Since the older thread was closed and seemed to have some very relevant information, I thought I would start a new thread and link to all of the info on the older one.
@BabyBettesmom, I’m sorry things did not work out as hoped for your daughter, but as Bissou has said you may still have some great options if you keep exploring. I’m not sure what numbers you are referring to about accuracy, but I do know of numerous MTCA kids that have gotten into many programs this year including Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, Penn State, CCM, NYU, BoCo, and many others. We did not use MTCA, but with the coach we did use we still did a lot of the work and research ourselves, and made our own decisions on which songs, monologs, headshots, clothes, etc to use. The coach helped us and made recommendations, but the ultimate decision on what to use was up to my kid. We were also very careful to include a safety that we knew my kid could definitely attend and would have been happy with. Everyone should have a safety as a back up plan early on in the process.
Again, I’m sorry you are dealing with this so late in the year, but there were several last year in this same position and they worked very hard and seem to be thriving now.
Question for those of you who have used coaching services - when did you begin working with them? My D will be a junior this fall and I’m wondering if we should plan to start in the fall or is that too early?
@vvnstar - your final posting on the locked thread is excellent advice and a good summary of important points. @dusing2 thank you for opening a new, very important thread. I advise all who find this thread to go back to the first post and follow the link to the years of responses on the first coaching thread.
Regarding MTCA and coaching; my daughter used them 4 years ago and is now graduating from NYU. Being from Oregon we had no idea of how this process worked and would have never mastered it without MTCA advice, support and training. I am very sorry for @BabyBettesmom and her daughter, but I would like to correct her doubts about the honesty and validity of MTCA student success reports. If you go to their website, you will see real pictures and posted schools of where MTCA coached students have attended. You can also access a list of alumni. During her first year at NYU, my daughter was hired by MTCA to help out with computer and office work for that year, and she will always stand by the professionalism and dedication of the agency and its coaches.
MTCA and all other coaches make no guarantees of student placement in programs. Anyone perusing this forum will become well aware of what can appear as the serendipity of acceptance to college MT BFA programs. All coaches will strongly recommend adding nonaudition BFA or BA programs to a student’s college wishlist.
We all need to remember that it is against the policies of College Confidential to use this site for bad mouthing or criticizing other members, their input or objects under discussion. It is meant as a place of support, and we certainly have received lots of it, to this day!
@sopranomtmom, my D began working with MTCA fall of her junior year for 2 reasons: to develop her mix/belt voice (with Skype coaching), as we had no regional voice teachers that could do that and to help prepare her for video admissions to university summer programs for summer after junior year. If neither of those had been an issue, I would probably have begun her winter of her junior year so there would be time to get everything in place before the summer. You also need to be aware that many coaches have a certain number of places available that can fill up before senior year, so it is wise to inquire about that. Please feel free to pm me if you have any questions.
I think you could even start this summer. The great thing about most coaches is that you can do as much or as little as you need, and schedule them as frequently or infrequently as you choose. You could schedule a meeting or two now just to get some direction, set goals, and choose some material. Mary Anna and MTCA both have master classes and workshops that she might want to attend, so by at least contacting them you can get on their mailing list for updates on those.
If you need help with monologue selection a coach can suggest several plays for your daughter to read and this would give her time to really try lots of different material. My kid picked out several songs a year before auditions began, then spent that time really working them and perfecting them so that there was a nice selection in the book when it came time to choose the exact few that were used for most auditions. Also, the summer before auditions was spent at several audition workshops and intensives, so the material really needed to be ready by then. If your daughter plans to do any audition intensives (ArtsBridge was a great one!), then she will need to have her material ready in about a year from now. It won’t need to be “audition-ready”, but she should have it all selected by then, and by the end of next summer she should be ready to start submitting prescreens. Our first prescreen deadline this year was Sept. 15. That came very early!
@sopranomtmom - it is NOT too early to start using a coaching service. My daughter started attending summer programs after 9th grade, started using coaching services her junior year. As for coaching services - we used MANY of them. Started w/ MT College Prep, by spring of her junior year switched to MTCA, then added Dave Clemmons in the summer, and Moo in the fall. @babybettesmom - I’m sorry your experience with MTCA was not good, ours was completely the opposite. Out of all of the coaching services we used, they were by far the best. My daughter loved working with her coaches, they helped her learn and helped me navigate through this entire crazy process. The monologues they helped her pick - were fantastic (she needed 3). The songs were very good also, she did end up switching between a few songs as we went through the audition circuit. What she learned from them, was invaluable. MTCA has a fantastic support group amongst parents, and they were there with us in Chicago through the entire Unified audition. The MTCA coaches were available for coaching, support - or just to hang in their suite decompressing and processing between the auditions. My daughter’s vocal technique coach - was fantastic, and has become a good friend. During Unifieds he did warmups with the kids - but it wasn’t the typical warm up. Yes, they did warm up their voices, but the gave the greatest pep talks/affirmations that you could ever imagine. He helped calm the nerves and most importantly just helped the kids focus on what they were about to do - and to enjoy it - not stress out. We were out east last week visiting programs my daughter has been admitted to - we still had a lesson with Peter. LOVE him.
This is a very difficult, tricky process to navigate. Even using every coach under the sun, there is no guarantee on the outcome. My daughter was blessed and accepted into 8 different programs - including her dream school, waitlisted at 2. I could not imagine having done this without MTCA.
Also keep in mind that many people (I suspect the vast majority) navigate the process without an audition coach. It would probably be great to enlist extra help, since it’s a complex process, but it can certainly be done without investing that extra money. If you look up the “where our students landed” info on the coaching sites, I assume they only account for a fraction of each incoming class.
Coaches are definitely not required. But for those with little knowledgable support in their communities, they can definitely be a great help and save you lots of time and money in the process. We did not have resources or people familiar with the college audition process at home. So a coach was beneficial for us. I think the word “coached” makes you think they come off as unnatural or over rehearsed. In reality what we saw was our coach’s students were simply prepared and confident. But their natural talents still shined through. The costs were similar to hourly rates for voice teachers in our area. We started working with a coach in the Spring of Ds Junior year. The focus of that summer was audition prep and college apps. No shows or camps. We felt the $ was best spent at that point on one on one training with a coach.
If you opt for coaching, MTCA is one good choice. But there are also many other coaches who are also priced very reasonably who provide similar support and advice in addition to helping choose and prep monologues and songs. We used Mary Anna Dennard and could not have been more pleased. We worked with her mainly via Skype. She provides a wide variety of services. Here are just a few:
Monologues: Mary Anna typically gets to know you and your child before suggesting potential monologue selections. She went through quite a few with D before they decided on the ones they felt worked best. She had D read quite a few. They read entire plays, not just the monologues. They did script analysis and really talked about the pieces so the pieces were felt, not just acted.
Songs: Like MTCA, she has a selection of vocal coaches you can use to help with song selection, technique and audition prep. D still works with her vocal coach whenever she is in NYC. During her audition season, she worked with him mainly via Skype. She got so many compliments on her song selections, and he provided all the cuts to her music as well as recorded digital tracks of the piano accompaniment for each cut plus full length versions of each song for her. It was nice to not have to worry about getting that all done correctly!
Schools: Once she got to know D, Moo also worked with us to help come up with a great list of achools - some we were familiar with and some we weren’t.
Moonifieds: The opportunity for early auditions at Moonifieds was a big plus. Held in Dallas in November, it really allowed us to try out audition material, do a bunch of in person prescreens, get a few early acceptances to take the pressure off, and generally see how auditions worked.
Peers: The camaraderie each of her students felt with each other was fantastic. They talked almost daily via a private Facebook group. D knew someone at virtually every audition she attended. And they would talk about what auditions were like, notify each other when they heard results. Celebrated each other’s successes. Commiserated with rejections. And most are still friends today, 2 years later. That peer support was an added benefit we didn’t realize we would receive.
Unifieds: Mary Anna was also in attendance at Unifieds and was a great sounding board and meeting place for the kids before, during and after their auditions. She made sure they knew where their auditions were, how walk-ins worked and all those questions that come at Unifieds.
Prescreens: I believe she can also assist with prescreen videos if you wish although we did ours on our own.
Other: Mary Anna gave guidance on what to wear, how to conduct yourself during an audition and during an interview, and many other small details of the audition process … What to bring into the room, what not to bring, what to do while you are waiting, etc…
Success: You can look at her website by googling college audition coach. There should be a list of schools in the I Got In section which shows where her current students were accepted and where they will be attending. it is pretty impressive.
Cost: We were definitely in the $2000 range in working with Moo, not the $10,000 range as has been mentiOned in other threads. $10,000 sounds quite high to me. In addition she does provide some scholarships each year. if you aren’t sure about investing in coaching, I highly recommend you get Mary Anna’s book, I Got In. It’s a great resource to get you through auditions whether you use a coach or not.
In addition to Mary Anna and MTCA, you may also want to look into Dave Clemmons. I’ve heard very good things about him as well. And Im sure there are other good coaches out there as well. Just make sure you know what you want from a coach, interview several and then pick the one that best suits you, your child, your budget, etc…
It is important to note that no coach can guarantee results. You are paying for training and preparation, not placement.
My daughter started with MTCA in the spring of her junior year and she changed her mind about pursuing a BFA MT in August. There was no pressure from MTCA to continue although she did with her acting coach for scholarship prep. If and when she asked for coaching or questions for anything from anyone at MTCA they were there for her. Her acting coach recently emailed her to see how she was doing and what had happened, etc. Yes, they are expensive. No, they do not guarantee results. I do not think they are inflating their numbers. I can see that some coaches are more responsive and helpful than others but you will find that in any business and if you didn’t like the way it was going you could certainly ask for a different coach. I stand behing MTCA and their professionalism. And, my D got lots of scholarship money from a variety of good schools partially based on the work she did with her MTCA coach.
Reading everyone’s experiences is really helpful - lots of useful information in this thread and the previous one. I am hoping to start coaching later this month or maybe starting in May depending on my schedule. I’m liking what I hear about MTCA! Sounds like a lot of people have had success with them.
Has anyone worked with SFNY? I first heard of them because they were going to do a workshop in my area (that later ended up being postponed due to the instructor booking a job in NY). The guy who primarily does their skype coaching, Tyce, often answers questions about the business and general performance advice on twitter and seems like a cool insightful guy. But, they don’t offer up a lot of reviews, student acceptances, etc on their site so it’s hard to judge… They just may be newer, but I want to make sure I explore my options and make the right choice!
I think it’s important to note that MTCA does not claim that 100% of their students gain admission to auditioned programs. No coach can make that claim. I’m so sorry @BabyBettesmom that your daughter fell into the small percent that didn’t gain admission - Its so hard to watch the disappointment in your child and to try to make backup plans. I truly feel for you. Our experience with MTCA was so different than you describe. Our D felt very much in the drivers seat with regards to material selection. While sometimes scheduling got a little tricky… Because not only were her coaches working professionals, she was a very busy high school senior, with creativity we were able to fit in all the sessions we needed. I do believe the numbers on their site, as I’ve met many of the kids and the parents who are pictured there. I hope you and your daughter find her path! There are so many examples of students who thrive in non audition programs… @bisou 's D is a prime example of this! You’ll find that this group can offer many creative suggestions to help you and your D.
I just want to agree with and to add my two cents to the praise all ready given to MTCA. The support of the MTCA team has been invaluable for my kids. I have three who have gone the MT/Acting route and who cannot be more different in their “type” and personalities. My oldest will graduate Tisch this spring and has continued to work with some of her MTCA coaches when she has needed support through college. They have always been there for her. My second daughter left school and is acting professionally and still uses her MTCA coaches to work on auction pieces from time to time. Again, they are wonderful with her. My youngest just finished the process and had a fantastic experience with MTCA as well. One of the things I love about MTCA is that Ellen is an educator first and foremost. (Not saying that other coaches are not; I have no experience with them!) Another unexpected benefit of the MTCA family is the support that my daughter received from her MTCA friends at Unifieds and throughout this process. The support these kids gave each other, how excited they were for each others’ successes and how gentle they were with one another in light of disappointments. So, while coaching is not essential, if you do choose to coach, I wholeheartedly recommend MTCA!
Not to beat a dead horse, but I am 100% positive that MTCA does not inflate their numbers, and they would never guarantee that someone gets in somewhere. We had a fabulous experience with them, and I would use them again. My D started with them in the winter of her junior year, and kept them though auditions. We didn’t use anyone else (except for my D’s home-based voice teacher and dance lessons), b/c MTCA was all we needed. Yes, they encourage the kids, but they are honest…really, they are. I think the bottom line is that neither MTCA nor any other coach has a crystal ball, and anything can happen. This is not an easy field, as we all well know.
Coaching can be fabulous, but it is NO guarantee. I coach high school students myself and even though many of these department heads are my friends, my students don’t always get in. One particular student comes to mind. I sent her to audition for everyone that I thought would like her (knowing the kinds of students they tend to recruit). She was rejected from all but one of those schools. The feedback I got on her was all positive, they just happened to either already have other girls who looked like her, or they saw someone who was slightly better and they went in that direction. That’s what happens. This is an INSANELY competitive major right now.
Compare the following numbers:
Harvard medical school had 6,614 applicants and admitted 231 for a 3.5% admittance rate.
According to threads on this forum:
CCM auditioned 650, admitted 25 for a 3.8% admittance rate
University of Michigan auditioned 850, admitted 22 for a 2.5% admittance rate
Otterbein auditioned 600, admitted 8 for a 1.3% admittance rate
Carnegie Mellon rumored to audition around 1,000, admitted 12 for a 1.2% admittance rate
So essentially, it is as equally difficult to get into CCM as a MT major as it is to get into Harvard Medical School and it is harder to get into UMich, Otterbein, and Carnegie Mellon for musical theatre than it is to get into medical school at Harvard.
That’s a little sobering and surprising even to me.
It seems that the original complaint by @BabyBettesmom, was that the MTCA coaches were generally unavailable and not committed to helping her child. That is a shame. She did mention that the MTCA acceptance and scholarship claims were inflated. I don’t take issue (or interest) in that as much as the lack of support from coaches. I find that particularly concerning. Perhaps with so many coaches under one roof, and all who have their own careers to put first, that is understandable.
There are many college audition coaches, as I have learned much about. And I am sure, if you do your research, you can find one who fits your needs and has satisfactory results. It is unfortunate what @BabyBettesmom has experienced, but I am sure (let’s be fair) that all coaches have some satisfied and unsatisfied customers.
@Notmath1 I think you are probably right when you say that all coaches probably have some satisfied and unsatisfied customers. It is sad that anyone comes away unsatisfied after the significant (for most of us) sum of money spent on coaching. However, we are dealing with human coaches coaching human people. Everyone is bringing in their own experience and their own baggage and skill sets and weaknesses. Coaching is very personal and you will click with some more than others–just like people in real life! And coaches can make mistakes, just like regular people–they are human! I think it is wise to start the search early–junior year at least. I would suggest having consultations with multiple coaches to see where you feel most comfortable. Do your research on the coaches. Check out their facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. if it is available. I’m terribly sorry for @BabyBettesmom. I think most coaches do suggest that you have at least one non audition safety school, because there is definitely no guarantee of getting in an audition program. I’m surprised if MTCA did not. However, anyone considering coaching needs to realize that no coach is going to force you to fill out that application to your safety school. We mainly used Dave Clemmons as our coach and were very pleased. I thought S would connect with him, as they both like pop/rock music, and I was correct. Dave will act as a head coach and recommend other coaches, if needed. We did end up using Mary Anna Dennard for monologue help and he did attend Moonifieds, which for us was a huge bonus. For us, most of Mary Anna’s prep was the online prep, with a few skype sessions and one in person session. Dave was a lifesaver! If you hire him, he will be available by text messaging at any time and you will be able to set up phone calls and skype sessions, as needed. He is there to answer any questions and calm your nerves–both the student and the parents. I cannot recommend him enough. Dave and Mary Anna both attended Unifieds, which would have been very helpful if my S had ended up going. I have heard good things about MTCA, though, from many people, so if you are reading this and looking for a coach, I would not rule them out, but you might ask how they handle a situation in which someone has trouble scheduling with their coaches. @BabyBettesmom–we do hope that you will check back in and let us know more so hopefully someone here can help you. I know that some people have taken that Gap year and given it another shot. If D’s heart is set on MT, then that might be an option to consider.
Also keep in mind that since MTCA has many coaches, some may have more satisfied customers than others? If I were starting this process now, rather than running towards the finish line, I would PM BabyBettesmom, find out who she used specifically and steer clear of that one particular individual. Furthermore, I would also contact satisfied MTCA parents via PM and find out the name of those that pleased them. No situation is ever perfect…
We were very happy w/MTCA. They never made any promises and in fact my D’s coach had her apply to a few more “safeties” then we initially had on our own list. I am on the MTCA parent list, and from what I can tell all the acceptances and all the many rejections are legit. What I’ve learned from the process is that the whole thing is a crap shoot – the top programs are so selective and really base their acceptences on what they are looking for in a class more than straight out talent. My d was rejected by top programs and accepted by top programs. She was accepted to “second tier” programs and rejected by second tier programs. No rhyme or reason. My D’s coach was always available and supportive. The key is apply to many schools, have a varied list and LOVE your monolgues because by the end of the process you’re never gonna want to do them again! PM me if you want more info.
Oh and the MTCA mock audition was key to my D feeling prepared to take on Unifieds.
Our D was one of the 1% for MTCA last year (or whatever the number is). As I mentioned in posts then, she started late and just couldn’t get to where she needed to be. But we were happy with MTCA. We did have a problem where we couldn’t get in touch with Ellen for a while which was stressful (she was working with D on song selection). Aside from being busy turned out there was a family situation. Ellen made it right. In fact she did more than really was needed to make it right. So I have no doubts about Ellen’s integrity and dedication.
Don’t know what happened with that other person who posted earlier and experiences can vary. But everyone we interacted with at MTCA was great, very supportive, and we would recommend them individually or as a company.
While I completely agree that admission to good MT programs is very competitive (and has been for many years), there is a huge hole in the above logic, and it’s a perfect example of how misleading “statistics” can be.
ANY high school senior is able to apply to most MT programs, and even those applicants who are totally unqualified are counted in the ~1000 kids considered applicants, whereas as far as I know only those who have completed Pre-Med with a high GPA and achieved strong scores on the MCAT can (or bother to) apply to Harvard Med school. If there were similarly-restrictive hurdles to clear before applying to MT programs, the admissions statistics would be very different.
Also - Harvard’s numbers are officially reported statistics, whereas MT program numbers are word-of-mouth.
But again, I completely agree with the intent of the post, which is that MT admissions are competitive and no amount of coaching can guarantee everyone a spot in an auditioned program.
The best quote I ever heard from an MT program head was “There are more slots for training Harvard doctors than to train MTs, because the world always needs more doctors but there are already too many actors.”
PM me if you want more info.