@artskids Congrats on BU!! My S is headed there too (unless by miracle he gets off the NYU WL and then we will see…) I am a bit nervous though about it all. What a tough year it has been!
congrats, @artskids BU looks like an amazing program, with a lot of options and flexibility. Look forward to follow-ups from you too!
A little levity: I am the proud mom of D, and S; 13 months older. S was a 5’6(!) academic AND athletic rock star, out of the womb (and you will never guess what his name is-based on my handle.) Could have played D1 football or lacrosse-but was so beat up by the end of high school (cognitively, and physically) that he has really struggled. He became depressed due to multiple undiagnosed concussions-and had to have several pretty major shoulder and hip surgeries. S became clinically depressed (the brain trauma? The inability to execute?), and ultimately became addicted to Rx opiates. Blessedly-he is 20 now (was 17 when everything went down,) and is doing very well. I USED to joke: My grandchildren will be ballerinas/pianists. After this journey with D, I am not convinced that one is better than the other.
Wow @artskids that is a fantastic program at a wonderful school!! What a journey and there should be an award for parents who do this more than once. Holy Moly! don’t be surprised if CMU throws you a curve ball but honestly BU is just as amazing and super CONGRATULATIONS!! We also used MTCA. They’ve been remarkable…
YAY FB Page. Looking forward to that also…
@owenfolks Heart goes out to you and to your son. So glad he’s doing well now and one day at a time. It’s so hard when our kids aren’t well. No words. Much respect. Virtual hug…
@artskids congratulations on BU! A great thing for you is that more stories will be shared with other cc’rs when you all get together for shows. I can imagine how colorful your home is with so many talented kids. You have to be extremely proud of what you have done
@owensfolks I’m so glad that your son is doing much better. One day at a time! I have a feeling that he too will soar. He certainly has a story to share.
@actingdreams Thank you so much for your informative post! I would pm you but don’t have enough postings yet. My D would be class of 2023 so we are just starting on this auditions journey and as a person of color herself choosing a school where she would feel she fits in is big on our list. Your posts are much appreciated and congratulations on your wonderful journey!
Hi @NYDreammom Thank you so much. Your daughter will find her fit, everyone usually does 
@Naevia - In spite of a few bumps in the road, your S had some fabulous options and big surprises. Congrats - to you, S and family!
@artskids – our kids have several schools in common (on the applications list) - except your D is definitely MT. We visited BU last spring and really liked that MT concentration! Great journey - great decision! Best to your D!
Congratulations! @artskids Good point on the value of an early audition. @owensfolks Thank you for sharing your story, I know we share stories of our acting kids, and often there are siblings, and other things in life occuring at the same time as all this high school senior year process. I’m glad there was a good ending to your story.
I LOVE that we are at this point!! Final Decision posts are the best!!!
Congratulations, @mtmaybe. LIU is certainly doing great things. David Hugo is the brother of my good friend and he is honestly a gem of a human. Very talented and completely dedicated to giving his all to his student.
@owensfolks wow! Thank you for sharing. I shed tears reading that. I’m so happy he is doing well! You really added a perspective that I needed.
@Naevia - congratulations!! So happy for you!
And @artskids - WooooHoooo. I’m so excited for your D!! I just saw a show at BU - it was incredible. I have a feeling you and I are going to become real life friends.
S had BFA Acting offers from SUNY Fredonia and was WL at Syracuse. He was committed to MT so - final decision Wagner College! Sending good vibes to all the drama families for a happy May 1st!
Hmm - this is weird, CC isn’t letting me post a long message. Let me try again…
I’ve thought a lot about whether to do one of these because our situation is a little unique but I do think we learned some things from our application process that might be useful for some of next year’s applicants so here goes.
My D has done theater, mostly MT, since elementary school. Ever since she was little she dreamed of moving to New York, studying theater in college and ending up on BROADWAY! She took chorus and drama electives in school, started private voice lessons her Freshman year and took dance classes when she could. She did 2-3 high school shows a year locally and had lead or supporting roles in each. We knew from the time she was little that she absolutely lived to perform on stage; we knew she had the talent and drive but we also knew it was a rough road and by going to academic-heavy schools she wasn’t going to have the training level of most kids who graduate from PA academies. Still, when college application time came around we knew she had to try for a BFA and a chance to finally get the training she deserved.
Choosing her school list took a while. She had several firm requirements that we mostly were able to meet: She wanted a University with pre-professional training, not a Conservatory. It had to be in or near a big city and NOT in California, Texas or the South (!). Also, she wanted someplace where she was a fit academically as well as artistically and she wanted a mid-sized or large school that attracted a diverse student body. Knowing that her non-audition schools might be her only acceptances we worked hard to find schools she really wanted to attend - even her so-called safeties had to be a good fit. We ended up with a good solid list but it wasn’t really well-balanced – too many reaches, which we knew.
Programs applied to: American (BA), Baldwin Wallace (BFA – MT), Boston University (BFA – Acting), Carnegie Mellon (BFA – MT and Acting), Elon (BFA-MT), U. Michigan (BFA-MT), Northwestern (BA-Drama), NYU (BFA), Pace (BFA-MT), Rider (BFA-MT), Rutgers - both Mason-Gross (BFA - Acting) and College of Arts & Science (BA-Drama), Temple (BA-Drama), The New School (BFA – MT), Wesleyan (BA).
Prescreens: Filming the prescreens absolutely sucked. She worked hard to get them right but the format was so unfamiliar that it stressed her out and I think it showed. She worked too hard on her vocal prescreens and not hard enough on her dance so I think the Acting prescreens (which were effortless) were the only ones that really showed her abilities.
She got a quick yes from two BA programs (Temple and Rutgers) early on in the process. That took the pressure off a little – but only a little. She’d need to audition at Temple as a freshman in order to get into their BFA or performance tracks as a sophomore and we weren’t sure she’d be able to get into acting classes at Rutgers. Still it was nice to be able to say “You’re going to college!” with some certainty. Then the doors started closing… first the Baldwin Wallace audition slots filled up on the DAY she submitted her application. Then the MT prescreen rejections came through – Rider, then Pace and U-Mich. She lost her heart to Northwestern over Fall Break and applied ED but that door slammed shut with a rejection right before Christmas. Elon waited until the end of January to tell us she didn’t even pass the prescreen she’d submitted in November – WHY do they do that??? The only bright spot out of the whole of November-January was her passing the CMU MT Prescreen and the Pace Acting prescreen.
She signed up to audition at all of her schools over the LA “Unified” weekend. Her first audition was Pace; it was her first college audition ever… and she blew it. We had signed up for Mock auditions in December but a family emergency kept her from making them. So she was unprepared mentally - she was chatting with people in the hallway and didn’t stay focused. She actually forgot her monologue half way through… ouch. Lesson learned but - what a hard one! No callback for you! The rest of the auditions went better – she loved BU (got McCaela’s card) and Rutgers, was indifferent to CMU and had the time of her life with NYU. The New School was a very odd audition and she walked away feeling TNS probably wasn’t a fit for her.
Then the waiting… and the rejections started to roll in. Pace was already a No after auditions. She didn’t get a call-back from Rutgers. BU rejected her … and CMU… and The New School! Heard back from Wesleyan – rejected. Accepted at American U but only for Spring semester. To say this was a low point in life would be an understatement. 15 applications, 11 rejections and 3 acceptances - all BA. The week before we headed east to visit colleges she still hadn’t heard from one BFA program – NYU, her long-time “dream school” and still one of the best fits on her list. We were all so depressed at this point we didn’t even hope for a “Yes” from Tisch - it was going to make it too painful if a “No” came in.
I was following the NYU CC board when the word came across that NYU decisions were out. I called my D on her cell to let her know. She couldn’t bear to be in public when she picked up the decision so she drove home, got only halfway there and had to pull off on the side of the road to check email. She picked up her email, clicked into the site, signed into Albert and read her letter. She was… In! She was so stunned she kept reading the letter over and over looking for “we regret” or “unfortunately” and “we wish you well”. For the first time in months, those words weren’t there – she was actually accepted! She called me and we screamed and cried together. Then she drove home – ve-ery carefully. We heard 2 weeks later that she was assigned to the NSB Studio for MT, making her joy even more complete.
**Prescreens submitted: ** CMU, Elon, U Mich, Pace, Rider. Passed CMU and Pace (Acting) only.
**Auditioned at: ** BU, CMU, NYU, Pace, Rutgers and The New School.
**Accepted to: ** American (BA), NYU (BFA), Rutgers (BA only), Temple (BA).
**Rejected from: ** Everywhere else!!!
**Waitlisted at: ** None.
**Coach: ** MTCA, but we started too late (mid-September), I wish we had started much earlier, preferably before the summer and done the mock auditions at least once.
**Summer Programs: ** None.
Final Decision: NYU-Tisch New Studio on Broadway!!!
@"#booknerdmom" Congratulations on Wagner College! I’m sure he’s excited to start his new life.
WOW @CaMom13 What a story!! So similar to my sons which I will post this weekend. I am SO happy for you and your D. NYU! What a dream!!! And the NSB studio to boot! Lucky lady, I hope to see her on Broadway!
@CaMom13 Congratulations! I’m sure she’s going to have the time of her life at NYU and NY in general! so happy for the both of you!!
Thanks, @HopeinMT - we hope so too! Thanks, @actingdreams - I think she’s going to have a blast (and work her tail off, but that’s all good).