@3puttcol - Very interesting and inspiring story! Good luck to your S!
@ginaf1102 - Great story. It was nice to read about your D’s background- I’ve been following the day-to-day with you through most of the year. Loved the Annette Benning connection! Very special experience for your D to get that far. I think she’ll be extremely happy at BU! So great that you are only 2 hours away. Who would have thought that Western Massachusetts was such a great training ground. Awesome!
Reposting after being suggested due to some MAJOR changes! This time more detailed though, as I’ve had time to really sit down and pick my S’s brain.
Background/Training: (Copied from Previous Post)
Always had a certain charisma about him, but started taking acting seriously late into his eighth grade year, and auditioned with an improvised monolgue (HA!) for his current performing arts high school. Loved his time at the PA high school and knew that he definitely wanted to go to college for it during the beginning of his Junior year. S is used to straight plays and only during the summer of 2017 started to take singing lessons. We both knew that some of his schools would want to hear cuts of a song so it was a safety precaution. To both of our surprise, S has a pretty good singing voice. Going into this I was very weary, my S has never played a lead in his life— not too many opportunities either with his PA high school RARELY doing shows that allow POC’s to tell their stories and they DON’T blind cast, but still S & I didn’t know how the “beginner’s” resume would play out with schools.
Summer Programs: None! Would have loved to do one, but once we knew they were a thing the deadlines for all the programs he would have wanted to go to had passed (ArtsBridge, etc.)
Coach: None
Programs Applied to:
UNCSA, Carnegie Mellon University, Rutgers, Boston University, Juilliard, Fordham, Ithaca, Florida State University, Otterbein, DePaul WALK INS: Ball State, Western Michigan, Montclair State, SUNY Purchase
Prescreens:
Ithaca- The very first to get back to us with a yes! Middle on my S’s list and he was VERY excited.
Carnegie Mellon- Invited us to audition about 3 days after we submitted. This school has always been a top for my S, so needless to say he was over the moon.
Otterbein- The last prescreen notification we received in late November. Invited to audition!
DePaul- One of the most confusing prescreen submissions ever! We submitted around early November and before we got the official yes, S’s portal had updated with an applicant questionnaire and register for live audition form. Excited, but not wanting to assume, we called and confirmed with The Theatre School. It was a yes!
Florida State University- A swift rejection. S was very upset. It would have been a great option because it’s in state and they have a great Acting program. It was our only rejection but it didn’t make me second guess what the powers that be had planned. Was very confusing though to see him pass all but FSU’s.
Accepted to:
Rutgers- Loved every single minute of the Callback weekend. Barbara and Kevin were so nice! This had always been my S’s top and callback weekend solidified that for him even more. During the Final Interview, they were very complementary and made him feel great about himself. Letting them know he wasn’t attending was very hard for S.
SUNY Purchase- Pretty tired after doing a few walk ins at the PH in Chicago, he went over to the Hyatt to see if anyone wanted the last bit of energy he had for that day. Purchase was accepting walk ins! They had him sing, workshopped one of his contemporary monologues, and filmed both his classical and contemporary. Got the call that he was in on March 16 and was VERY happy. He did Purchase as a walk in and wasn’t expecting to get a call, but low and behold he did.
Ithaca- Very fun audition at PH. Loved his time with Catherine Weidner. Accepted 2/23.
DePaul- Very interesting audition. S did his monologues in front of everyone auditioning while being recorded. This was something VERY new, but still a fun experience. The acceptance was a pleasant surprise.
Ball State- S did them as a walk in and said it was his most fun audition. He sang for them and they were very warm and complementary. Got called on 3/3 for acceptance. S considered them for a good while.
Western Michigan- One of S’s best auditions. The head of acting sat in front of him and had him deliver a very passionate monologue head on, straight to him. He received the acceptance call around late March, they were the VERY last of his schools to notify.
Montclair State- A life changing experience for S. This was his first audition in Chicago and after doing his pieces, Heather (Head of Acting) was extremely complementary and offered him a spot in the program (with scholarship) that DAY! He called me on the verge of tears because he had never experienced anything like that. It was very hard for S to let this school go.
Rejected from:
Juilliard- This one didn’t hurt as bad as we thought it would. The audition itself was SO FUN! The alumni who spoke was such a kind soul. S said it was his worst audition, so when the list came up and his name wasn’t one of the 3 on it, he was pretty okay. It was also comforting having support from friends that he made at the audition that also didn’t get a first round callback.
Boston University- This one was 50% expected. S’s audition ended very quickly with McCaela telling him after his first monologue that she didn’t need to see anything else and that she hoped that everything academically went well. Unfortunately, S is barely average when it comes to academics, so we knew even with the talent backing from McCaela, it probably wasn’t going to happen.
(continued)
Wait-listed at:
Carnegie Mellon- S’s favorite audition. I sent him off to Pittsburgh with one of his friends for CMU’s final audition day. At Carnegie, S got a home-y vibe from the get-go. He started off in a room with a man who he really liked, and asked S for a third monologue. He was hen passed to another man’s audition room where he was asked for all of his pieces and workshopped on his classical. After that, he got sent to his last room with Barbara MW. S says he had never had an acting teacher take a monologue and make it as real as she did for him. During the interview with BMW, she was extremely complementary, but reiterated that there was only 12 spots on the program. Found out he was WL mid March and moved to Priority on the 31st. S was really hoping to get off this Friday, but unfortunately he was released. But it didn’t hurt as much we thought it would because we had already committed where he felt right!
Otterbein- One of his quickest auditions ever! He went in, did two monolgues and was out. Half way down the hall, puzzled and confused, he was called back into the room and was asked to try his classical monologue a different way. Found out he was WL, and removed himself about a week later.
Fordham- S loves working with the faculty at his audition— some of the sweetest people ever! They knew both of his monologues very well and played with both. Removed himself from WL 4 days after he received the decision.
UNCSA- My personal favorite school! It was our first audition of the season and we went to the very first weekend up in NC. It was extremely cold, but NC was BEAUTIFUL! When we arrived to the campus, S hopped out of the car and took a picture in front of the schools sign. In that moment I knew he was supposed to be here. What really sold me was the information session with Quin and Scott. Wonderful people! S didn’t know how his audition really went because they were both typing for majority of his monologues, but we get it! They see so many so they HAVE to write down all the specifics to remember. They asked him for a third monologue and then he sang his cut. I was in the lobby as he was auditioning and could hear him through the room and couldn’t help but smile. The interview between S, Scott, and Quin made UNCSA shoot up on S’s school list. S says it was the most organic conversation he’d ever been apart of. Received the WL call on 2/20 and I jumped around the house! I was more excited than him haha! S got the call that they would be reviewing their WL on 4/19 to fill two spots and that he’d hear either way and was asked what schools he was considering. The following day Quin called and told him he was off the WL and offered some very touching words that made the decision clear.
Final Decision:
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS BFA ACTING!!! This mom is insanely happy that her S is staying relatively close to Florida, compared to so far north!
Oh, wow, congratulations, and what a GREAT story! So many fantastic schools to choose from! Your son is amazingly talented! UNCSA is wonderful. (And he’ll be classmates with @FourStars’ D and @Laylamom’s D!)
(And on a head-scratching note: he got into Ithaca, Rutgers, SUNY Purchase, UNCSA…but didn’t pass the prescreen for FSU? How crazy is that?)
What a bunch of amazing schools to choose from! @rutgersmom321 Your S sounds very talented! UNSCA sounds really fun!!! Congrats!
Congratulations, @rutgersmom321 - I love reading your excitement! Your son is heading into an amazing program with some super talented kids - a testament to his own outstanding talent. You are now the mother of a Fighting Pickle. How fantastic!! 
Can we all make sure we stay together?? I want to read about these kids each week!
@rutgersmom321 - Congratulations! You wrote that with such suspense! I was cheering at the end. Does this mean you’ll have to change your handle? lol
@rutgersmom321 congratulations! Very excited for you and your son. My daughter is a rising 3rd year at UNCSA and i can’t say enough good things about it. I’m actually sad she is halfway done. It is a very special place.
@rutgersmom321 thank you for sharing the journey!! And such a wonderful and exciting ending!! I love pickles, although I have never fought with them.
@rutgersmom321 Welcome to the fighting pickles !! What an amazing list of schools. Just Wowowow. Congratulations
and our young artists will be classmates! Look so forward to meeting. I agree with @ginaf1102 that I would love to follow the journey of the kids and parents this year. Not sure how to do it but as this year is closing I hope we do a FB page as last years class did. I’m loving all the parents and journeys shared so much!
Yay, congrats, @rutgersmom321 !!! UNCSA is awesome. He will receive THE best training and have a fabulous 4 years!
Our turn!
Programs Applied to: Juilliard, Rutgers, CMU, UNCSA, Purchase, Pace (both BFA Acting and FTVC), Hartt, UArts, Marymount Manhattan, Montclair
Prescreens: CMU (passed), Pace (passed)
Accepted to: Hartt, UArts, Marymount Manhattan, Pace FTVC (first was on alternate list, later accepted)
Rejected from: Juilliard, Rutgers, CMU, UNCSA, Purchase, Pace BFA Acting, Montclair
Wait-listed at: Pace FTVC (alternate, then accepted)
Coach: Yes, a local acting teacher whom she’s worked with for many years (not a national “college” coach)
Summer Programs: None
Background/Training: Weekly acting classes from age 8-14; singing lessons from age 12-18; childhood dance classes, and some dance classes at her high school; community theater, student films, school plays, and some professional work (she is Equity); performing arts high school.
My D knew at age 8 that she wanted to be an actor. It started with a small role in a school play, which she loved. She then said to me “Mommy, how do kids get on TV and movies and on Broadway?” I said, “I have no idea.” She said “Well, find out!” LOL. I enrolled her in local children’s acting classes, and she began going on auditions for things. She had “beginner’s luck” when I took her to an EPA for a small child role in a Broadway play – she was not cast in the actual role, but she was cast as the understudy, and became Equity from that. (Maybe not the smartest move to take the card so young, but we were new and not aware of the pros and cons.) She then got an agent and did some professional work, as well as continuing to do community theater, student films, and school plays. (Equity kids are allowed to do non-union work up until the age of 14).
She auditioned and was accepted to a performing arts high school, where she has gotten three hours of acting training every day, and was cast in the school musical twice. She also won a YoungArts award using the same monologues that she used for college auditions.
The BFA Audition Journey: I started reading CC when my D was a freshman, and became addicted to it! D’s top priority was an intense conservatory program where she would be immersed in acting training 20 or more hours a week, with as few gen eds as possible. She also wanted to study Shakespeare in London as part of the program, but that wasn’t a dealbreaker, just something on her “wish list.” Excellent training was the most important factor. She also didn’t want to be SO far from home that she’d need to take a plane to get to school and back (we live in New York), so that ruled out UMinn/Guthrie and DePaul (both of which she later regretted not applying to), and the California schools. She also didn’t want to be somewhere with huge amounts of snow and insanely harsh winters, so that ruled out Ithaca. In addition, she didn’t want to be “in the middle of nowhere” - she wanted to be either near New York, or else near another city, like Philadelphia or Boston. (But she did not apply to NYU, because she wanted a conservatory with minimal gen eds while NYU is strong on academics, and she did not apply to BU because the net price calculator said we’d get NO aid whatsoever.)
So, with all those factors in mind, her list was Rutgers (her dream school), Juilliard, CMU, UNCSA, Purchase, Hartt, Pace, UArts, Marymount, and Montclair.
Granted, ALL the schools on the list were selective, and it was only 10 schools, which was very risky! But she made sure to schedule her Marymount audition for November, because Marymount has rolling admission, and she knew she would get her result by early December at the latest. Her reasoning was that if she didn’t get into Marymount, she would still have time to add some additional less-selective schools to the list, but if she DID get into Marymount, then she would know she had one definite acceptance in hand, and wouldn’t need to add other schools. She got her Marymount acceptance in November, so we didn’t add any more schools to the list.
With the Marymount acceptance out of the way, we thought things were going well. Her next audition was UNCSA on Jan. 19. I had told her while doing research that this would be a great program for her, and she agreed. But hearing the presentation by Quin, she totally fell in LOVE with UNCSA! The description of the schedule was EXACTLY what she was looking for, along with the fact that the program has strong classical/Shakespeare training and stage combat, and includes some singing and dance training (because she does like musicals too), and film/TV training, plus of course the impressive success rate of alumni. Everything about the program sounded amazing! UNCSA immediately jumped to the top of her list along with Rutgers.
She called me after the audition and said excitedly, “Mom, it went SO well! I am literally dancing down the street!” She had done her two monologues and felt they were the best she’d ever done them. They asked her for a third monologue and a song, which she did. Then she had a great conversation with them. She was able to explain in detail why she loved UNCSA and wanted to go there. She felt that she connected with them and that they liked her, and had high hopes for an acceptance.
Result: No acceptance from UNCSA, no waitlist, not even the “good” rejection letter where they encourage you to apply again next year. Just a flat-out rejection.
But we didn’t know that at the time. Right after the audition, she was feeling SO happy and so hopeful. It makes me want to cry when I remember that time. We were so naïve. Sigh…
Next was Rutgers on Jan. 20. We had scheduled an on-campus audition, thinking it showed more commitment and “demonstrated interest” than auditioning in NYC. It turned out to be a mistake – her acting teacher in her PA high school made a big point of saying “If you’re auditioning for Rutgers, make sure to do it in New York, because that’s where Kevin Kittle will be!” Unfortunately she told them that in early January, long after we’d made the audition appointment. 
The Rutgers audition itself seemed to go well. She did her two monologues, they asked her why she was interested in the program, which she explained in detail. They told her to go to another room, where she would be filmed. It seemed like a great sign – like a same-day callback.
In the other room, a woman told her to sit in a chair. The woman set up the camera and said, “Okay, do your monologues.” D did her contemporary monologue fine, because she always does that one in a chair anyway. But doing her classical monologue in a chair felt weird – she always does that one standing up, gesturing, very physical. Because of that, she didn’t feel as connected as usual and felt that it was a bit “off.”
Her BIGGEST regret in this entire audition season is that she DIDN’T say to the woman afterward, “Excuse me, could I do the classical one again, standing up? I always do that one standing up; sitting down threw me off a bit, and I want to make sure they see me at my best.” I’m sure the woman would have said yes; after all, it wasn’t an acting exercise, she was just there to film the kids! Worst case scenario, she’d say no. But in the moment, D didn’t think of it – she just left when they told her to. Of course, there’s no way to know if it would have made a difference in the decision or not! But Rutgers was her dream school, so it bothers her to know that Kevin Kittle only saw her on video, and not at her very best.
But again, at the time, we were still hopeful because she had been filmed. We were still on a high and thinking things were going well.
(cont’d)
(contd) Next was CMU. Although she felt she performed well, she knew immediately that she didn’t get in. She auditioned for a man, and when she was done, he commented positively on her choice of classical piece, then asked if she had any questions (she didn’t), and then said “Okay, thanks for coming in.” No passing to another room, no asking for more material or chatting with her.
Next was Juilliard. The acoustics of the room were great, she was totally “in the moment” with her pieces. During her first monologue, they were scribbling a ton of stuff on her resume. When she started her classical one, they stopped and watched her very intently. Then they asked her to sing, which she did, and talked to her a little. She really thought she had done well, and had high hopes for a same-day callback…but nope. She was disappointed, but still feeling hopeful for Rutgers and UNCSA.
The following week, she had Pace (both Acting and FTVC). She enjoyed both auditions, and got a same-day callback for Acting. (FTVC doesn’t have callbacks).
Then we had two weeks to kill before her next audition, which was Hartt. I remember those two weeks SO clearly, waiting anxiously to find out if she’d gotten a Rutgers callback or if there was news from UNCSA, and with no auditions to distract us.
That was when CC helped me in a way I will ALWAYS be grateful for: someone in the know (@bfahopeful, maybe?), posted that UNCSA accepts kids with phone calls, but rejects them with letters. That was the single most valuable piece of information I ever got from CC! Because around this time, D got an email from Bill Poole asking for our apartment number (apparently the application had our street address, but not the apartment number) and he wanted to make sure mail did not get returned. D emailed him back, and at first she was excited that UNCSA was about to mail her something – maybe an acceptance?
But because of the “inside info” from CC, I sadly told her that it was likely a rejection, because UNCSA accepts with phone calls and rejects with letters. So we were both sad, but knowing that at least enabled us to mentally prepare for the rejection before it actually came. If we didn’t know that, we would have been excited and hopeful that whole week, and the rejection would have been SO much worse. Thank you, CC!
Next audition was Hartt, which was on a Friday. We drove up on Thursday and checked into the hotel. Our plan was to check out Blue Back Square (a shopping area with stores and restaurants etc.), but I got a flat tire on the way to that area, so I called roadside assistance (luckily I had a “donut” in the trunk) and we went back to the hotel.
The following day was her Hartt audition. That morning, I checked CC and found that Rutgers callback emails were out. I did NOT tell D, since she had an audition that day! We went to the Handel Performing Arts Center. The first part of the audition was a movement call. D said it was the MOST challenging movement call of all the schools she auditioned for that had a movement call. She had a lot of trouble with it. However, that made her WANT to go to the school more (which I will explain in a minute).
After the movement call, as she was waiting for her turn to audition, she checked her email and saw one from Rutgers. She wisely did NOT look at it then, because she needed to focus on her audition. She did her monologues, felt they went reasonably well, but felt her classical could have been a little better because Hartt limits monologues to only 1 minute. She was used to her 2-minute and 90-second cuts, and felt the 1-minute cut was a little rushed and didn’t give her enough time to emotionally transition from one moment to the next. She still felt she did okay, but could have been better. Her contemporary monologue was fine.
The Hartt interview was important. When they asked why she wanted to go to the school, she said it was because of the strong movement training, because she admitted frankly that that’s her weakest area as an actor. She has some back issues, and because of that she tends to be a bit stiff, not as flexible and fluid and physically spontaneous as she should be. She said she likes that they teach Alexander technique, because several acting teachers have told her she would benefit from that. She acknowledged honestly that she had trouble with the movement call, but said that very fact makes her want to go to the school, because she really wants and NEEDS strong movement training to help her improve her physicality in acting. (Take note, kiddos: there’s a lesson in turning a potential “negative” into a positive!) She also talked about her love of Shakespeare and desire to study Shakespeare in London.
After the audition, Alan Rust told her to go see so-and-so (pointed to a guy) to arrange a day to shadow a student. So she went and asked the guy, who looked confused and said “We only do that after you’re accepted.” D wanted to go back to Alan Rust and ask “Hey! Does that mean I’m accepted???” LOL.
Once we were done, I drove to a tire place to get a new tire. D told me about the Hartt audition, but she couldn’t really focus on that because the Rutgers email was burning a hole in her phone. She said she was scared to look, and almost wanted to wait til we went home the next day! I said, “Come on, we HAVE to find out.” She opened the email, and learned that she did NOT get a Rutgers callback. She was devastated, and started crying. That was a terrible moment. She had been dreaming of Rutgers for YEARS, and when we had visited the school in September, she had immediately felt “home,” and everything about the program was exactly what she wanted. She was totally crushed. 
She had to walk away and be alone for a little while.
After the new tire was on the car, I took her to Blue Back Square, hoping it would cheer her up. I told her that there were other good schools to hear from, and reminded her that Hartt has Shakespeare study in London (her favorite thing about Rutgers). She said “Yeah, but we don’t know yet if I got INTO Hartt!” Fair point. We had lunch, and she bought some makeup at a cosmetics store, but it was a cold gray dreary day, and she was depressed about Rutgers, so it wasn’t the fun audition day we had hoped for. Hartt was having a show called “Collage” that night, which was a mixture of all the performing arts programs, and we went to see it, but there was only one acting performance (balcony scene from R&J), so it didn’t tell us much (most of the show was classical music and dance).
The following morning, before we left the hotel to go home, my husband texted a picture of an envelope from UNCSA that had arrived that day. We knew it was a rejection because it was mail. She gave permission to her brother to open it and confirm that it was a rejection. So, two rejections from her two dream schools in two days. Not fun.
(cont’d)
The following day, Sunday, she auditioned at SUNY Purchase. It was a beautiful sunny day, and seeing that gorgeous, light-filled performing arts center where the auditions were held cheered her up immensely. She began to hope for Purchase. She didn’t get a same-day callback, but they kept saying that not getting a callback didn’t mean you were rejected, so she still held out some hope. I told her how happy I was to see her enthusiastic about a school again, after the depression of the weekend’s rejections. She agreed, but added that she was conflicted, “because I don’t want to fall in love with another school and then be rejected AGAIN.”
The following week, she auditioned at Montclair. She thought it went fine, but couldn’t get a read on whether they liked her or not (not that that means anything, as UNCSA proved).
At this point, we discovered the downside of going to a PA high school: several of her classmates who had auditioned for Rutgers DID get the callback, and were talking about it excitedly, and telling their teachers they wouldn’t be in class that Friday because they were going to the Rutgers callback. D felt like a loser, and while she was happy for the other kids, hearing everyone constantly talking about the callback was like salt in the wound. Very tough time.
Her UArts audition was the same weekend as the Rutgers callback would have been. It went well, and D got a same-day callback, which made her feel better. Afterwards, we took a tour, had lunch, and walked along Avenue of the Arts and then walked to the train station (the weather was sunny that day thankfully). So it ended up being a fun audition day. D definitely liked the location of UArts!
That was her last audition. Now it was time for the awful waiting.
CMU was a “no,” as she expected. I have to give CMU huge credit: they were the only school to notify EVERYONE at once, all at the same time by email, with acceptance or rejection or waitlist, and they did so fairly early (I forget the exact date, but early or mid-March). Big thanks to them for ripping that band-aid off fast instead of dragging it out!
Then came another terrible day: rejection from Montclair. This sent her into a tailspin – not because she really wanted to go to Montclair that much, but because it seemed like a terrible omen. She had already gotten rejected from “tippy top” elite schools, but now she was ALSO being rejected from the “next tier down,” which convinced her that that was it – she would get ALL rejections from now on! There was no hope! Her only acceptance at that point was Marymount, and she didn’t really want to go there, because it’s not a conservatory program. Huge panic, depression, and tears.
She was so upset that she started sobbing in school, and one of her acting teachers kindly took her in her office and talked to her for a long time – such a wonderful, kind woman. Later her singing teacher also called her and talked to her for a long time. Both of them suggested that if she wanted intense conservatory training, but didn’t get into any colleges she liked, another option was actual conservatories: Stella Adler or Neighborhood Playhouse, for example.
That suggestion made her feel more hopeful, and she applied to both of those conservatories. It helped her feel that she had some control and that there were still other options to explore.
Then she got two pieces of good news: first she was accepted to UArts, and then she got a letter from Pace saying that although she was rejected for the acting BFA, she was an alternate for FTVC. Both of those made her feel a LOT better! Someone wanted her! UArts had an accepted students’ day called “Admit One,” so we RSVPed for that. We also asked if she could sit in on classes the day before, and they said yes.
She emailed Pace and asked if she could sit in on some FTVC classes, even though she was only an alternate, so that she could get a feel for the program and make an informed decision if she DID get accepted off the alternate list. They never responded, so she forgot about it. (BIG mistake on our part! We should have called and followed up and made SURE she got to sit in on a class!)
At this point, we had two more schools to hear from: Purchase and Hartt. She was praying SO hard for both of them! She had loved Purchase when we visited, and it’s known as a very intense, rigorous acting program, which is exactly what she wants. As for Hartt: back when we were first researching schools and making the list, I had said to D, “You know, if you don’t get into Rutgers, then Hartt would be a great alternative. It has a lot of the same things you like about Rutgers!” So she was REALLY hoping for an acceptance.
Purchase was a no. Disappointment.
We were on pins and needles waiting for Hartt, which was the very LAST school to hear from, and they are notorious for taking forever to notify! By the last week of March, the suspense was killing us, so I called and left a message asking when decisions would be out.
On March 29, D called me from school, so excited and relieved: “Mom, I got into Hartt! They just called me!” I was SO happy for her! After all we’d been through, it felt like a miracle!!! I thought that was it and we had our happy ending!!!
But of course, there were still a few bumps left before our roller coaster ride was over! First was the issue of money, but luckily I was able to negotiate a bit more from them, which made it feasible.
The bigger snag occurred when D searched “Hartt” here on the CC drama board. While all the threads about Hartt were extremely positive, and all the CCers with kids there were happy, which was great to see, she found one old thread from a Hartt acting freshman in which she posted her weekly class schedule. From that thread, D learned that the class schedule was a lot lighter than we had realized (we had assumed there was an acting class every day, and four or five hours of classes per day overall). It turns out that acting class is only twice a week for an hour and 20 minutes (so, a total of two hours and 40 minutes a week). There’s also voice & speech, movement, and one or two other things, but the total class time is only about 10 hours a week. (Freshmen also work as tech crew and assistant stage managers for productions in the evenings, which takes up another 20+ hours.) D also looked up the curriculum and compared the class schedule with the college catalog, and confirmed all this.
This was a concern for D. At her performing arts high school, she gets 3 hours of studio class time a day, of which an hour and a half is acting class. So altogether, that’s 15 hours of class per week, which includes 7 and a half hours of acting class. So the idea of getting only 10 hours at college, of which only 2 hours and 40 minutes is acting class, had her worried.
But after doing more research, we found that that starting sophomore year, the acting students become a repertory company, doing four plays per year with guaranteed casting. At that point, they’re in rehearsal 23 hours per week in ADDITION to the 10 hours of class time, and the rehearsals are very instructional in nature and are an integral part of their training. So at that point, it DOES become an intense program with more than 30 hours a week of instruction. Rutgers and UNCSA also do that “repertory” thing starting sophomore year, so that aspect of the program is the same as at those schools. So that made her feel a lot better (although she’d really like to have four or five hours a day of class time PLUS the evening rehearsals).
(cont’d)
During her weeks of deciding, she had her auditions for Stella Adler and Neighborhood Playhouse, sat in on a class at Marymount, and sat in on classes at Uarts and went to “Admit One,” and the following week went up to Hartt to see a play and sit in on classes there. She confirmed that Marymount was not the right place for her – although the acting class she sat in on was good, they have acting class only twice a week (WITHOUT the repertory/rehearsal aspect of Hartt), and there are only 60 credits in the acting major, plus 60 credits of gen eds .My D wants a conservatory with as few gen eds as possible. Also, Marymount doesn’t have guaranteed casting – they do several mainstage shows per year, but many people graduate without ever being in a show.
She loved “Admit One” at Uarts – everyone was so warm and friendly, and she loved the location on the Avenue of the Arts, and the light-filled apartment-style dorms. However, she got the impression that Uarts would be better suited to creative people who want to explore multiple artistic interests (UArts allows and even encourages students to take classes in other majors) or create their own work (there are many student-run projects and opportunities, and we met @myloves’ daughter, an MT major who also wrote a play which is being performed at the Edinburgh Festival). Our tour guide was an acting major who, coincidentally, had also had to decide between UArts and Hartt. She chose UArts because of the opportunity to take classes outside her major. She took a directing course just for fun, loved it, then took a filmmaking course and loved that, then took more filmmaking courses, and came to realize that she really wants to be a film producer, not an actor. She credited UArts with allowing her to explore these other interests and find what she really wants.
All of which is FABULOUS if you have a lot of different interests, but my D is laser-focused on acting and wants the most in-depth, serious acting training possible. Again, UArts is awesome! It just wasn’t the best fit for my D and her specific interests.
The following weekend we visited Hartt. One BIG regret we have: we didn’t go to the Accepted Students Day for the University of Hartford on that Saturday, because D had an audition that day for a local professional production. I also assumed (wrongly) that the Accepted Students Day would just be about the school in general, nothing specifically about the Hartt School. As it turned out, she didn’t book the role she auditioned for, so we could have gone to Hartford, AND I later found out that they DID have presentations from the Hartt School, including a performance from the different performing arts majors, and a tour of the Handel Performing Arts Center and a chance to peek in on the rehearsals going on there, and apparently the students were happy to answer questions etc. So we REALLY missed out by not going to that!
However, we DID go up the following day (Sunday) and saw the play “Dancing at Lughnasa,” which was excellent. D was VERY impressed with the talent of the students and the production as a whole. So that was a huge factor in reassuring her that the talent of the Hartt School students and the training they get in the program is at a very high level.
The following day, she was able to sit in on two classes, a voice class and an acting class. Unfortunately, they were both classes of MT students, not acting students. But she did enjoy them. In voice class, they were learning how to do a New York accent, which amused D since we’re from New York. In the acting class, she got to see Alan Rust teach, and she said he was great.
She asked Alan Rust a few questions after, but he was in a rush to get to his next class, so she couldn’t talk much. She also asked questions of a student, but again, he had to get to class. So we DID really regret not going to that Accepted Students Day, which would have had tons of people available to answer questions.
Decision time! She found out that she was accepted to Stella Adler, but the 3-year daytime program was full, so they put her in the 2-year evening conservatory, which wasn’t what she wanted. She also got into the Neighborhood Playhouse. So now she had to decide between a conservatory program and Hartt.
After a lot of thought and discussion, she chose Hartt, for several reasons. First was the fact that the conservatories will ALWAYS be available to her – she could go to Hartt but then do a summer program at Stella Adler or NP, or do the full program after she graduates, or do the full program years later in her 30s, or go to grad school. But this is her ONLY opportunity to have the “college experience” of going away to school and living in a dorm, and being part of a close-knit troupe of student actors the same age as her for four years. She really wants that experience. And of course, Hartt will give her a college degree, which the conservatories don’t. Plus, Hartt offers other opportunities: the chance to study Shakespeare in London, and the connections with Hartford Stage and the Monomoy Theatre, which means the possibility of getting professional roles and building her resume before graduation.
So on April 30, we made our deposit to Hartt, and breathed a sigh of relief that we were done!
But there was one more last-minute bump in the road! On May 1 (Decision Day!), D got a call from the head of Pace FTVC, saying she was accepted to that program from the alternate list! He apologized for the late notice, saying that a lot of accepted people had waited til the last minute to decline. She didn’t know what to do with this unexpected last-minute choice!
I told her to call back and ask to sit in on a class, so she could make an informed decision. So she called and asked, but he told her apologetically that the deadline to make a decision was midnight THAT NIGHT – it was university policy and he had no power to extend it.She knows a boy in the FTVC program who graduated from her high school last year, so she contacted him on Facebook and messaged with him to get info. The way he described what they were learning in acting class sounded amazing, so D was really torn about the decision.
But in the end, she reluctantly agreed that it was just too risky to commit to a four-year program without being able to sit in on a class, especially since it was SO different from the other programs she’d applied to, and would mean giving up so many things she really wanted in college (Shakespeare study in London, etc.)
FINAL DECISION: The Hartt School!
Conclusion: Although my D didn’t get into her “dream schools,” I am DEEPLY grateful and relieved that she landed in a program that is very similar to those dream schools! Hartt checks off almost all the boxes on her wish list: an acting conservatory with minimal gen eds, strong classical training, strong movement training, Shakespeare study in London, impressive faculty, the “repertory company” approach, partnerships with Equity theaters and the potential to start building a professional resume before graduation, and an impressive track record of working alumni. So it seems like a good fit for D!
I’m also deeply relieved to see that, now that the process is over and the decision is official, D is so much happier! All the stress and disappointments are in the past, and she’s now excited about going to Hartt, and has been having fun “meeting” the other incoming theater freshmen on the FB page and looking forward to working with them for the next four years.
So, thankfully, we are DONE! I want to thank everyone here on CC from the bottom of my heart and give you all a HUGE hug for all the advice, commiseration and support during this stressful process! I never would have kept my sanity without this forum!
P.S. Sorry to be so long! I’m embarrassed - didn’t mean to hog all the space and blab on forever!
@actorparent1 HUGE congratulations!! Your daughter landed someplace AMAZING!! I’m so happy for you. This was a very long journey for you two. I’m so glad that she’s going to go an amazing school. I’ve heard so many amazing things about Hartt! In the end, it always works out! congratulations again
@actorparent1 This was beautiful. It felt your pain as you know. Thank you for the details and the lovely writing. You lead her through this experience like a champ, Mom! She is clearly a strong focused and very talented young woman. I love Hartt as I have expressed to you. It is a wonderful place and it’s connection to Hartford Stage is also a great
and wonderful plus. Such resilience bodes very well for life ahead. So happy for you both…CONGRATULATIONS!!!
@rutgersmom321 WOW what an incredible ending! I’m so happy for you guys! Now the question will be, do you change your screen name to UNCSAMOM I love your happy ending story! Congratulations!