<p>Is anyone else here in utter HELL like we are at our house in the midst of this ordeal??? Holy cow this whole process has been the most agonizing thing I think my DD and I have ever gone through! (I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that we haven't had any family tragedies or anything worse than this, in that case we are blessed, but ...) </p>
<p>I have a son at one of the service academies, and during his senior year I thought THAT process was difficult - interviews and applications with congressmen and senators with different applications and essays for each, multiple letter of recommendation requirements, physical fitness tests and medical exams, more interviews and applications, etc... but thankfully he received his desired admittance in mid-January and then we were DONE. It was a sustained effort over about 4 months that thankfully ended well for him.</p>
<p>This dance process however is drawing out FOREVER!! Since none of her colleges of interest audition in our state we have spent a small fortune and traveled 7 times for 9 auditions, and her first audition was in October! And we still have yet to hear back from the majority of the programs. A couple of early auditions resulted in a wait list spot, and no word on those yet either. Every other kid at her high school is prancing around with their acceptances and there she is still waiting, in agony. I think one of the differences is that dance is such a PERSONAL thing to most of these kids. The emotional stakes are higher because they have spent the better part of their young lives devoting themselves to this art.</p>
<p>I really just posted this to vent a little and see if other folks were feeling the same. In my next life I am going to come back as the admissions director for a major college dance program and I am going to OVERHAUL this process!!! Good luck to all of you and your dancers!</p>
<p>Yes, I agree, and you are absolutely not alone!</p>
<p>It’s hideous, and this started in October for my dancer, too. In addition, it seems that nearly every one of my daughter’s auditions during December through February somehow happened during a snow or ice storm, so it made traveling even more stressful, trying to anticipate potential problems. I am sure that has been the case for most of us with kids who have had to travel to auditions this winter! My daughter has been handling it fairly well, but it is wearing on all of us. It’s so hard to wait and stay positive, knowing how competitive admittance is to all of the dance programs.</p>
<p>The same here. To top it off DD has not heard at all from her top 4 schools- on the academic side or the dance side. She has some academic acceptances but still waiting on the dance part. She has two dance rejections and one acceptance but they were early on and not her top choice schools. She is really busy but like pmcolorado, many of her classmates know where they are going, some accepted to schools DD is still waiting on because of dance auditions holding up the whole process. I too, am stressed by it all.
Good luck to everyone. </p>
<p>Agree 100%. DD did all her applications EA, and I’m not even sure it was worth starting so soon, considering the wait for the notifications from dance programs. It’s been a long process for sure. </p>
<p>Ditto, although my D’s top two schools, both of which she is still waiting on acceptances for, are both non-audition. She has academic and dance acceptance from #3, so that’s good. But you are right about all the other kids in her class already being committed, for the most part. Her two best friends are still waiting for Ivy acceptances, so they can suffer together, at least.</p>
<p>We are in almost identical situation to sewingmom - 2 rejections, 1 acceptance, 2 waitlists and still waiting to hear from her top 4. Everywhere that required a pre-screen (upload photos, video, etc…) she was invited to audition, and everywhere that had a call-back she was called back. We thought that was a good sign until she got the two rejections. Acceptance is from an expensive school that she’s not completely stoked about at this point … Just asking the good Lord and the universe to give us one good option at this point, just one!!! :/</p>
<p>I got a lot of rejections, but I applied to a lot of schools, it was rough when I had no acceptances I loved, but then I did get in to a top choice, but waiting on everywhere else is killing me. To add to it, just found out my Financial aid for one school might not come until mid April and that’s just an estimate, you don’t get the full information until after you put your deposit down. I’ll have to call tomorrow to double check and see. It kills me to see other people to get into schools I applied to, but I haven’t found out yet. Something I thought that was weird was that someone from my school found out from the school’s theatre program/school that they were accepted, I applied and auditioned for dance earlier and I’m still waiting. This is a school that notifies both at once. This is almost frustrating at this point I auditioned ages ago, it feels. I have twin sister who’s waiting on Ivy and top school decisions so at least we’re in this together kind of, along with a few friends. A lot of my friends are committed already, and one friend is down right rude about how we’re undecided and when she sees people putting there deposit down “so late”, sorry we haven’t heard back from everywhere! Technically we all have until May 1st! Hoping we all hang in there and make it out of this process alive and done. Best of luck to all of the college bound dancers!</p>
<p>Hang in there, folks. I remember going through this a few years ago with my dancer. It was as if she was going through a completely different process and few non-dancers (including all the college counselors at the high school) understood it. Like so much that is dance, you have to focus on what you’re doing and filter out the noise around you. In the end, my daughter had several great options, but some did not come until the end of March. Difficult to wait, but worth it. Best of luck to all who are waiting, I hope you are accepted where you wish to be. Luckily, dancers are so busy that the time available for nervous anticipation is minimal!</p>
<p>Wow, I am glad (I think :() to see this thread. My daughter is a junior and will be going through this process next year. We will have to keep the travel issues in mind. Isn’t it possible to submit video auditions for some programs?? That would make things a lot easier.</p>
<p>@sally305 it depends on the school, look into it now. For me, in person was easier because all my schools were pretty close and I was able to regional auditions in Manhattan because I live pretty close to there. I also felt with video auditions, I couldn’t give them what they want, and it was nice to get a feel for a school and the faculty. Plus, video auditions would of cost me more trouble than good and I think I’m better “live”. </p>
<p>Thanks, JDancer. You are lucky that you are better “live.” My daughter can be depending on the circumstances but she is not the most outgoing dancer and doesn’t always fight to get noticed. We will start looking into requirements now, so we can map out a plan for the fall/winter audition season. Unfortunately we are not close to a lot of the schools she might apply to so each trip could involve significant travel distance and cost.</p>
<p>Sally305 My daughter did mainly live, one which required both live and video, and one video only. We do not have results from the two that required videos. They were a lot of work and expensive too. We needed private lesson time at the studio and a couple of teachers- one for ballet and one for modern, though they were generous with their time and price we did pay her. My DH did the videography and my DD and I edited the videos. Some people hire professionals to video tape. It took more time then we thought it would. DD has 2 dance acceptances and 3 dance rejections so far. Still waiting on 3 more, 2 of which are her top choices. She has 7 out of 7 academic acceptances but still waiting on the top 3 of those too…waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting…</p>
<p>We have done video auditions for summer intensives, and I agree that they are a lot of work. But they do involve less time and expense than flying all over the country for auditions. :)</p>
<p>Oh, this is my beloved senior dog. She is (I think) a Great Pyrenees-Akita mix. Maybe part St. Bernard. She is 110 pounds of fluffy sweetness. We also have a Chihuahua…</p>
<p>I don’t think most people realize that dance majors have to wait for two acceptances, one academic and one dance. I have known dancers who get into a school for dance and rejected academically and vice versa. And the requirements for each school can be vastly different. The waiting is so hard. I remember being so thankful when that first acceptance came in, no matter which one it was, there was one acceptance at least.</p>
<p>@sally305 Your dog is such a cutie. One of ours is a Bernese Mountain Dog and yours reminds me a little of him. </p>
<p>We can now breath a sigh of relief. DD heard from one of her top 4 schools and got into both the dance and the academic program. 3 more schools to go but if they do not work out she is happy with this one. She also has two backup choices with both academic and dance acceptances.</p>
<p>@pmcolorado sorry to take so long to get back to you…D heard from the following dance programs: LMU, UCSB, ASU. Still waiting on SDSU and UC Irvine. As well as another school for non-dance major. </p>
Acceptance is from an expensive school that she’s not completely stoked about at this point … Just asking the good Lord and the universe to give us one good option at this point, just one!!! :/</p>