Congrats @MusakParent That’s wonderful news!
Whoo hoo, @musikparent ! The kid’s going to college! Here’s to many more acceptances!
That was my D’s first acceptance too! And she was very, very happy to have “one in the bag” even though it probably wouldn’t have been her choice in the end…like your S my D had that as a BA back-up for theater. She was still more interested in theater than music at that point. She had a talented friend 3 years older who did his BA there (didn’t get into the Guthrie BFA). He did his thing in Mpls after graduation (Guthrie, Latte Da, Yellow Tree to name a few), won an Ivey and is now in NYC and Mpls doing well. It really is talent and being persistent more than the program. I always think about him as a kid that got passed up, didn’t quit (did a BA right next to a big BFA which I know was frustrating to him) and got out of school and just made it happen. He is also multi-talented…does a lot of directing, acting, singing and dancing. So that helps always.
Good luck!
I actually think my kid could be totally happy with BA Music/BA Theater at the flagship even though he sticks up his nose at it! We could let him hand pick a new voice teacher. He could live in arts housing. He could study composition. Probably plenty of collaboration pick up opportunities. Sounds super fun to me actually and probably more flexible to a variety of interests. I am pretty glad he hasn’t been interested in the competitive auditioned theater programs. That whole thing seems grueling. He’s been doing youth theater in here since like age 10 and we’ve watched a bunch of kids go on and the casting of these programs seems crazy and uneven to me! I’ve seen kids get into and not get into programs that make no sense. A young woman who is so talented last year had a really rough audition season. She did land somewhere and is happy but I think it did shake her confidence. Which I suspect had to do more with her casting type than her talent and ability and potential. We’ve heard plenty of stories like your BA theater friend too! Which is inspiring. Just keep swimming and doing what you love! We’ve had many conversations here about having your hands in many projects and being willing and interested in doing a number of things.
He is applying for dual degree/possible theater major everywhere possible with his BM applications. He may drop the 2nd degree (I suspect before the music one) but I think any schooling is good schooling/training! Even if it doesn’t end in a 2nd degree.
Question to those that have done this before. As of right now son is auditioning for 5 schools (may add a 6th since it is local). Two weekends he has an audition scheduled on a Friday at one school and on Saturday at another school. One of those weekends is somewhat local in that we could overnight at home and drive to next location on Saturday (2hours or so) but the other is out of state and about a 5.5 hour drive between the two.
Anyone done something similar? With so few weekends it becomes difficult to fit it all in.
Just do it. We drove S and his upright bass 15 hours to Texas and then again 22 hours to Miami.
@TxSker I had one child that did auditions back to back. We flew into NYC, rented a car and drove to Boston then flew out of Boston. It was a snowy weekend but the roads were fine, just a little slower than normal. Made for great memories. Lucky that you can knock more than one out in one weekend.
@diglass Thanks for the information, good to know this isn’t all that unusual. Will be flying into Indianapolis, renting a car and driving to Bloomington and then off to Oberlin.
@UniversityMomOf2 - if you figure out how to get them motivated to work on apps, I’m all ears. I have two girls who think there is an Application Leprechaun that will magically fill them out and submit them! I’ve got my music daughter to fill out NONE (well, nearly one). And our aviation daughter filled out two on the common app - but none that require essays. I’m seriously getting nervous that they will be stuck living at home forever. I could seriously use some tips. Bribes? Doing it ourselves? (which I refuse to do).
@eh1234 - I got tired just reading what your son is up to. Are you serious? When does he have time to sleep? Wowser. He must be very organized. I hear you about having no safeties. I admire our daughter for “going for it” - but the living at home thing as a safety (which probably hasn’t even dawned on her) is not my idea of fun. I had to laugh out loud about his private teacher that keeps talking about Curtis. Some of these teachers have no clue (and they obviously think highly of him, so that’s good). I have started to realize that we are probably more in tune with the current state of affairs of music program than they are (likely because it’s been awhile since they have explored what’s out there). Which is fine - but that puts all the weight of this with us (and our musician).
I’m glad that we are all going through this together. It’s not for the faint of heart.
I know a young pianist who sounds good to me, has competed in international competitions and who flies from Chicago to Boston once to twice a month for lessons who plans to make Curtis one of her audition attempts, but even then, the Mom says that is very unknown if Curtis will provide an offer.
Our voice teacher is not the most on top on this game either. That teacher has launched some vocal students to college but most stuck to a tiny handful of auditioned options local and non-auditioned options. That teacher doesn’t have reference letters in right now either which makes me want to pull my hair out. Several are due next week. I’m pretty laid back but I might have to get out the tiger mom loud voice soon.
We’re probably going to be road tripping for most of our auditions. We have to see what clears prescreen, if an EA offer comes through, etc to figure it out fully but 6 or 7 are drivable for sure. A couple others might need a flight.
For the kid’s EA audition next month he finishes a tech rehearsal locally at 9 pm. He is supposed to be at check in for EA audition at the college at 8:30 the next morning. It’s about a 4 1/2 hour drive. LOLOL. His audition is at 12:40. I didn’t know we were supposed to be there at 8:30 until AFTER we signed up. We’re waiting for the schedule. I may have him e-mail and say we cannot be there until later. Sleeping is awesome. And he needs to be back on Sunday morning for a tech rehearsal. Crazy I know but worth it to get that one out of the way. I would at least like to have 4-6 hours on campus to mill around, eat a meal, etc. I have no idea what else they might have going on that day - looking forward to that schedule. Luckily it’s a pretty easy drive and we shouldn’t hit any kind of traffic. I’m considering getting about half way there the evening before.
S has his first audition about 5 hours away on Sat 12/1 at 8:30 am. I’m thinking of taking him out of school early Friday so I can make the drive by dinner time and avoid at least some of the rush hour traffic. Of course, he has 2 prescreens due 12/1 as well so for all i know he’ll be up until 2 am the night before finishing them.
After that he gets a break until after new year’s. Then the auditions come fast and furious starting Jan. 11 and going through Feb. 16 at least. I’m hoping he’ll hit his stride by the last week in January – prepared but not yet sick of it all – because that’s the audition for his no. 1 choice as of now. Of course, if the prescreens lead to facetime auditions we’ll have to figure out how to shoehorn them in.
Even though I am fearing the logistics, I’ve actually really enjoyed our trips on the road with S to see schools so far. He makes play lists on spotify for the trip, and we talk about all sorts of things in the car. I’ve also splurged on nice hotels where I can, since we won’t be taking a family vacation this year and we don’t need to fly anywhere. I suspect I’ll miss the bonding time even though I’ll be relieved when the process is over.
@tripletmama My son is about as disorganized as they come. Fortunately he’s one of those kids who gets pretty good grades without doing much. I am worried about practice time though, as these weeks go by. He’s busy with pit orchestra the next few weeks and then he needs to really buckle down if he doesn’t want to be doing this whole thing again next year!
I keep putting his list of possible audition dates in front of him and asking him to choose the order but this seems to be an impossible task. He doesn’t seem to want to do them in January unless he has to, but this may leave him with the fun prospect of doing three days in a row in mid-February (New Jersey, Philly, western VA). This is doable (I guess?) but why would he want to do that? For schools that have quite a few audition dates, is there any advantage to taking the first date (or the last date)?
I wish he could have been ready for some EA auditions, but this is what happens when your kid decides in March of junior year to be a music major. Do schools every fill all their spots through EA auditions? I hadn’t really considered that possibility . . .
@tripletmama Lay out chunks of time daily (20 minutes or so) to work on things. Figure out the best energy time for your girls Definitely prioritize the top/favorite schools first. Application fatigue will definitely set in. Mine did great getting through hers, but bailed on a safety school at the end. The extra essays for the honors program were a deal breaker.
Good Luck!
@MusakParent and others…I would highly recommend getting a schedule of the audition weekend. I do remember the Lawrence event as being very warm, friendly and comunity-building (as many LACs are) BUT not totally necessary. You may have something like a 30 min registration period starting at 8:30 with coffee and a light breakfast with a warm and fuzzy “welcome to our school” from 9 - 10. These are hours your kid could be sleeping. That might sound cynical but in Feb (or nov) your kid could need those hours of sleep.
I would contact the schools, ask for the schedule and ask what is mandatory for the student. An audition at 2:00 followed by a few tests might be all. Your kid could save energy for later (or of course attend if not needing rest). A parent can attend the “warm and fuzzy welcome meetings” if a kid needs extra rest.
Big schools can be a bit more low key and “do it yourself”. I remember my D and I going to the sign in for IU (our first audition) to find out they just gave you a folder and pointed out some bagels and coffee on a table. The folder listed her audition time and theory test time (plus other events and free tickets to the opera…but no big meet and greet). I could have picked that folder up and let her rest. But we both got ready in our “going to church clothes” to pick up a folder. Lol.
And no one will be tracking attendance…they are too busy. So do what is best for your musician.
@Bridgenail - thanks for the chuckle. I visualized you and your daughter in your “going to church clothes” in front of the bagel table. 
Great advice!
My latest mantra is: “well - there is always community college” if you miss the deadlines. They usually start screaming at that - but I’m not kidding. It’s a MUCH cheaper option. (might not work for our musician daughter - but I feel good saying it nonetheless).
The Berklee application takes 15 minutes tops. It’s driving me to distraction! I know some moms that just did it themselves. I’m eyeing that option
@eh1234 - I doubt that they fill up spots in EA. I think what it does do (at least it’s what I’ve read) is it tells the school that it is their top choice (or nearly top). Colleges don’t like to give out acceptances (or even financial/merit aid) if they know they are down on the list and it would be a waste of time/$$. I’ve read on here that then their allocation is sometimes wasted on a disinterested student - and sometimes they can’t get it back. So - since our daughter has a clear top choice - she hopes to show them her extreme interest which might help her close the deal. We will see how that goes. I’ve told her to put 150% into preparing for that audition which is in less than a month - yikes! I don’t think you ever think you are ready for an audition but especially not for your top choice.
@eh1234 - OK - hold the press! My daughter just read an article written by a Monk Institute musician who came to her school last week and he apparently said to not audition early - and spend more time practicing and not to rush it. So - looks like we’ll be doing the audition trail after all. Was hoping to tie this thing up early. No chance.
@tripletmama , I agree one gets better at auditioning as the season progresses, both from additional practice time and gaining experience at auditioning. My son made huge improvements from his first audition to his last. But if possible I think it is crucial to get some early auditions done in December (perhaps with a “safety”) in order to get audition experience and to judge how much work one needs to do. Just my opinion.
Agree with @vistajay. S’s teacher suggested doing at least one early audition, not his first choice, to get over the fear of the unknown. He also suggested doing the top choices somewhere in the middle in case fatigue sets in by the end.