Wonderful @CaMom13! And I agree about mock auditions. Probably the most useful thing we did all season!
@CaMom13 We had the same kind of big highs and very low points like your D and I felt like I was reliving those moments reading your story. Congratulations on NYU and a great happy ending to this part of the journey.
Thanks @artskids! @Naevia - I know, right? Some of these stories give me post-traumatic stress flashbacks! Typing the whole story out was kind of therapeutic but I am hoping to move on past the application recovery phase soon and just be a regular college mom. 
@Naevia - thank you for sharing your journey with your son! Congrats on USC! It is wonderful to hear at the end of the day, that there is such a perfect fit between your son and this program. Many people told me to keep the faith, that a lot of good matches do occur. Yours certainly sounds like one! Stay in touch! And you are motivating me to go write mine!
@CaMom13 Moms of performance majors are never just “regular college moms” B-)
@owensfolks - Wow! You deserve a metal for all that you’ve had to go through. How helpless we feel when our babies are struggling. I’m sure that experience impacted your D too. I’m so glad to hear that your S is recovering.
@artskids - Congratulations on BU. We loved that school and their program.
@CaMom13 - you should be a writer! I LOVED your story!!! This is so great! It only takes one is so true! Congratulations!!!
@CaMom13 your story is uniquely similar to ours (which I have not posted yet). I do believe it will be beneficial to others. Congrats to your D on Tisch! She will love ‘campus’ life in NYC!
@CaMom13 That final decision story gave me chills. I’m so glad you wrote it. Major congratulations to you and your daughter!!
Thank you, @momofj5 @DramaQueen219 and @Twoboysandadog ! The last 9 months have perhaps contained more “drama” than this mama enjoys! Glad we’re all done and we can marvel at how hard every one of these kids worked towards their own happy ending. 
@CaMom13 Happy Ending because NYU is amazing . Congratulations on a remarkable journey. Resilience and persistence paid off!! I feel those difficult months with you but so happy for you and your girl. New York rocks!!
@CaMom13 welcome to the Tisch family!
Okay, here goes! Might be long! For some reason I have delayed sharing this, but more than anything I want to Pay it Forward, and share with those with whom we have developed this odd, lovely, CC friendship. I enjoy reading these, and want to humanize our experience.
Applied to BFA Acting programs: Juilliard, NYU, Pace (MT and Acting), Marymount Manhattan, Syracuse, Ithaca, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon (CMU), U Michigan, U Minn Guthrie, UNCSA, USC (BA &BFA), UCLA, UCSB(BA) and Loyola Marymount (BA). London/UK: RADA, LAMDA, Guildhall, RCS (Scotland, walk-in)
Prescreens: Passed all 6: Carnegie Mellon, 3 at Pace (MT, Acting and FTVC programs), Ithaca, Syracuse.
Accepted to: Syracuse, UNCSA, U Minn Guthrie, Marymount Manhattan, Loyola Marymount, (Auditioned BA), UCSB (BA, non-audition)
Waitlisted at: Royal Cons. Scotland, NYU Tisch
Rejected at: CMU, Pace, Ithaca, U Mich, BU, RADA & LAMDA
Offered non-BA short course: Guildhall (UK)
Coach: MTCA a la carte
Originally, as in freshman year, my D was leaning toward MT; she is a strong singer, and actor, decent dancer/mover, and hoped to fit more dance training into her schedule. She had performed in a great deal of community theater and one equity production, and she had good vocal training from a top instructor in NYC. However, after a period of vocal rest, due to early vocal damage, she fell in love with straight acting and decided to pursue a BFA in Acting. She has never looked back. Her voice is strong and fully recovered and a vocal coach tried to talk her into MT, (and so we added just Pace for MT) but she truly loves the process of training for Acting, and Acting itself. This becomes important later, I feel it is because she enjoys training, not just performing, that a BFA was and is right for her.
My D trained in Acting at Atlantic Theater in NYC and at RADA in London (summer before senior year). The training was excellent at both places, and she showed good instincts as an actor. These programs were not connected with any college she was applying to, nor were any of the faculty for those programs in attendance. (something to look for) My D has always been more about training than connections and while I applaud her, there is room for both in this difficult industry!
We used MTCA for coaching; they were terrific. Message me for any questions or details. We benefited from putting together a thorough list that included a few second tier and a BA. We also included a couple of schools early in the calendar. However, our list was/is top heavy and I really could not get my D to engage much on other schools. My D wanted to make artistic decisions herself, but also work with a coach. Not overly coached. MTCA is a la carte, you can do just as much or as little as you want, or can afford. I totally recommend a Mock Audition. This was valuable.
She submitted Pre-Screens in October, (we had targeted 10/15) and she passed all 6, 5 acting one MT (Pace). Ok, phew, that felt good, but honestly, a ding or two is not such a bad thing, it can light a fire. It’s really still not an indicator of final success. Her first audition was at Syracuse on-campus in November. It went really well, off to a good start. Actually, the lady was so positive we started wondering can they really say those things and then not accept you? (we could have a side bar discussion on this, but don’t clog the Final Decisions). We drove home five hours and the next morning she had Marymount Manhattan in NYC. That was a long day; you all audition in front of one another. Consequently, you do get a peek at the level of talent in your auditioning class, well, the person auditioning does! We heard back from them quickly with an Acceptance and an Arts Scholarship which was terrific. Next we had Ithaca on campus in December, went well, smoothly. Good information session. NYU on campus in January, also good, no student panel or anything though.
Next we drove 6 hours to Carnegie Mellon in January. I have to admit, we all loved it. It was a very positive experience. My D felt good about her audition, was asked for a third piece but not passed to another room. He was complimentary. She felt he liked her and came out glowing, but upon reflection, she knew she wasn’t getting in (not passed to another room). There wasn’t really a panel, but very nice, chatty students gave us a tour. They were impressive.
Next up: NYC Unifieds. 8 Auditions in 4 days. 6 planned, two walk-ins. Over 4 days though. Other than the first day where we had to walk a LOT in the cold, we enjoyed Unifieds. We kept it fun. Stayed at a hotel a block away from the main locations; I totally recommend this. BU, Guthrie, UCLA, Michigan, UNCSA and Guildhall. Added walk-ins for Rutgers and Royal Cons Scotland. A lot of people just LOVE walk-ins and the coach was big on them. My D was not into the one for Rutgers and I have the feeling it was not her best effort. Make sure you and your child are in agreement about your walk-in strategy prior to Unified weekends. My D and I were so together every step of the way except for that one audition. Thank goodness it did not rattle her. At Unifieds, UNCSA stood out as one of her favorites, because they gave an incredibly informative, descriptive information session that lasted a full hour, and the program has her perfect mix of things. She also felt she really connected with the auditors at Michigan; she loved the adjustments they made, it felt very collaborative. UCLA felt good too. Nothing felt BAD, at least. I was so proud of her and us, and frankly everyone we met. It was such a bonding experience. Remember to keep it fun and treasure the time with your child.
A week later she had Pace and USC. She was not called back at Pace. A bit surprised, and disappointed. Has friends in the BFA there who said she would certainly be called back. Not today! Had to move on. USC the next day. It ran behind and they did it roughly alphabetically, she was like 22 out of 24 I think. We loved the woman who spoke to share information. But the auditions were sooo short. The interview is done separately. Then she had LAMDA and RADA on separate days in NYC. Both seemed to go well, but we knew the very long, low odds there.
So, within the week after Unifieds she was Called Back for Guthrie! Wow, so happy. We started making plans for that trip. The only downside was that the Guthrie callback was the same as her Pace MT audition, so we let that go. It would have been “interesting” but her heart was not in MT.
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And then my friends, the most magical thing happened. On February 12th, my D says Mom I am getting a call from Winston-Salem? I stepped to the door of the living room so I could listen but not be In Her Face. (it’s all about working together BTW). Well, it was the Recruitment Director from UNCSA who had auditioned her. Basically it was a “things look likely for you” call. What?! We did not share that information, but checked with one helpful CC mom from UNCSA who confirmed that this would translate into an acceptance. Sure enough, one week later, Feb. 19th, she got the acceptance call. I was lucky enough to be home and nearby again (thank you Universe). We screamed with joy, hugged, jumped. We still had a lot of schools to hear from, but honestly, somehow, I think we both knew that was the one.
She headed to Guthrie callback weekend, already knowing that four students accepted at UNCSA would be at Guthrie. What a lot of talent! She met so many talented, nice kids and it made me wish they had more of these. Anyway, it was fun but a little bumpy because they ran out of time for the auditions on Saturday and my D was one of a handful who found out at the very end of the day on Saturday that she would go Sunday early before activities. Then the car of her host would not start. Uber to the rescue! Too much detail. Ultimately she switched to her easy song (Guthrie requires a song for Acting), and felt fine about the audition. About a week later, she got an acceptance call from Joe Price, for which she was very happy.
Okay, fast forward, she then got lots of rejections. Lots. See the long list above. Remember my words all along – you only need ONE. So, they hurt less because of UNCSA, but when you audition face to face with someone, rejection still hurts as YOU ALL KNOW!!! Her other strong acceptance was Syracuse, which made sense given how incredibly positive the feedback was at the audition. However, BU was also super positive and she did not get in. That one stung. Our decision was pretty clear…
Final Decision: UNC School of the Arts!!!
My friends, UNCSA was always on her short list of dream schools and since she (and I) now enjoy learning and researching everything about the program, it only becomes more and more clear that this is the place for her. It’s a small, stand-alone conservatory, with extremely rigorous training from top instructors. Private Voice, and Dance, are in the regular curriculum for Actors, but they meet each artist Where They Are. My D is a strong singer, but looks forward to growing in dance, and the MT environment was thus too intimidating. Strong in the classics and contemporary theater and Film/TV. We considered all types of programs (thus the long list), but her heart was always in a full-on conservatory. While I do believe that actors need to have life experience, my D has been lucky enough to have a lot. My point is you can balance whatever your program does NOT have. Like if we did a BA, she would have done a summer conservatory. The college is super important, yes, but there is a whole package of life that is more than the college. Bloom where you are Planted. I have no doubt that my D will thrive in the beautiful artistic bubble where the slogan is “we create.”
Congratulations @FourStars!
@FourStars Congrats! UNCSA is such an incredible program - love that slogan. And I really like your point about balancing out your program with other experiences.
@FourStars Congratulations!!! so Happy for your gorgeous Daughter! I’m sure she’s going to be on the big screen before we know it. She’s incredibly talented! hope to keep up with her progress
Great story @FourStars I am SO happy for you all!!! Congrats!
Congrats, @FourStars ! We refer to UNCSA as “Hogwarts for Artists.” It is a truly magical place.