Final Acting Decisions Background - Class of 2024

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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I posted in MT, but for future parents who may be looking at acting only threads, thought it would be good to post here too…I tried to cut enough out of the original thread since, unlike the MT page, no one here has a story that is 2 comments…lol

Programs Applied to: AMDA (BFA Acting), BOCO (BFA MT), Coastal Carolina (BFA Acting), Dean College (BA Acting and BA MT), Drew University (non-audition) , Emerson College (BFA Theater & Performance), Fordham University (BFA Acting), Marymount Manhattan (BFA Acting and BFA MT), Pace University (BFA Film/Commercial/Voiceovers), Rutgers University (BFA Acting), UNCSA (BFA Drama), Wagner (BA Theater Performance)

Prescreens: BOCO; Coastal Carolina and Pace (passed)

Accepted Academically to: Coastal Carolina; Pace; Drew University (safety); Wagner

Accepted Artistically to: Marymount Manhattan (BFA Acting); Dean College (BA MT); AMDA (BFA Acting); Emerson (BFA Theater & Performance)
Rejected from: Fordham; UNCSA; Rutgers; BoCo

Wait-listed: none

Coach: local

Background: S became interested in performing in middle school. He was shy and an introvert through grade school, but found his voice, when he took chorus in 7th grade in order to avoid the general music elective! He did 1 musical a year through middle school (which goes through 9th grade in our school district) and then decided the summer before 10th grade to do a local camp production, where he returned the summer before his junior year. The summer before his senior year, he auditioned for the Bucks Co Playhouse and was cast there, where he spent 5 weeks of rehearsals and masterclasses, followed by 3 weeks of performances. He was cast in all of the Fall plays and Spring musicals at his high school, as well as regional theater. When he didn’t get the role he wanted, he worked his butt off to improve, so that’s when my husband and I realized he was motivated to do this, which meant we were all in too!
The Journey: We started talking about college with him the 2nd half of sophomore year, and initially he wanted no parts of it, instead just hoping we would say yes to him moving to NYC and auditioning…which, by the way, wasn’t going to happen! Once he made peace with the fact we weren’t writing checks without an education attached to them, he decided if he had to go, he did not want to be in the cold anymore (we are from PA), so NC would be where he would look. Knowing he would lean more to the acting side rather than MT, UNCSA became his #1 school. Over the next several months he started looking a bit more into schools, and stumbled on AMDA because of the dual cost and acting on screen training offered…new #1; and it became clear he wanted a conservatory.
We were put in touch with a local couple who works with students to get them through the application process, and with their help the “AMDA only plan” was put to rest and we created a list of schools that were both academically in his wheelhouse, and had artistic programs where he knew he would fit.

Throughout last summer, he was crazy busy with productions so it took longer than we had planned to get to the point he was ready to record his prescreen, but we finally had it ready to go by mid-October. Pace was a quick turnaround and he had his 1st yes 4 days after submitting!! We figured we were in for a great outcome and would quickly add to the 7 non prescreen school auditions we already had on the calendar; unfortunately, the high of the 1st yes, was quickly squashed by the 1st prescreen no from Coastal Carolina and then another crushing blow came in the form of a prescreen waitlist from BOCO, which became an official no about 3 weeks later.
His audition season started out amazing. First up was Dean College the first weekend in Dec, and it was such a positive experience, I mean this school rolled out the red carpet from the first visit 6 months earlier! Son applied to the acting program, but once the director saw all the MT experience on his resume and he performed his monologue, he was asked to sing. My son felt so great after their feedback of his song he emailed the director of the program a couple days after the audition to ask if it was possible to also be considered for their MT program, and the director was more than happy to submit him for that. Within a week he received his first acceptance to their BA MT program!!
Son made a conscious decision not to participate at any unified, but the first big weekend of auditions for him was 4 auditions in NY (Marymount Manhattan, AMDA, Fordham on campus and UNCSA at Ripley the Mon after unified ended) the same weekend as NY unifieds. All went well the entire weekend, except UNCSA when he didn’t get a callback, which meant he was out…bummer, since it was the original #1 choice. Any disappointment he felt was made better when 2 days after getting home, he received an acceptance from Marymount Manhattan in their BFA Acting program, which was amazing because after that audition, he couldn’t stop talking about the day, and how he really was starting to see what non-conservatory schools had to offer. Then the next day, the call came from AMDA accepting him to the BFA Acting program!! I figured at that point we would be done, he got into his #1 and he would want to cancel his remaining 5 auditions, but he had really come to like something about every program, so he wanted to finish it out!! We ended Jan at Rutgers.
The last 3 weeks of Feb he had one audition each weekend…Emerson, Pace and Wagner. Through the entire process, he never verbalized a favorite, or top pick, but after the Emerson audition, as we packed up at the hotel, he actually said out loud, I think that one is my top…wait, what??? We never ranked, it had been so good not to because if it was a no, it wasn’t too bad, there was never that feeling of being rejected by your #1, but now…ugh…cue the mom anxiety!! After Pace, he said he really liked the vibe of the school, but looking around the waiting room, didn’t think he was what they were looking for. Our final weekend we were able to head to Wagner the night before and saw their show, and leaving that he said it was so good, if he didn’t get in it would suck…again, what…crap!
Putting the new found ranking discussion aside, we decided to focus on the fact he had 3 great yeses, regardless of the outcome of the last 4 schools to hear from…but oh the waiting! And it seemed like all 4 schools would announce the same weekend, so there was nothing to do but wait, and wait some more. Finally, Friday, the 13th…my kid is a HUGE horror flick lover, so it’s kinda his day…it was set up to be fantastic - the Wagner letter was supposed to be in the mail, and Fordham and Pace were both going to update their portals! First, nothing in the mail from Wagner, bummer, but probably tomorrow. Next, Fordham emailed to check the portal – it was a no, but that’s ok because frankly that price tag was nuts! Finally, Pace updated, and that was a no too…ok, so Friday the 13th wasn’t the best day, at all! Moving on, still nothing in the mail from Wagner the next 3 days, but Emerson emailed with a portal update, and it was a yes!!! Thank you sweet baby Jesus, he said it was his top, now just please let the aid package be good, because, again, the price tag! Just one more result from Wagner and then it would be time to start deciding, but then the final result was in the mailbox and it was a no. Much to my surprise, he didn’t linger on the disappointment, he actually sat right down and started looking at his 4 yeses – he was so happy it was finally time to decide!!! He made the obligatory pro/con list, looked on YouTube for videos of the dorms, he joined all the Facebook pages to connect with students, and he did blind compare of the curriculum.

Final Decision: After 15 long, exhausting, amazing months, he is joining the Class of 2024 as a BFA Theater & Performance major at Emerson College!

Congrats to all for getting to the end!

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Loved your story @theatrekidmom - brought back the nausea of my own kid’s roller coaster ride. :D. So very happy for your S.

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@theatrekidmom

Thank you so much for sharing this here!! And congratulations to your son!!! I"ve heard so many good things about Emerson!!! So happy for you!!!

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Congrats, @theatrekidmom ! Such a great program and I’m so happy he found his way into places he loved. Great story!

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Programs Applied to: Adelphi Acting BFA, Fordham Acting BA, NYU Acting BFA, Ithaca MT BFA, University of Michigan Acting BFA, Carnegie Mellon MT BFA, Pace (Acting BFA, FTVC BFA, MT BFA), Northwestern Theatre BA

Prescreens: Ithaca (redirected to Acting BFA), Michigan Acting, CMU MT, Pace (Acting BFA, FTVC BFA, MT BFA)

Accepted to: Adelphi, Fordham, NYU, Ithaca, U. of Michigan, Pace Acting, Northwestern

Rejected from: Carnegie Mellon

Wait-listed at: None

Coach: None

Background/Training: Baltimore School for the Arts

Summer Programs: American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp

As crazy as this entire process was, I’m glad I went through it because I learned a lot. It’s good to be forced out of my little bubble and see just how talented so many people my age are… I also learned to take everything people say with a grain of salt. I ended up not applying to a lot of L.A. schools because someone told me they didn’t give good aid… but I soon learned it doesn’t matter where the school is, but what the specific school’s policy with financial aid is. But about my process: Adelphi was my first audition. It was a really cute college. However, I had a couple strange interactions with the people there. One of which was when the upperclassmen kinda kicked the head of the department, the prospective students (including me), and the freshmen that were with us, out of the space we were in because “they’d reserved it”… The second was during my audition when I could hear the freshmen who’d been with us loudly talking and laughing outside of my audition room. The walls were thin, which I guess they hadn’t realized… It didn’t really throw me off too much, but needless to say I wasn’t really feeling the school afterwards. I loved my Fordham audition. The teachers I interacted with and did explorations for reminded me of my favorite teacher at my high school. I literally cried during the tour because I loved everything I ended up seeing from the building to the staff to the students. At my NYU audition, I didn’t really vibe with the school. The guy I auditioned for was great, and one of the main reasons I was still considering it afterwards (besides the fact that it’s NYU… lol). Michigan and Ithaca were both pretty chill auditions and I got a positive vibe from the schools. My Carnegie Mellon audition was straight up cursed, lol. I did vocal warmups the morning of, but I guess I should’ve been doing extra warmups in the bathroom with the rest of them, because when I went in for my audition, my voice was not cooperating with me… It was cracking and pitchy and it was the devil… Gary, who I sang for, was super sweet though and made me feel good regardless, but my audition was not cute. Then in my acting audition, I wasn’t super connected to my monologues, and when my guy asked me to do a weird exploration, I was thrown off and I know it looked like I didn’t know what I was doing, lol. Later I went to NY to audition for all three performing arts programs of Pace for two weekends, lol… My MT audition was fine, and the accompanist complimented me afterwards which was nice. The dance call was brutal… especially since I’m not a dancer. For FTVC I was definitely off in my audition, but it was ok. Right after that I had my BFA acting audition, which was great. I had a good connection with the staff, and I even got to do one of my monologues to one of the teachers who was reacting along with me. And then there was the school without an audition… Northwestern. I didn’t even know if I was going to get into NU because my essay was very silly lol. I figured they’d either love it or hate it, but I guess they loved it?

Once I got my decisions and financial aid packages, things started changing. I appealed to most of my schools, with some good and some disappointing results. I decided against Michigan, Pace, and NYU, because I don’t want to make myself or my parents have debt because of a theatre degree. That’s just very scary to me… My options then were Adelphi, Fordham, Ithaca, and Northwestern. I turned down Ithaca and Adelphi since I didn’t think they were the right fit for me. Then it came between Fordham which I loved and the unknown Northwestern. A big determining factor was how much I wanted a traditional college experience. Since I went to a performing arts school, I didn’t have a traditional high school experience, so I had to decide if I wanted that for college. I did a ton of research on the programs, their alumni, and I talked to many many many students. In the end…

Final Decision: Northwestern BA

I think/hope this will be a good program for me! I was drawn in from what I’d researched and learned from the people I talked to. Even though I loved Fordham so much, I wanted to have a completely different experience than I had in high school, so… Go Wildcats!

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Congratulations @2231Starcross3 You had some great choices! I enjoyed reading your story and hope you have a great experience at Northwestern!

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What a wonderful story and congrats, @2231Starcross3 ! Best of luck on the next leg of your journey!

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@BFAMom2024 @tsamuique Thank you so much!

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Congratulations, @2231Starcross3 ! Enjoy Northwestern! ?

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@Loganator <3

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Programs Applied to: TXST (BFA Acting)

Prescreens: TXST (Passed)

Accepted to: TXST (BFA Acting), and many others… see my journey section for more info!

Rejected from: N/A

Wait-listed at: N/A

Coach: N/A

Background/Training: I’ve been a part of my school’s drama department for three years.

Summer Programs: I spent the majority of my junior year and the summer leading up to my senior year with a wonderfully unorthodox theatre company. We attended a youth conference where I had the opportunity to participate in workshops and perform an original show for industry professionals.

Final Decision: TXST (BFA Acting)

Background: My sophomore year of high school, I uncharacteristically decided to audition for my school’s production of The Little Mermaid. I was so nervous that I ended up crying in front of the entire audition panel. By some divine power, they called me back and I ended up understudying the role that I wanted (Sebastian) and having a featured role as well. I even got to perform as Sebastian for a special day showing. From then on, I was hooked. Junior year, I got to work with an amazing company outside of school that specialized in original productions. I was pushed beyond what I even thought was possible. Meanwhile, at school, I continued to work hard and by the end of the school year, I had earned the title of Best Supporting Actress and was elected into office. Flash forward to this school year, I’ve played a lead role in every production we have put on and set new precedents and standards as the historian of my troupe.

Journey: I went into this entire process thinking I’d be responsible and have as many great choices as possible. Boy was I wrong. I sat down with my mom around this time last year and told her that I would be an acting major. We flipped through the college packets I had been sent and I listed off schools I was interested in auditioning for, but eventually, I came to the conclusion that I was meant to strive for TXST. I researched everything I could about the program, the faculty, their mission, and every day I fell in love all over again. That summer, I visited school after school and with every tour, I came away with the realization that TXST was where I was meant to be.

In November, I went to Texas Thespian Festival. They host a very UNIFIEDs style college audition and I came away from that experience with 37 callbacks and offers. TIP #1: If you ever get the opportunity to participate in this as I did, do NOT take it for granted. I saved money, I got offers from schools with emerging programs, I was offered callbacks to some incredible programs that I didn’t even think were on my radar. It was a life-saver and a confidence booster.

In December, I sent in my prescreens to TXST the day before they were due. :neutral: (THREE CHEERS FOR STRESS AND ANXIETY) I nit-picked and worried for days, but once they were in, all that was left to do was hope. Four days later, I got the email that I passed. I went into hyper-drive for the next month and went to sleep every night thinking about my callback. TIP #2: DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR MONOLOGUES!! Choose monologues that are you. Use your strengths. I realized I was a goofy, loud, nervous-wreck and I used that to my advantage. You are not auditioning for a role, you’re showing a group of people versions of yourself.

Finally, callbacks arrived. TIP #3: If you can, do callbacks on-campus! TXST’s callback process is chef’s kiss You get to tour the school and talk to current students one on one. Also, the current students sat in on my audition! (To me, that was a lot more helpful. It just felt like a real performance. Of course, I was on edge the entire time, but the students were so sweet and encouraged me that everything would be fine. (Spoiler alert: it was.) I did my monologues, went through the group audition, and attended their workshop. The entire time I was there I felt like I was home. After callbacks, I exchanged socials with some of the current students and sent thank you emails to the faculty. TIP #4: Send out good vibes at your dream school. It sounds crazy, but I swear it works. The law of attraction is real.

For the next month, I woke up every day and checked my email. I had a mini heart attack each and every time I saw the words “Texas” or “GetAcceptd” in my inbox. On March 1st, I got a call from Austin, TX. I answered it and, long story short, I had been offered a spot in TXST’s BFA Acting Ensemble. (TIP #5: Try to say more than “oh wow” when being offered a spot at your dream program.) To this day, I feel like I was meant to take this journey clueless. Before I got my decision, I beat myself up about not auditioning for enough programs and putting my eggs in one basket. However, my journey was unique to me, and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

Trust the process. Know your abilities. Don’t compare yourself to others. Do your research. Document everything.

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Congrats @sydcooper! I think your tips are spot on!!

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Thank you @theatrekidmom !!

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@sydcooper Congratulations! Totally agree that everyone’s journey is different

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Oh, @sydcooper , if CC gave us the option to “love” your post, I would! You shared some absolute gems for kids coming up through this process, and your journey shows just how serendipitous the whole process is. As a theatre educator, I especially loved that you shared how you tried out on a lark your sophomore year and became emotional in the audition room. The number of kids whom I’ve seen break down… I can never convince them how normal it is! Thank you for sharing that tidbit. I want every underclassman reading this thread who might be doubting themselves because of their audition room panic to know that they are not alone and you have shown them that.

Congratulations on landing in a program that was clearly your destiny. Can’t wait to see where the journey takes you!

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@tsamuique Thank you so much! This school year, we had auditions for the school musical and I watched a girl go through the exact same set of emotions I experienced in my sophomore year. You’re so right when you say that it’s difficult to convince kids that it’s normal! Even before my audition for TXST I cried because I was so worried. Of course, by then I had learned it was normal so I got it together fast enough to do my best! Learning to understand what you’re feeling is such an essential part of LIFE. It’s one of the most important lessons I’ve inherited as a theatre kid! I’m so happy to know that it resonated with you!

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So happy for you @sydcooper - I hope your experience at Texas State is everything you dreamed of and more.

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thank you!! @CaMom13

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Cross-posting from the Final MT thread for any future Tech students

Time for another l-o-n-g final decision share! First, many, many thanks to this group for taking in a lone Tech Theater parent – this admission process is a wild ride on a good day, and without a group going through a similar experience to commiserate with, (what’s left of) my sanity would have been seriously at risk. The support, humor, encouragement, and excitement for every family’s success has been nothing short of amazing. I am happy to pay it forward if any future tech families need guidance or reassurance – I learned so much from my D’s journey this year.

Summer Programs: Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute (SSTI-Tech) 2018 and 2019 – I cannot say enough about this experience – the 4th week of the program (between performance weekends) focuses on advanced workshops, portfolio sessions, and college admission guidance with mock interviews (same level of college audition prep for the performers). My D’s portfolio was gorgeous, thanks to the preliminary work in 2018 and polishing the latest version in 2019, not to mention the inclusion of stunning professional photos from both years’ unbelievable productions.

BFA Theatre Design & Production/Tech Programs Applied: University of Arizona, Missouri State, SCAD, UNCSA, CCM, U of Michigan, DePaul, Carnegie Mellon, Pace, Boston University, Emerson, Rutgers Mason Gross, and Penn State.

In-Person On Campus Interviews: Missouri State, CCM, U of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon (at Chicago Unifieds), Rutgers Mason Gross, and Penn State

Skype Interviews: DePaul, Pace, BU, Emerson, and UNCSA
*originally scheduled on campus

Portfolio Submitted but No Interview Required: U of Arizona and SCAD

Accepted: U of Arizona, Missouri State, SCAD, UNCSA, CCM, U of Michigan, DePaul, Pace, BU, Emerson, Rutgers Mason Gross, and Penn State

Priority WL: Carnegie Mellon

Background: My D started playing the violin at age 3 and added the flute at age 4. She demonstrated perfect pitch and serious musical talent early on, along with a natural singing ability. Choir, wind and vocal ensembles, and orchestra were early favorites, and she has continued to play the flute in her school’s orchestra throughout HS. In 6th and 7th grade, she was recruited by her brother’s HS musical theater director to join him on stage for productions his junior and senior year (the director loved having younger siblings in her casts). The following year was D’s own 8th grade musical. She had an opportunity to work on the technical aspects of that production, ended up running a spotlight, and discovered she preferred being behind the scenes to being on stage. By freshman year, she was teaching herself how to set up the hardware and program the new lighting software that her school had just acquired as part of a new fine arts facility (the teachers didn’t have time to read the manuals and figure everything out because they were still unpacking and storing everything in the new space, but she did!). D was the lighting designer and board operator for the spring musical and received an honorable mention in our region’s HS Musical Theatre Awards as a freshman. That was it - she was hooked. In addition to HS productions (plays, musicals, and dance performances), she has worked on set design and lighting for a couple of community/regional theatre productions.

College Admission Process: We basically had minimal big picture information about this process going into it, except for the intel D had acquired through SSTI. We knew the tech/lighting programs accepted very few students, like 3-4 at most schools, but no acceptance rate stats were available – did 5 students apply for those spots? 50? 150? What kind of acceptance chances did she have? No clue. But I was fairly sure she had an amazing portfolio. Fortunately, her “randomly assigned” college counselor at school was a theater guy, so he was infinitely more helpful than we ever expected. Even he didn’t have acceptance rate stats, though, so he advised casting a wide net and helped her carefully craft her list.

We decided to arrange some college visits during her fall break this school year to get a sense of a few different programs and campuses. In order to see the most schools for our travel dollars, we flew to NYC and drove to Boston and back to see SUNY Purchase, BU, Emerson, Pace, and Rutgers Mason Gross. It was an exhausting week, but we learned a lot about each program and what to look for at the others on her list. [Hot Tip: never, ever rent a car at LaGuardia or drive from Boston to NYC on a Friday night. I knew it was a wacky plan, but…yeah, just don’t do it. ?]

Application insanity came next. Oh, the never-ending artistic supplements and varied digital portfolio requirements! Some schools wanted 20-25 annotated images, some wanted no more than 5 photos, and some permitted collage pages. First up was Emerson, the only one with an early action option. The Skype interview felt less than optimal to my D, but it wasn’t feasible to arrange a trip to Boston a month after our college tour week, and we had been assured that taking the Skype option would not affect her admission chances. Thanksgiving week was completely application-focused with a short break to eat mashed potatoes. There were still artistic supplements with later submission dates to be completed, but she knocked out a huge chunk of her To Do list.

First in-person interview was Penn State in mid-December, just two weeks after she submitted her application. Shortly before our departure, she got an offer by e-mail from Emerson with a substantial scholarship, so we took that as a good omen. Of course, we were both sick when we left, which turned out to be a not-so-good omen. The on campus interview, even with a somewhat intimidating faculty panel of 5, was so much better than Skyping with one person – her coming out afterward and whispering “nailed it” with what was left of her voice was a proud mom moment for sure. I vowed right then that we would schedule as many in-person interviews as we could manage. Receiving an acceptance from Penn State a week later, right before Christmas, was huge. Also, having two acceptances in her pocket so early seemed like a good indicator that she’d have some great choices in the end. I thought she might want to drop a few of the schools she hadn’t finished supplements for after that, but she kept going.

January and February were filled with more artistic supplements and multiple travel weekends – a second trip to Rutgers, Chicago Unifieds for CMU because all of the on campus slots were filled, U of Michigan with a drive to Cincinnati afterward for the CCM visit/interview the next day, and then Missouri State the following weekend. Skype interviews for Pace, DePaul, and BU were sprinkled around when we weren’t traveling. She was scheduled to visit and interview at DePaul the Saturday of Chicago Unifieds, but her HS spring musical rehearsals were in full swing with opening night the following Thursday and she was desperately needed for Tech Runs, so she decided to cancel and request a Skype time. P.S. She was sick again on our one-nighter Chicago trip and the weekend we were in Michigan/Cincinnati but still felt good about her interviews. My persistent illness turned out to be pneumonia, which explained why I had been abandoning every campus tour after the first stop.

Our last adventure was supposed to be UNCSA on March 20th, possibly the latest interview date anywhere, but, of course, by then everything was shut down, COVID-style, so it was switched to Skype.

(continued in next post)

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(continued from previous post)

Each program had stand-out elements, and we saw some beautiful facilities (favorites were BU, Emerson, U of Michigan, and CCM). A big drawback was the presence of a graduate program in her specialty area – it was apparent that undergrads tend to have limited design opportunities in those programs. The in-person on campus interviews really allowed her to make connections (or not, in some cases!) with the faculty she met, so I’m glad we arranged as many as possible.

We never in our wildest dreams thought that she would end up with 12 offers and one priority wait list. You never know how someone’s talent stacks up against the competition without going through a challenging process like this. As the only student interested in lighting design at her high school, it’s not like she had to face competition! She received very complimentary feedback following a number of the interviews, which was greatly appreciated, especially by someone who typically works behind the scenes. ?

Final decision: Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts! Key positives: no graduate program in lighting design, six weeks in London at The Globe plus various theater production/tech companies in the fall of junior year (*this was the only program we saw with an embedded study abroad opportunity for tech students – others said that something not necessarily theater-related could be arranged through the study abroad office, but it would be tricky with the department scheduling because tech students are needed for the productions), proximity to NYC with plenty of theatrical “field trips,” and the head of the lighting design program has an extensive Broadway and global resume with an abundance of industry connections. The one negative is that the theater program itself lacks a musical theater track, but there is a longstanding student-run theater company that produces three musicals a year and is always looking for tech students. Overall, it’s a terrific fit with so many incredible opportunities, and we couldn’t be happier for her!

Now our fingers are crossed that the Class of 2024 can begin their college adventure on their respective campuses this fall.