@CaMom13 Congratulations!! I’m excited for you! I know that she will thrive there. It’s nice to be over with this part
Hahahahahahaha @Laylamom! I AM the KING of Exhaustion! Or the QUEEN! or maybe just the Jester or Gatekeeper - who knows? We are all too tired in this Kingdom to worry about hierarchy. Hang in there! Choice is hard, even when - maybe particularly when - the options are all so shiny.
After a long time of lurking, I can finally post my final decision!! 
FIRST: when making my list, I knew that I was leaning towards auditioned-BA/BS programs. I wanted flexibility to explore various theatrical disciplines but also wanted a focused plan of study and opportunites to perform. I did add in a couple of BFA programs that were fairly close to home.
Background: many years of dance, years of private voice/choir, lots of school/community theatre. Most recently, a summer intensive with a Shakespeare festival.
Coach: none, but I did work pretty closely with my drama teacher.
APPLIED: Missouri State, Washington University, Millikin, University of Evansville, Butler, Northwestern, Drake
ACCEPTED ARTISTICALLY: Butler (auditioned BA) U of Evansville (auditioned BS), Millikin (BA)
(Cancelled Mo State and Drake auditions after acceptance from 1st choice school!)
Final Decision:
University of Evansville!
Wonderful @stage18actor! Congratulations!!!
@actingdreams I loved reading about your whole journey. And thank you for keeping me sane during our journey (which isn’t officially over yet; hopefully soon you’ll read about it on the MT side 
). Yours is definitely a reminder about how ‘fit’ differs for all of us. I am so happy that your S had options, so he could actually find his fit.
I just read about the Syracuse incident a day or so ago (I have a friend who’s d is going; not a theatre kid at all). I was absolutely disgusted. My d would be too (a white girl living in a very diverse city, with a diverse student body in her HS). It is hard enough to be sending our babies away, potentially hundreds of miles away; I can’t imagine them being in an environment that they are so uncomfortable in, just for being who they are.
Congratulations @stage18actor! When I read your First paragraph I was thinking, “That person should’ve considered U of Evansville – sounds like a perfect fit.” Hah! Great minds think alike!
@DramaQueen219 thank you so much! I certainly was rooting for you guys!! I am so glad that things are working out. I know that they will. Your daughter is talented! I’m sure she will be siting on someone’s Night Show explaining what had happened to her during college acceptances and be able to say “but look at me now”. Those are the best stories.
The Syracuse incident was bad but it’s not everywhere.Sometimes it’s a calming but still there is this underlining something in the air and makes for an uncomfortable time. It’s manageable most of the time but so blatant in some places that you just try not to subject yourself in the area. You’re coming from California. there is certainly a difference. between east and west cost. Must get used to it. These actors will be flying and performing all over the place!
Your daughter will thrive anywhere!
@stage18actor Congratulations! It’s nice that you were able to find the perfect program and get accepted early on
@actingdreams we’re in NY (better or worse, not really sure; I think it might be getting better here, generally speaking).
These things are certainly more on my radar now, knowing she’s getting ready to fly from the nest. The recent incident in a well known coffee chain occurred in the city she may be calling home for the next four years
@DramaQueen219 lets just hope that it’s temporary. I know that was a crazy situation. Hang in there! I’m sure the school is Fantastic and It’s just so nice to see that she’s happy with options! I’m really excited to hear about the Final Showdown
@actingdreams the rest of my post went away (always happens when I post from my phone 
). I am glad that the school she’s considering is in a diverse area, since she’s used to that. The #2 school for consideration appeared to be much more homogenous, which surprised me that she got in.
@DramaQueen219 - My D and I (both white) definitely noticed that some PA schools were way less “diverse” than others - I would bet it’s not because they don’t accept students from a wide variety of ethnicities so much as they have trouble enroling the students from URM backgrounds who are accepted. When you do the school visit and the school appears unvarying from one or two ethnicities - it’s a total turn off to anyone who is accustomed to an ethnically and culturally diverse student body. So the problem self-perpetuates.
@Twoboysandadog Congratulations on everything!! I actually went to CSSSA as well! What year did he attend?
Hi All, I created a “diversity and theater” thread so that this can remain focused on Final Decisions. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/2077113-diversity-theater.html#latest
Here we are…this is going to be long…
*note-I started out as musical theatre, but started realizing midway through the process that it wasn’t where I was meant to be. For brevity and clarity, I’m not going to list the MT programs I applied to (I was rejected from those)), but some acting programs I also applied MT.
OKAY THEN!
Applied (in order of audition date): NYU-tisch, LIU-post, CCM (also auditioned MT), Webster (also auditioned MT), Illinois Wesleyan, Northwestern (non audition), North Central (non audition safety), and Millikin
Prescreens: Illinois Wesleyan (passed). Funny story, I submitted it three days before their last audition date and they responded to me in an hour that I passed! That was very very lucky.
Training: not much honestly, and being on here and seeing everyone else’s blew my mind. I’m in an intensive dual credit auditioned acting program this year, but before (besides my summer programs) I had never taken a real acting class. Besides being in one play last year, I had pretty much only been in musicals. I go to a very academically competitive high school with a strong drama program (that I have, surprisingly, not been super involved in due to other activities).
More than a HS drama kid, I’m very much a choir kid. I also have taken voice lessons sporadically for the past two years and recently switched to a much stronger voice teacher.
I’m not currently involved in dance, but I took it (jazz and ballet, but mostly jazz) for 8 years until sophomore year of high school (when I was on the competitive dance team with my studio.
Coach: none, but my teacher at my acting program did critique my monologues several times.
Summer programs: bbt precollege @ Roosevelt, a teen intensive at a big acting studio in my city.
This journey has been long, exhausting, and EXPENSIVE and I’m very happy to be done.
The first audition I did was for NYU during their Chicago auditions-everyone I spoke to there already had had several and were shocked that I had started with “such a big one”. Having visited NYU the year before, it had become one of my top choices-well, top choices if I wouldn’t end up in exorbitant debt! That spooked me a bit, but I loved the audition experience and came out of Probably the best one of them all (well, maybe!).
The next day, we kicked off Chicago unifieds with what I considered a low-pressure audition-I really only applied because so many people on CC had talked about what a great up-and-coming program it was and how they expected it to be a reach school in coming years because of it.
I went in, auditioned, and I was immediately told that they wanted to accept me! I was thrilled. I ran down to the PH lobby and told my mom “I’m getting a BFA!” Later, at the info session, the two faculty members auditioning everyone told all the auditionees about their program and I was incredibly impressed by the preprofessional nature of the program and how the faculty spoke so passionately about how they were making their program to be so strong.
A few weeks later, I received a big packet in the mail with an ALMOST full tuition scholarship. I would graduate with barely any debt if I chose to go there.
Later that day, I went to audition for CCM acting. The audition was fine. The auditors were nice, but I didn’t feel particularly good about how I did and wasn’t surprised by the rejection, especially considering the competitiveness of the program.
That Thursday, I auditioned for both Webster MT and acting. I love love loved my audition experience there, although I had left my sheet music at home that morning (living in Chicago, I commuted each day rather than pay for a stay downtown). They were incredibly kind and warm and I came away thinking how much I enjoyed my audition. However, when the rejection came, I was unsurprised and not too upset because of how the whole music debacle had thrown me off and I knew I hadn’t given a great audition.
I auditioned for Illinois Wesleyan on their last audition date. I had procrastinated on sending in my prescreen for so long because of how much I loved the school. I have a friend who goes there for acting who loves it so much and I loved the campus, people, size of the program, and pretty much everything about it. I visited IWU again the day before I auditioned and I loved it, having spent a day with theater students and sitting in on one of their theatre classes. During my audition, the two faculty members auditioning me worked with one of my monologues and I remember thinking how much I liked them. When I got the acceptance (along with a GREAT financial aid offer), my mom cried.
Millikin was my last audition. At that point, I had kind of decided in my mind that I was just going to commit to Illinois Wesleyan, although we had a visit to LIU scheduled. Earlier, in the winter, I had gone to Millikin for their honors weekend/scholarship interview day and had absolutely adored the school, students, and program, so I decided to go and audition. On my audition date, I realized how much i loved the program again and when, during my exit interview, they told me I was accepted into BFA acting, i was thrilled!
About a week after I got back from Millikin, I opened my email to see my rejection from Northwestern. I was heartbroken. I loved the school, the academics, and especially the theatre program. I am also a legacy and that added a bit of sting as well. That was the only rejection I cried about during this entire process.
So, at the end of the day-
Rejected: CCM (both), Northwestern (that one hurt), and Webster (both).
Accepted: LIU, Illinois Wesleyan, Millikin, north central (BA).
Waitlist: NYU
Then it came down to the decision.
I originally kind of knocked LIU out of consideration. I didn’t know it super well and wasn’t super sure about their professional connections. I knew and loved both IWU and Millikin so they seemed like obvious choices.
But after more consideration, I put it back in the pile because of the faculty, it’s growing reputation even just with high schoolers, and the curriculum that really suited my wants/needs even more so than my other choices. Despite this, i was still leaning more towards the other two.
However, after visiting LIU and sitting in on their INCREDIBLE sophomore acting class, where they were presenting their ibsen scenes and getting great feedback from their professor (feedback that i, listening to it, felt I was already growing as an actor) and being told that all of the seniors that had parcitipated in the senior showcase had been contacted/met with at least one agent, I fell in love.
It still took me a week to make my official choice, but I think I knew it on the plane ride home.
To top it off, I was just informed that my already generous academic/artistic scholarship just got upgraded to full tuition. I am THRILLED!
Final decision: LIU-post BFA Acting!!
Woah! Congrats, @mtmaybe ! Full tuition? A program that you love? You hit the jackpot!!!
Congratulations @mtmaybe ! You are very impressive!! What a wonderful centered brave person you are. Lovely at this age. I’ll bet you fly! Great journey.
@mtmaybe Congratulations!! thats Wonderful!! It’s so great that you found the perfect Fit! I love LIU-Post’s campus. I know that I speak about campuses but the environment is important to me. It’s beautiful there! Full Tuition is Outstanding!! woo hoo!!! great news!
What an awesome story! Congratulations, @mtmaybe!
@mtmaybe - wow!!! What a great outcome! Congratulations! I gre up very close to that school. It’s a lovely area with easy access to NYC.