@ginga17 I don’t know your D’s story on here as I have been late to joining the conversation… but I will tell you what we have thought about regarding the non-MT-BFA at a Dream School. If it’s a school where she was deferred to the BFA in Acting AND that school allows the BFA Acting kids to take almost as much dance and voice as the MTs AND if it allows them to audition for the musicals AND if your D won’t feel like a “2nd class citizen” because what she really wants is to be part of that MT BFA group… then it could really work.
If she only really wants MT but she would go to the dream school in a general major hoping to get into the MT program as a sophomore… my opinion is that that is a recipe for heartache unless it is a school which specifically states that they take a significant percentage of students into the MT program as sophomores. She may find something else she loves to do at that school - and if she goes in with that intention - that is awesome, but to limit her college happiness to the slim possibility of getting into a highly competitive school’s MT program when she did not get in this year - seems risky.
Just my thoughts going through this same issue with my D where two of her top dream schools deferred her to BA Acting programs when she really wants BFA MT - and at one school she would have been able to participate in musicals and piece together dance and music classes to supplement. She dismissed those options because it didn’t fit what and how she wanted to study even though the schools were “dreamier”.
But - this is also a very personal question as to how strongly your D wants MT. A wise acting educator once said to us “If there is anything at all you can see yourself doing and enjoying… you might want to consider that because this is not an easy path”.
My niece’s husband is a working actor in LA. He makes a living mostly off background voice work in English and Spanish, but he also does commercials and has had some parts in some TV shows, as well as stage plays. They have two young children to support at this point, but he is still at it. He says when he gets up on an audition day he is joyful about having the opportunity to go perform that day. He equates auditions with performing, and that has made all the difference for him.
@theaterwork I am so sorry if I offended you. I did not mean to insinuate that you are not aware of the differences between professional auditions and college auditions. I was just trying to express (and poorly I guess) that watching how your child handles the process can be a window into how they will handle things in the future. Yes, they will grow in 4 years and mature quite a bit. Especially once the strings are severed with the university treating them like adults and keeping us out of the loop. I truly believe this process is 100 times harder on us parents than the kids. I could never do this business and am in awe of our kids that do. Wishing you all the best.
Everyone on here is really helpful and I have enjoyed the discussion threads over the last few days, it has offer some great insight to a newbie whose child started really late in this process. With that said I posted the following a few days ago and figured it got lost in the mix. Would anyone have insight to the following: Been reading and biting my nails down to the nub,lol. Unfortunately found these boards rather late in the process and have many regrets after all the late night reading. Can anyone give any insight on the Emerson BFA MT major as compared to Wagner? Also I see no mention on these boards of the BFA at Kean University any info there would be appreciated.
@uskoolfish - I disagree. I don’t think that if a program’s director (or a couple of the directors) is traveling for a few weeks during Unifieds and is also available on a weekend for Accepted students in April is going to cause them to be unable to run a program. I know several schools that do this and in my opinion it should be standard practice. Part of knowing that a program is a good fit includes a connection with the faculty.
Again, I’m certainly not saying that all the students should have to learn the same monologue–just that I feel the time frames should be standardized in order to make things a little simpler. This is a tough enough process as is. I don’t think standardizing monologue times would be a huge burden for most schools.
Common app didn’t help us much. My S had to change just about every essay for the schools he applied to. Out of the 13 he applied to, only 3 or 4 used the Common App.
Again, this is all just my opinion, which I am entitled to. Everyone has a different process–but it seems so many parents out there feel it is a tough process and these are a couple small things that I think would make it a little easier on the kids. Even with these changes, kids have to be flexible and show they are willing and able to take direction. Yes, this business is tough but I don’t think making a few minor changes to this process is going to coddle these kids.
@theaterwork - I don’t think your reaction to college auditions determines whether a kid can “hack it” in the business, any more than I think that success in college auditions determines success in a performance career. But I do think that colleges have ZERO incentive to make the audition process easier for kids/parents (as the people doing the scheduling etc) and no real need to do so. That’s the part where I say if you don’t want to jump through the hoops of 20 different audition rules, don’t apply to 20 different schools.
The programs aren’t going to standardize monologue times because some programs care more about acting and some programs care more about singing, and some care a lot about dance and some don’t care at all. In addition, different programs want different types of monologues prepared. And, each program has its own way of handling audition times. And some have 6 auditors and some have 2. Some give a fair amount of time in the room, and some don’t. It’s just not a one-size-fits-all process, and there are far too many schools that would have to agree on the standards. And, why would they? Each program considers itself unique, and what the auditors ask for is what they think they need to make a good admission decision.
From a practical standpoint, D had a chart at the front of her binder that laid out which schools wanted which monologues. I don’t remember it being that hard once the chart was made and she knew her monologues.
@ginja17 ask Dream School how many kids they’ve accepted into MT in that scenario, i.e., kid comes in as undeclared major and auditions again, then is admitted into MT. Also, would this dream school MT program require her to be a freshman again? – i.e., 4-year BFA curriculum, essentially negating any academic scholarship (most are renewable for only 4 years.) The answers to those questions should inform decision making. My gut says go to not-so-dream school and be a star there!
I think we all wish the process could be more standardized and easier to navigate, but the fact is each program is different and even what they are looking for year to year varies. Some give more weight to singing. Some acting. Some look for potential. Others for polish. Some look for strong academics. Others don’t care. It is actually more beneficial to both the school and the student that the schools run their auditions in the way they feel best helps them discern who is a good fit for their particular program and needs. They are each looking for different things. And I don’t think you could ever get them to agree on what the standards should be. Especially in a field that looks for uniqueness and individuality, I think standardization, even though it would make things easier, could hurt, not help, many students.
@Eliza806 I echo your comments to @ginja17 's request for advice. I think most our kids have been or are in that position of trying to decide “What do I really want?” Tough question. I’m 55 and haven’t figured it out yet.
And my D has been in the same position of being accepted for Acting but not MT at “dreamier” schools too. Those dreamy BFA Acting programs are just as intense as the MT programs, so she would almost certainly have to abandon serious voice and dance studies and she just can’t imagine herself being happy doing that.
Honestly my only wish is that they would stick to the audition requirements they outline and also have the same respect for the students’ time and effort that they expect the applicants to have for them. I realize Unifieds are a crazy busy time, but if you have told the student to prepare two songs and two monologues, don’t tell them when they arrive for their audition you only have time for one song and one monologue. That happened with several schools and it really irked me. As someone pointed out, we have spent a lot of money to apply and travel to audition - the least they could do is not change the rules at the last second. If Carnegie Mellon can take the time and treat each applicant with such respect and consideration then every other program should be able to do the same.
The one that really made me mad was Oklahoma City U. We traveled there at considerable time and expense and because D was scheduled later in the day and they were running late she was limited to one song after preparing three including an art song which they said they absolutely required even of MT applicants. She ended up singing her ballad and they asked her to go ahead and sing the uptempo but no art song after all the time she worked on preparing it specifically for that audition! Then she walked into the acting portion of her audition and as she walks in the auditor tells her to quickly pick one monologue because that is all they have time for. Really? This was the same person who just that very morning at the welcome talk made a point of saying that he guaranteed those auditioning at the end of the day would get the same time and energy as those at the beginning of the day. Well not so much. I was very unimpressed. For the longest time that had been one of her dream schools but she left not caring if she was accepted or not because she knew she would never choose to go there after that experience.
Here is my bottom line - if you spell out specific audition requirements stick to those requirements and give those auditioning at the end of the day the same time and opportunity you gave those at the beginning of the day. If that means taking less walkins or staying later then so be it. These kids have worked way too hard to be short changed because of poor planning or time management by the school.
@sopranomtmom - I think everything you have to say is spot on . Kids certainly DO deserve the chance to show the materials they have been asked (required) to prepare.
@bisouu it’s all good. Not offended. Just getting a little testy right about now. I respect your opinion , I know your story with your D and I’m sure it’s been very helpful to many.
To those of you familiar with trying to negotiate $$ from NYU…My D would consider attending NYU if she gets into the MT studio, but will most likely select one of her BFA MT offers if she is offered a spot in an NYU Acting studio. She has some nice talent $$ from other schools. Would you recommend waiting for studio placement before trying to negotiate money from NYU, or will I have waited too long if studio placements don’t come out until 4/15?
@MTstress my daughter attending Emerson precollege and loved it ! Great school fun location amazing Drama and Voice teachers! My D got into both programs for MT if she did not hit her Number one choice Ithaca we would have picked BFA MT Emerson over a BA Wagner for sure. But keep in mind my D wants a BFA not BA both different programs. I would compare the course studies carefully so that you can make a better decision. Good luck and congrats to 2 great programs!
Just wait until next year when your very successful, talented student is not cast in anything (4 shows in the fall)… that’s when you have to encourage them to concentrate on the training and not the extra productions. We warned our D it would happen - but I think she still didn’t believe it until it did. I was proud how she licked her wounds and dove into the hard work of getting better. She was cast in the spring - the only freshman in the school to get a lead. There are others in her school that as Junior’s still have not had a lead … some still haven’t had even a callback for a lead … that would be depressing after spending all the time/money. I think the schools that don’t allow Freshman to be in their productions are wise … it gives that student time to focus on improvement w/o comparing themselves to everyone else.