<p>Applied to: Oklahoma City University, Muhlenberg College (finished apps)</p>
<p>In Process Apps: Baldwin Wallace, Wright State, Carnegie Mellon, etc.</p>
<p>Prescreens: None -- was waiting to hear from OCU</p>
<p>Accepted to: Oklahoma City University</p>
<p>Rejected from: No rejections-</p>
<p>Wait-listed at: none</p>
<p>Final Decision: Oklahoma City University BFA Acting (will take extra music courses as well. He also was BM Music.)</p>
<p>Coach: MTCA</p>
<p>Summer Programs: Oklahoma City University Performing Arts Academy (5 weeks)</p>
<p>Background: My son did football for eight years. He was a lineman. He looks like a lineman. In high school he didn't want to do football any more so he finally auditioned for a play in 10th grade. He was in the chorus. I thought he would be an engineer. In 11th grade he was cast as Nicely Nicely Johnson and he told me that he wanted to major in musical theater in December of that year. Before seeing him in the play, I would have steered him in another direction. At the play another mom told me that there were summer programs. After his performance, I had to look into them.</p>
<p>In the way way past, I worked for Houghton Mifflin on an occupational choice product for high school kids for many years. I also took a grad course in counseling. I've created online learning products in the past. When my daughter said she wanted to go into music and be in a rock band I had her touring New England while she was a teenager and asked her after every horrible gig interspersed with the good ones if she still wanted to do this. I had her haul her own gear, set up the sound, stand at trade show booths to get business. She was going to KNOW what it took if she was going to go to music school and it wasn't airplanes and limos. (She is currently a senior at Berklee College of Music. The only school she applied to. Believe me, I begged her to apply to more but she got in early decision and that was that.)</p>
<p>But how do I do this with my son? How does he KNOW what it takes in such a short time? I looked at summer programs, my only option in such a short time period. My son liked OCU's online presentation of the program over all others. It required a prescreen and if we applied by a certain date in January they would take money off the tuition. However, if he got in, he would have to leave his regular school two weeks early. I really looked into the program. He thought he couldn't go because of his regular school schedule. After looking at the program, I told him to apply because I liked the fact that it was 5 weeks. (You need something more than 4 weeks for some of the novelty to wear off, and I was looking for novelty to wear off.) It also had classes and performances. Dance class every day. I wanted him to be just as tired as my daughter was... I wanted an intense environment. It was run by the faculty. It was also less expensive than other similar programs, even with the airfare from Boston to Oklahoma City. (East-coast real estate costs can be brutal and that is passed onto the students.) If he got in, we would just tell the school that he was going and it was a learning experience. If he went and hated it, then it was money well spent because he would choose another direction moving forward. If he went and loved it, then it was money well spent because he would be sure and he would learn new skills.</p>
<p>During the five-week program I heard from my son twice. Once to put money on his card. The second time to send some pants out. (I even reached out to fellow CC'er Addicted2MT to send him a message to call via her daughter.) My husband and I would drive to Oklahoma from Boston for the final performance and then we would drive back to look at colleges if he still wanted to major in musical theater. (And if he didn't, that was fine!) We saw the final performances, we stayed in Oklahoma and had great food, a great hotel, and it was WAAAYYY cheaper than Boston. This was his first choice. He absolutely loved it and this is the direction that he wanted to go in. I was impressed by Dr. Herendeen. I agree that you have to "do" in order to learn the skills, and nothing hones the skills more than preparing for a performance and then delivering. (Each time my daughter was in a Battle of the Bands, the band took their performance to a new level that then stuck.) The fact that they put on Footloose in three weeks was astounding. </p>
<p>My son wanted to go to OCU. We looked at schools on the drive back, Baldwin Wallace, Carnegie Mellon, Wright State, Oklahoma University, Otterbein, Webster... He knew there were other good schools out there and he had a final list, but he loved OCU.</p>
<p>When we were there at the end of the summer program, Dr. Herendeen said my son should try out for acting as well. He was destined to be a character actor with his build. Character actors usually find work.(Yeehaw to that!) Looking at it from a skills perspective, my son really shouldn't spend a lot of time honing his ballet skills. He is never going to be that type of actor. The BFA acting program has vocals, music, and dance. More music can be added. I asked Dr. Herendeen about coaching and he said that everyone should be familiar with the material, however it happens.</p>
<p>I knew that my son wanted OCU, but, of course, there is no guarantee in college admissions. I chose MTCA for coaching as my son had not taken a lot of voice classes, etc. and he needed to close a skills gap in a short amount of time. Five weeks doesn't come close to 10,000 hours. We started the coaching late summer because OCU's early auditions are in November. He also had to take his finals that he had missed earlier in the year in September. (It was a new school policy. Honors physics, etc. after a 2 1/2 month break... whatever... it worked out fine.)</p>
<p>He worked on his audition material, went to mock auditions in NYC with MTCA in early November, and then OCU auditions. While at OCU, we heard from the administration Mark Parker, the Dean, as well as the new Associate Dean of the Theater School who came from USC by way of England, Brian Parsons. OCU also requires that the students audition for just about every play, etc. There are few walls between the programs. They all get along. Everyone knows that Kristin Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara went there, but Alex Enterline also spoke who just graduated in the BFA Acting program in 2014. He went to the showcase in NYC and was cast because of that in the lead role of the national tour of Nice Work If You Can Get It. He said that the music and dancing in the BFA Acting program prepared him. The auditions just cemented my son's wish that he attend the school. A whole slew of kids that went to the summer program met at a great pizza place in a very artsy section of town near the school. Some of the counselors were there too. </p>
<p>We got the final news in December and received a talent scholarship as well as scholarships for his grades and SATs. My son is going to spend the money that he would have spent going to auditions on piano lessons and taking a Calculus course so he can take more music at OCU. (OCU requires a college math class.) (If there wasn't an associated cost both to my pocketbook and potentially other kids, I would have liked him to have auditioned at other schools for the experience.)</p>
<p>We are done. Good luck to everyone in the coming months!</p>
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