So happy to be crossing the ACT test off the list tomorrow! He’s taking it again to try and increase his score a bit for the possibility of additional merit money, but it has really added to the stress of everything else (ie, essays/monologues/prescreens/regular schoolwork). His PA school college counselor was impressed with how much he’s done so far, but it still feels like we’re behind!
I think the BFA kids feel behind until the end! Last ACT for D2 tomorrow, too - come what may! Here’s to a great testing day!
Once again thankful for these forums- I am curious- anyone else getting “comments” from their high schools about the # of schools your kids are applying to? If I hadn’t done research, I guess I would think it is a little nuts too, but we are starting to feel push back from the HS (guidance, recommenders, theater directors even)- I guess they think 15 schools is absurd and they don’t have prior experiences with someone applying for MT BFA’s. So we are singing “just keep swimming, just keep swimming” and trying to take care of crossing things off the list little by little, ignoring the push back. My heart is sad for kids that don’t have a supportive parent in this prosess (and I know one kid like this)- I TOTALLY think this is a team effort and I don’t know how my daughter would navigate this process with out my help and support. I am looking forward to being her travel buddy for auditions through the highs and lows of this year! Hang in there everyone!
My D’s guidance counselor was supportive and never said anything negative about her 23 applications! Some of my friends were a bit critical at first of how much I was doing for her but by the end they understood that applying to acting programs was much more involved than what their kids were doing.
@savedrama4momma, people thought we were crazy, including the counseling office at school! D1 had 17 schools on her list (she just graduated with a MT BFA). She said every time she walked into their office they said “another one?” We tried to explain, but they just didn’t get it. Now it’s time for D2, who is auditioning for Acting (but wants film acting, so very different), and her list isn’t quite as large, but we’re prepared for the questions! And yes, we still look back fondly on that audition year of travel/being a team. Fall was stressful with the deadlines, but once the auditions & traveling began, it was so much fun!
YES @MTmom2017 She went into the guidance office and the secretary said to the other woman at the desk, this is the girl we were talking about. LOL So apparently she is the topic of conversation- hahaha They are not only surprised with # of schools but I think more with how early she is applying. The secretary said she is the only one requesting transcripts and it is “a little early in the year” and then she told her there is no rush at all for these items - even with early action we are “way early”- so I think it is more that they just don’t understand the full process for MT. I honestly wouldn’t fully get it if I hadn’t been on these forums etc reading things last year trying to learn! PLUS- we went on a college tour last year the same day they were holding auditions and the two families we met at lunch BOTH had daughters there auditioning for technical majors in the theater dept or straight theater because the MT slots were full by the time they got their prescreens ready etc- so they couldn’t auditon for MT!! that was enugh to make us realize she needs to be on top of this whole thing. That is exciting that you have one looking into film acting!
As a HS teacher - I have a word of advice for the parents of juniors (or juniors themselves) thinking of heading into the BFA application process. Try to meet with your guidance counselor BEFORE your start applications (that could be at the end of junior year, or in August before school starts) to fill them in on some of the “unique” aspects of the process. In my experience, guidance counselors, and teachers (vis a vis recommendations etc) really want to help, but may not understand why BFA stuff is so different. This falls under the “an ounce of prevention” sort of thing, if they know WHY you need so many of “X”, then they will be on board from the start.
My kids have all had the same guidance counselor but she was new when S (graduating college this school year) was going through the process. He only applied to 9 schools total (including safety schools) and she thought that was too many. When it was time for D1 to start her search, I sent her counselor (same counselor) an email, met with her early in the school year with D1 and gave her check in advance to pay for 15 applications (the school charges $2 per application processed). When I reached out to her this August, she told me “I got this”! We will estimate D’s application numbers by the end of the week and I will send the check. It does make more work for the counselors but we found early communication about the process makes all the difference.
We did the meeting with the college counselor in the spring of D1’s junior year, explained the process, etc., but she/the staff just never got it. At our school most of the students go to 2 big state schools, a few nearby state schools, or LAC’s & the counseling staff is really good with those. I wasn’t on CC then, but D1 had a national coach & they were a huge help in the process when the counselor wasn’t. We’ve had the meeting for D2, so maybe they’ll be more help this time around! About to find out - she’s finishing up applications now. She has a local coach who knows film acting, but not college, so this mom is very nervous!
To echo @toowonderful also give your teachers a heads-up about recommendation letter deadlines, and get those requests in early. Theatre happens way early relative to other majors, and even one of D’s theatre instructors missed the deadline so D had to scramble for a replacement rec letter.
My D is applying to 14 schools and we are struggling with our school getting out transcripts as requested. Apparently we are waiting for some profile on the school to be updated. Meanwhile she has completed her portion for 10 of the 14 schools. We are hoping to get some academic acceptances early to schools with rolling admits, so that maybe she can have a real safety locked down before we go to unifieds in Chicago. Rec letters are all “in progress”. Sometimes I think our college prep school just doesn’t know what to do with a kid who wants to pursue PA. Fortunately one of her teachers for a rec letter has a MT kid in college and knows how it works. Also curious if anyone is having much success getting time slots for auditions at unifieds. It seems some of our schools are still showing 2017 dates or not open yet to schedule. This OCD dad is trying not to get too frustrated at the pace of things, but it is hard, especially as I try to make my D take more responsibility for it.
I suspect my kids counselor thinks I am an overbearing parent when I have discussed the dates needing to be earlier than a typical college application. The more I try to explain, the crazier I seem 
@DoinResearch I wish we could have a little support group get together for MT parents- I totally get what you are saying!! I feel like even some of my close friends think we are crazy- but then other parents who are doing this totally get me! I love getting on this forum just so I have people who get it and can bounce things off of them. @TNMTDAD our school is saying the same thing- does yours use Naviance? They also hadn’t synched up Naviance with Common App yet- we are just waiting on those transcripts! We have confirmed 2 unified auditions so far… but a lot of them have prescreens and we haven’t submitted those yet- still working on those! I have also requested unified dates from a couple schools but haven’t heard back yet. I decided I would help my daughter by trying to schedule things for her. She has ENOUGH on her plate- I feel like I can at least work on the scheduling part.
@savedrama4momma we are using Naviance. Hopefully we get synced up soon. Hope to shoot prescreens before 10/1. I am having daughter do all the advisor meetings and she’s deciding which rec letters to send where today. I am doing the audition scheduling with her since I have to plan the travel arrangements. Room is booked at the Palmer House and we have two scheduled already at unifieds and two other scheduled on campuses before then. She’s got a lot on her plate so I’m trying to help without just doing everything for her. I’m trying to keep her motivated to work hard in her 3 AP classes, falls shows and especially the supplemental essays all these schools seem to want. Overall her school and teachers are super helpful and supportive. The Naviance delay with transcripts is my biggest issue right now. I’m enjoying the process but will be happy when the logistics are all set and she can just focus on her material.
I walked in to main office two days before school started and named in 8 transcript requests with stamped addressed envelopes … the look on the women’s face was priceless… the schools all received them 2 days later
@Mom2E Sometimes “old school” is better!
Anyone else scaling back on plays during Sr. year? I’m assuming since sophomore and Jr. year had lots of casting, that scaling back in Sr. year is the sane thing to do. Thoughts?
It’s a good idea during the fall, but if you can arrange a show during March and especially April, it takes their minds off things.
@DoinResearch my D went back and forth, first saying she was not going to do her school’s spring musical, then changing her mind. Her teachers really wanted her in it and were willing to let her miss as much practice as she needed due to outside auditioing and college auditions. It did make it harder to visit schools though once the acceptances started to come in.
@DoinResearch - funnily in our case, doing the school musical has worked in our favor. Here’s the story: my daughter’s school only does one musical per year, and it’s a big deal. (And there are no straight plays except for a series of three in the spring that are only open to seniors. So there aren’t a lot of performance opportunities before senior year.) The musical performances are in December, but they hold auditions the previous spring, and announce the casting at that time. Then as soon as school starts in the fall, they hit the ground running, with rehearsals starting the first day of school, and the rehearsals are every day after school AND on Saturdays too.
So, my daughter auditioned in spring of junior year, got cast, and was thrilled. I told her, “That’s great…but it means you have to have ALL the college stuff done by the end of the summer! Because once school starts, you’ll be in rehearsal every day and won’t have time.” She promised to do that.
So, as you can imagine, it was the Summer of Extreme Overwhelming Pressure! She had to do the Common App, write all the essays, choose her monologues AND get tons of coaching and practice to get them audition-ready, etc. We were both SO stressed out!
BUT…it’s now mid-September, her monologues are all totally audition-ready, and nearly all her applications have been submitted (we just have two prescreens to film, and then we’ll get those last two applications out). She has several audition dates confirmed, and is just waiting for confirmation of a few more (but the apps are in - it’s just up to the school to get back to us).
So now, she can relax and enjoy senior year and the musical, without the stress of college tasks hanging over her head (aside from the actual auditions, of course). She admits that while it was a super-stressful summer, she’s glad she did it, because it’s such a relief to have it all done early and not have to worry about it.