also, the guy playing Melchoir in the Spring Awakening revival is a CCC alum.

for schools that don’t explicitly ask for a pre-1965 song, should I still do one? personally, my contemporary songs are stronger and showcase me better so if I could just do two contemporary songs that would be great!

In general- if they do not ask for pre-1965 you don’t have to do one. BUT- you do want to make sure your songs show contrast- and one good way to do that is “older” and “newer”. Doesn’t have to be from the golden age, but you might want to make sure there is some spread between the two.

@musicalkid98 While @toowonderful 's advice in post 278 is excellent about the two songs contrasting and that one way can be older and newer songs, it is not imperative to have an older and newer song for schools that do not require that, as long as the songs contrast in other ways. While it can be a good way to contrast old/new even if not required, I don’t think it is necessarily a must to do that. Just as a point of reference, for the schools that did not require a pre-1965 song at auditions, my D sang two contemporary songs, and had good results with admissions.