<p>Congratulations to everyone who has heard good news and to those who have heard pretty good, not at all bad news! To everyone else....keep on trying and let's not get down. There are many more auditions to come...hopefully, there's somewhere for each of our kids to continue in what they love.</p>
<p>I've been gone for a few days and I wanted to say congratualtions to JerryLaurie on your acceptance into Emerson's BFA program. My d wanted me to tell him congratulations also. Soozievt - I would give my right arm to even get a deferral for my D (we haven't gotten our mail yet today, but I expect our decision today). I doubt she would get in academically only, not due to her grades, which are good, but her SAT's are pretty bad. Soozievt - was your D's best friend that was accepted into the BFA program at our audition on Dec. 5? Thanks for the info you provided regarding what the admission's counselor told you. My d is in a choir show tonight and won't be home until 10 pm and she doesn't want me to open it until she gets home. I keep telling myself if she doesn't get in anywhere then I will be able to keep her home a little while longer.</p>
<p>My D is not a rhetorical device - I ESPECIALLY wouldn't want HER in NY on her own at this point - but I would feel that way about most kids of that age!
I agree that there are many variables in the audition process, and many faculty are very upfront about the fact that they are "casting" a class, and may not need another "blue-eyed blond ingenue" (or whatever type), if they have several of those in the program. On the other hand - it would be a rare occurrence to be able to get feedback about your auditions, and know whether there was an area in which you need to improve, or whether it was just you weren't what they needed at this time. If you decide to take a year off school, and try to re-audition the following year, I think it would be in your best interests to hone your skills as much as possible before re-auditioning, even if you believe they are already darn impressive! Sometimes the training, or lack thereof, seems not to matter one whit (check out the last few posts) - but why not do all you can to present yourself in the best possible light?</p>
<p>Lynn, you have a lovely attitude and we are all here for each other!</p>
<p>Theatermom, wow, three TOTAL in last year EA. That really gels with the admissions officer saying a "Handful" let in so far to MT this year. My D's girlfriend (also is friends with Freelance's D) and they have all roomied together, was one of those (happens to be a legacy) and from the DC area. In her case, Emerson was her first choice and only choice and she did not apply/audition elsewhere. She goes there now and loves it and my D has spent the night with her on campus. </p>
<p>Catsmom, yes, my D's best friend who is from CT (we live in VT), who she has spent seven summers with, was there with us on that Sunday.....her mom is now posting as Freelance and you met her. Her D was in the afternoon group though. But you will recall, I am sure, that her D was the one who left all her music in CT and realized it that morning and thankfully was in the afternoon group and solved this huge dilemma through this girlfriend who is the MT freshman who I spoke about above who had one of the songs and then found the other in the Emerson library! </p>
<p>Also to Catsmom...it is not that my D got in academically.....the admissions explained that you had to be strong both academically and in the auditions to be on this deferred BFA pile that is still being considered. I was not concerned on the academic part at Emerson but the BFA part is the toughy everywhere. But it sounds like Emerson is not really taking in many this early and so that knowledge needs to be kept in mind as it is not like final decisions were rendered overall yet. I like how Theatermom termed it as callbacks. If the acceptance odds from this pile is 50% or was in the past, the odds have improved over the regular odds. So take every bit you can, lol. </p>
<p>Catsmom, no matter what happens with Emerson, it is ONE school. We all know the difficult odds here at all these programs and the kids just need to get into ONE and my guess is that most will who are vying for this. There is no prize for having four acceptances because you can only go to one school. It is early yet! </p>
<p>My D did not want me to open anything (I never would do that actually) or call her or anything but then she could not help herself and she called me yesterday from school begging me to drive out to our mailbox and check. Some of that had to do with the friend at school because that friend has a car and drove home during lunch and got the mail and got this same "accepted into Emerson, deferred for MT" package (she is a top student) and that made my D want to know too. That friend is happy with this and would go to Emerson even without BFA though my D only wants a BFA. That friend just got rejected yesterday to Tisch ED. So we are happy she has a place to go so far. Just so you know, she comes from humble beginnings...she is refugee who came here in elem school and has a less extensive resume and lives here in our small rural town, though she has the same voice teacher (for less years) and did some summer programs in NY. </p>
<p>Lynn, hang in there. Catsmom, stay in touch.
Susan</p>
<p>Freelance said:</p>
<p>"Her songs got the stamp of approval from her three (yes, three!) different voice teachers. ...My D's third teacher (who is in NYC--so she rarely gets to see her) is currently appearing on Broadway and has years of coaching professional actors. As far as my D's monologues, one was chosen by a friend of mine who is a published playwright, acting/ English teacher with professional directing credits. The other monologue coach (who happens to be a relative) is also a director, teacher and former member of the New York City Ballet."</p>
<p>All I can say is, if this is what it takes to get accepted, my D is toast. We can barely afford the one voice teacher she has without shortchanging the other kids.</p>
<p>Waiting</p>
<p>Funny thing happened today - OK not so funny for my son but it was a LUCY thing for me. We have been waiting to hear from a couple of colleges - a letter arrives today. As my S has been coming home for lunch every day to check the mail I called him to tell him there WAS finally a letter here. He called back and said he was coming home for lunch with a couple of friends. (Choir runs into the lunch hour and since they had their last concert yesterday they had a long lunch.) I am panicking - what if it is bad news and he has to open it in front of friends. I call my husband and he suggests I hold it to the window to see if I can tell what it says. As I am telling him it looks like a Christmas card I drop it and our 65 lb. Chesapeake grabs it and runs off with it! She loves to get the mail and we always just give her a piece of junk mail to carry around. Now she doesnt want to give it back and I can hear my S drive his car into the garage. I finally chase her down, snatch it and wipe it dry just as he and his gang walk in the door! Guess what it was a Christmas card from the admissions office wishing him Happy Holidays. We still dont know anything! Any one heard from OCU or PSU yet? </p>
<p>We are just waiting on pins and needles! S has had three auditions this week for a commercial and two very different regional plays but his mind is totally on college he failed to bring his head shot and resume to the one audition; thank God they have him on file and knew him from a previous show. We will be glad when this is over.</p>
<p>MRSARK87 I am the one with the S you asked about were just waiting to hear something!</p>
<p>Soozievt - Wow...that's composure on Freelance's d's part. I do remember the panic over the music that was left at home...it sounds as tho it didn't bother her at all and that she remained cool, calm and collected for her auditions. Congrats to her! Your d is adorable, and obviously quite talented and smart (hey, her NFAA award is no small accomplishment). I can imagine her at UM with theatermom's D. I still have 4 hours until the mail comes...and since I can't open the envelope, do plain deferrals come in a small envelope anyone? 50% acceptance of deferrals is very encouraging to those of you that got this.</p>
<p>Chrism don't give up the ship. Last year I felt that I was a hick in the sticks trying to help my kid race a homemade yacht built of cement. He is a music performance major now-better odds than MT, but I can relate to the stress. Just get your D feeling comfortable and doing her best-the talent will shine.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all, I remember feeling I would rather give birth in the hallway than see my son stress through auditions. He felt better as time went on, last audition was the best-but not where he ended up.
LA</p>
<p>One & all--PLEASE, PLEASE let me clear some things up!</p>
<p>First of all, some of you totally mis-read my intentions. The only reason I wanted to share that bit about my daughter's experience with teachers is to prove a point about auditions:</p>
<p>No matter how prepared one is--it all comes down to the opinion of the faculty at that one particular audition!! So just do your very best, go forward and keep your head held high.....</p>
<p>Now, to clear up a bit more--about all the voice/acting teachers. My daughter had Voice Teacher #1 for years. Just ONE teacher and no more. She began rehearsing for a XMAS opera in November. Enter Voice teacher 2(VT2). VT2 is the musical director for the opera production. At this point, because of time constraints and $$$, My D had to stop seeing VT1 and concentrate on her opera work. Since my D had to travel LONG, long distances to see VT2, VT2 not only helped out with my D's role in the opera, but went over her audition pieces as well. VT1 was busy all during this time, because he was in a production himself. Now, about VT3? She is based in NYC and my daughter hardly gets to see her. This has been an occasional thing--only when my D has been off from school, etc. The last time my daughter saw VT3 was in October. My D might see her once during XMAS vacation and that is it for awhile. My D will start rehearsing for her school musical after the holidays. So, after January, my D will probably just use our hometown voice teacher, VT1. We can't afford all three!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Now, about her "Acting coach"? One of them is a dear friend who I've known for years who happens to be-- a single mom of two, a teacher, a freelance director and a playwright. Over the summer, she helped my D choose a bunch of monologues. After my D memorized them, my friend helped my D a few times more with the nuances and 'beats" of these monologues. And that was it. She accepted no $$$ and I will probably take her out to lunch or bake cookies for her kids in exchange for this tremendous favor. </p>
<p>The other "coach" happens to be my aunt. She owns the studio where VT #2 now resides. My D only briefly went over one of her monologues with her. My aunt teaches Ballet at 3 different locations and runs a performing arts school about 1 hour away from us. (My aunt is a senior citizen). In all the years my daughter has been interested in theatre; she (my D) has never done anything with my aunt. Never taken any lessons at all. This is the first time that my aunt and my D have had any time to learn from one another--and I am so grateful. My D will go off to college and hopefully look back on this experience as a good one. This also has meaning for us because my D has no grandparents and my aunt is the only one to fill this role.</p>
<p>Let me say one more thing on this matter of high powered teachers and connections. Connections are not that important. Talent and luck is boss here. Soozievt and I know one very talented and very connected young man who didn't get into his ED program (Tisch). He comes from a well-known family and he is so gifted in his own right. I can't imagine how/why he didnt get in, but some lucky program will get him in the end. </p>
<p>So--one teacher or one thousand, county mouse or city kid--keep everything in perspective. Hard work, talent, more hard work and luck will eventually win the day.</p>
<p>Freelance--It's okay! Congratulations to your D on having a huge one in the bag, so to speak. You freaked me out for a moment because my D is interested in an MT program that would really value her dancing and choreography talents (and not let them atrophy) and we're only looking out west (where we live) and in the Michigan/Ohio/Illinois/Indiana area because we have family there. That pretty much has it narrowed down to UMichigan, Otterbein, UArizona, the Oklahomas, and Fullerton, but we're still examining Webster and some others. Of all these Michigan and Otterbein are the ones that seem actively interested in the choreography issue. So when you wrote about all that high powered talent helping your D I paid more attention to the UMichigan thing (for selfish reasons) than the Emerson ACCEPTANCE! Theatermom did make me feel better right away--thanks! Freelance, your words above are also comforting and explanatory. You must feel so good to have that acceptance tucked away for your D!!!</p>
<p>Marissal--That's great that you did get into Emerson. Since it's a college focused on the arts and from their website looks close to theaters where you could audition, it does sound like it has a tremendous amount to offer. Where is your other audition?</p>
<p>MusThCC--Yes, my D is not allowed to go to New York when she's 18, college or not, so I can totally understand that point of view. You wrote: "If you decide to take a year off school, and try to re-audition the following year, I think it would be in your best interests to hone your skills as much as possible before re-auditioning, even if you believe they are already darn impressive! Sometimes the training, or lack thereof, seems not to matter one whit (check out the last few posts) - but why not do all you can to present yourself in the best possible light?" I agree with this, too, but that seems to be part of this business anyway, a constant striving for improvement (and sometimes the illusion of perfection). That's why I keep wondering if it would be better to take the time off to keep studying, spending more time on songs and monologues (most of the students associated with this thread do not have much free time LOL), rather than being associated with a school that does very little toward this end. I don't know. There's another thing I've thought: in California we have three tiers of public college: communities colleges, Cal State university system, and UC university system. High school graduates that get into a UC school have it made, but it's very difficult to get into these schools--it's mostly a highly competitive academic process. Students who achieve a certain grade/test baseline are assured of a place in a Cal state, although certain Cal States like Fullerton, Cal Poly, Long Beach, and San Diego State are impacted and require higher GPAs and test scores than the other Cal States. Anyone can go to community college. California has a set up where students who complete their GEs at community college and achieve a fairly high GPA can transfer to a UC school. Students who were better high school students than those students and attended a Cal State because they did not make it into the top 10% and get into a UC usually canNOT transfer to a UC. The philosophy underlying this plan is that Cal State students have the ability to get a four year degree at their institituion, but the JC students need to be able to go on. I think it's ridiculous and that Cal State students should have at least as good a chance to transfer to a UC as a JC student, if not better since they originally had to have higher GPAs and test scores--not to mention that their college education has been at a high level with more educated faculty and more challenging classroom discussion. NEVERTHELESS, in the area of musical theatre, as WCT (I think) has pointed out, Santa Monica College, one of those California JCs, apparently does a fantastic job of preparing students for Juilliard. Fullerton College (the JC, not the Fullerton with the MT reputation) has a well-known theatre program and festival. I started to wonder if these programs would look upon the re-auditioning student more favorably for attending one of these JCs, for taking the year off and working on one's own, or for attending a 4 year safety. I SURE DIDN'T MEAN TO GO ON THAT LONG AND I PROBABLY WASN'T EVEN CLEAR ABOUT WHAT I'M PONDERING.</p>
<p>well, nothing from ocu again today. i just called and was told the letters went out today, friday. so maybe we'll all hear something in a couple of days. best wishes to everyone. jamie</p>
<p>I know of one guy who got in EA last year, if that helps fill in the picture.</p>
<p>Laurie</p>
<p>Jake asked who your daughter is in case he knows her. I told people yesterday that Jake had also been accepted EA MT.</p>
<p>Laurie</p>
<p>Soozievt--My D got a plain deferral as far as I know. On her application, however, she put that she was not interested in attending Emerson unless it was in Musical Theatre. Just to echo what others have said congrats to those who got accepted and good for those who got deferred, and strength to all our kids.</p>
<p>Congrats to all who have received good news from Emerson, and it sounds like a deferral coul be good news in the end.
So...regarding the OCU Christmas cards - your story is hilarious, Cluelessmc2, and typical of what happens with our tension right now.
S did not get a Christmas card, but S's friend did. What does that mean? We are driving ourselves a bit crazy. I agree with lamom about giving birth in the hallway.</p>
<p>mt mommy - I agree with you in regards to the California school system. I know how hard it is to transfer from a Cal State to a UC...doesn't make sense. </p>
<p>newmtmom - did your plain deferral letter come in a small envelope or a large one? I'm still waiting for the mail today.</p>
<p>Everyone's posts seem to be getting more and more panicky as the letters come closer and closer to mailboxes, and as people begin to audition. I would like to take this opportunity to tell all the members on the board to take a big breath! I felt the exact same way last year. I'm going to spout back a lot of advice that was given to me at that time, because it seems pertinent to bring it up again.</p>
<p>I think at this point, it is important to put some trust in the schools. If a school wants kids with credentials, then they will admit a kid with credentials because that is the kind of thing that fits in with their program. If your kid doesn't have credentials, then they won't get admitted and it's probably a good thing since they most likely would have not liked it there.</p>
<p>Also, as many wise people told me some months ago, not getting admitted to a school is not the end of the world. And they were right. It was incredibly hard to digest then, but 8 rejection letters is a big kick in the pants. When I auditioned, I had no idea the kind of competition I would be up against. Everyone was much, much better than me and I am sure that everyone that was accepted deserved that spot more than I did. Quite simply, they had worked harder and done more than I had (theatre-wise). Not through laziness on my own part, but ignorance. I just had no idea what it took to get into these colleges; cheerleading and community theatre is not sufficient training.</p>
<p>Getting all those rejection letters was the best thing that happened to me as a performer. I have worked my rear off since then, trying to make up the time I've lost. I still have a heck of a long way to go before I'm where I want to be, but I'm a far better performer than I was at audition time.</p>
<p>Ultimately, college is supposed to be a place where you improve as a performer. If your child gets in, wonderful! You know where the rest of that improving will take place. If your child does not, she should take a step back and re-examine herself as a performer. If truly believes she has nothing to improve, then she should be performing full-time instead of bothering with college.</p>
<p>I suppose what I am trying to say is that it is important to realize that college is a means to an end. Getting into college is not the ultimate goal: having a career is. I didn't get into the colleges I wanted, but I'm still going to have a career. There are many paths to the same goal.</p>
<p>With that, break a leg everyone!</p>
<p>Shauna</p>
<p>I have my fingers crossed for all of your talented children. I am done with the auditions. S has been accepted at Yale. He could not apply EA for anything because of the SCEA there so the only school that could have let him know anything is UMich and he has clearly been rolled over to a later notification date as we know someone who has been accepted and some who have been rejected from his audition date. He went into a fit of angst last week when the NYU ED letters went out as he was very close to just applying ED to NYU. Everyone he knows was accepted to Tisch, and he felt he had really missed out. Michigan had academically waitlisted him, wanting his midterm grades so he did not think he was going to get into his ivy choice as it was a long shot anyways. Have not posted this anywhere else yet as his counselor at school asked us to keep it quiet until the end of today which is the last day of school before break. A lot of stress at his school particularly with the highly selective ED/EA choices. So in his case it is more difficult to get into one of these programs than into HPY. </p>
<p>I don't think all of the info given is up front either. I was given the understanding that if you were given an audition for UMIch, you had passed the academic review. Not the case. I know several of us who were in a bit of academic limbo because of low or mixed grades. Also, several kids who got into Tisch do not have high academic profiles. I do believe that the aggregate scores are very high but a C average or 1150 SAT1 will not keep you out. THere are enough kids at Tisch as it is a large program that they can absorb a few low scores if they want the student enough. I had heard this before, but now I have actually seen the situation. And the adcom at UMich said that though the average gpa for the MT program is around a 3.5, they have taken kids under a 3.0. Again, the gpa and scores for UMich are high enough and there are enough kids over all that a couple of low scorers will not compromise their standings. I am saying this because I met a few people who did not apply to either school because of either low SATs or low GPA. </p>
<p>I do want to address the comments about the 3 vocal teachers. If your child is going into this field, you and the child had better get used to this sort of thing or there will be alot of resentment about. This field is filled with kids with all sorts of opportunities, contacts, and training. I met several stage kids who are pro already. There are families who sink EVERYTHING into this endeavor. And that is their perogative. There are a number of homeschooled kids, kids whose parents are in the business, kids whose teachers are the heads of the very department that is auditioning them, you name it. If you think for an instant that you are on a level playing field for anything other than that time slot for the audition, you are way off. This is a world of unfairness, nepotism, relationships (some I don't even want to think about for my kid)and payoffs. There are kids who take off the year, the summer just to prepare for this audition, and not a dime is spared.</p>
<p>And most of us have put in a ton of money into this thing to have gotten this far. Sorry, but some kid who has just done well in the school musicals and plays, has a nice voice and some interest is not likely to cut it. Had to break this news to S's classmate who wants to enter the drama arena at the 11th hour. Am looking for non audition schools for him. We have sunk over $7500 in travel costs for the auditions just this fall. I cannot count the hours of training and the dollars that went into it all. There may be a one in a million natural who walks out and "flashdances" a spot in MT, but let's face it, this activity is one that is bought. </p>
<p>I can't say I am going to miss all of the suspense. S will be withdrawing his apps for all but CMU and he wants to auditon for Juilliard. Technically, he could keep all of his irons in the fire, but I believe that it would be unconscienable to do so given the selectivity of this process. Good luck to all of you.</p>
<p>Jamimom,</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS on your son's Yale acceptance. What a wonderful accomplishment!</p>
<p>We live right outside of New Haven and know many current, prospective and hopeful students. In fact, my youngest son is invited to a Holiday party tonight at a one of the Master's Houses in the old campus. Many of my friends and spouses are also on the faculty. If you, or anyone else out there has any Yale or New Haven-specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
Go, Bulldogs!</p>
<p>Shauna - tell us about UNT.</p>