Lots of working actors coming out of U Arts these days – that’s brand-name enough for me! Congrats @MTVT2015!!
Congratulations @MTVT2015! And thanks for sharing all your thoughts about your journey. I know you have educated inspired those who are just getting ready to start the audition process. You will love UArts and I’m sure we’ll be hearing great things from you in the future!
Grats, future classmate!
@MTTwinsinCA the issue was less with the school and more with me doing theatre at all…my dad would have had the same problem with any MT school not known for its academics. Thankfully that’s all over but it was a stressful couple of weeks! And thanks everyone! It feels so good to be done.
Congratulations MTVT2015!!! You demonstrate great poise and insight, and UArts is very fortunate indeed to have you in the class of 2019! You will go far! 
Wonderful story @MTVT2015 ! What a journey you have been on!
Finally!!!
Applied to: Shenandoah, Coastal Carolina, Penn State, Elon, Roosevelt, Cornish, Ohio Northern, U Utah, UW – Stevens Point, Northern Colorado, Belmont
Prescreens: Shenandoah, Coastal Carolina, Penn State, Elon (didn’t pass)
Accepted to: Shenandoah Conservatory, Roosevelt-CCPA, Cornish, Ohio Northern, Utah, Drake, Long Island
Rejected from: Penn State, Northern Colorado
School lost his application, automatic rejection: Belmont (we’re not bitter, I swear!)
Wait-listed at: Coastal Carolina, UW-Stevens Point
Final Decision: Shenandoah Conservatory, BFA Musical Theatre!!
Coach: MTCA
Summer Programs: Carnegie Mellon Pre-College (6 Weeks)
Background: This was our second time going through this process. During S’s senior year, my husband was diagnosed with cancer, and it definitely threw all of us into several months of crazy. S got into one school (Emerson), that we couldn’t justify paying for over our local state school, so S made the brave decision to try out their new BA Musical Theatre track.
Within a week, he had decided to move home (a whole twenty minutes!) from his fraternity, and was already questioning the level of training and type of program support he was set to receive at this BA program. There were significant changes that had occurred following his May 1 commitment. Big red flags: advisors had all left the program, music faculty refused to teach MT so a TA was running all lessons, students were encouraged to pick a different degree as this was not a “legit profession,” and finally, the program’s status had gone from “full” to a “trial” status that could be cut at any moment.
So, with a healed father and a more comfortable financial situation, S decided after a quarter that he loved MT more than this, and that the training he wanted to receive and the type of art he is living to create would be heavily distracted by the department as they spend the next decade figuring out their MT track. Within the first three weeks of school, we had already met with MTCA and begun our work for a serious, and seriously AWESOME round 2 of this process.
After MTCA’s December mock audition, S set all his auditions for mid-January-February. We actually managed to enjoy Unifieds this time around, and began the long wait. S chose schools more strategically this year, going for strong acting centered programs that still emphasized dance. He is very happy with the results of this season, especially compared to last, and we are excited to be shipping him off to the east coast in August!!!
Why We LOVE Shenandoah: Shenandoah’s program is top notch, and it combined three elements that S really wanted. Shenandoah conditions MTs for the ever-popular pop/rock styles, and has exciting opportunities each year (including their collegiate premier of American Idiot last fall!). S really loved the semi-rural setting, even though it’s only an hour to DC! And, finally, their business of the business training helps graduates market themselves incredibly well (which is where we’re headed in four years)! The environment seems perfect for him, and I think he’s really going to soar this time around.
Things We Learned from Round 2:
- Don’t be afraid of transferring. I think especially in MT the transfer situation is one that isn’t heavily discussed, and S actually has a surprising amount of friends who were looking to restart at another program. People transfer all the time, so there’s no need to feel embarrassed about the process!!
- Make this audition process a transparent one. Although there’s a good amount of mystery behind MT admissions, this year we really communicated with schools, asked questions, and made sure we were doing everything correct and 100%. The other day, we called a school, just curious if there was more money, and received a doubled scholarship!
- Own the audition room – I’m no audition coach (thank you MTCA!!!) but S has said repeatedly that this year, the biggest difference in his audition was how relaxed he felt when facing auditors. For Class of 2016, I think having a chance to do a dozen or so local auditions just to test the waters could make a huge impact in how comfortable you feel for the audition season.
- Know that this is all going to work out. Even if it takes a second round of auditions, another six weeks of anxious waiting, a couple flights to visit schools, lots of food and lots of hugs as you make a final decision, it is WORTH IT!! All for four years of excellent training followed by a life where our kids get to do what they LOVE!!!
I could not be more proud of S for trusting himself and making the crazy decision to do this process all over again… we all feel so weird though, there’s nothing to stress about anymore!
Best of luck to you all, whether you’re finishing this journey, about to begin it, or thinking of repeating it. You are all lucky to have kids that want to spend their lives creating beautiful art
GO HORNETS!!!
All my best,
Quinoa
Congrats! We really loved Shenandoah’s program, too, but it came down to my D wanting a bigger campus experience. I am excited for your son to find his place! Congrats to you and him both.
@voiceTeacher is always such a calming, informational voice of reason on this forum. If everyone at Shenandoah is as awesome as he is, your son will undoubtedly have a wonderful and successful college experience @quinoamom206. Congratulations!
P.s @quinoamom206 - so glad to hear husband/dad is doing well and that life in general is on an uptick. I can’t imagine how stressful that year was for you. So glad you’ve ended up with a wonderful outcome, even if it took a little while to get there!
Many congrats, @quinoamom206 … What an inspiring story! So glad your husband is doing well, too!
@quinoamom206 I can’t say congratulations loud enough or with more heartfelt empathy!! Transferring is a very difficult road and you and I both know how scary it is. But, both our boys did it!!! I hope and I pray that this is now “where they were meant to be”. It is said so much on this forum, and eventually, I guess it does ring true. Best to you and your family!
@quinoamom206 Welcome to SU from a fellow transfer students mom. Your son is going to love Apple Blossom Festival time! There are several transfer students in MT so he won’t feel alone. If you have any questions feel free to pm me and I’ll see if I can help.
This was too long - so going to be in 2 parts
The Applications:
Applied to: BYU, Milliken, Pace, BW, Rider, Wright State, Coastal Carolina, U of Michigan, CCM, Syracuse, NYU, Boston Conservatory, Ball State, Penn State, Emerson, Ithaca, Carnegie Mellon, Elon, Western Michigan, Shenandoah, Muhlenberg, Hartt. Did not complete auditions for Muhlenberg or Hartt.
Prescreens: Passed – Shenandoah, Penn State, UMich, Ithaca, BYU – Pace, BW & Coastal were done at Moonfieds (PS & Final). Did not pass Elon.
Did not go to on campus to audition for Shenandoah or BYU.
The Artistic Acceptances:
Milliken, Wright State, Point Park BA, Rider, Western Michigan, Ball State BA, Coastal Carolina, Boston Conservatory. Academically accepted to Pace with very nice scholarship.
The Waitlists: Emerson MT and Syracuse MT
The Coaching:
MT College Prep (junior year)
Dave Clemmons
Mary Anna Dennard (online program only)
MTCA
Summer Programs:
Blue Lake Fine Arts (middle school), MPulse (acting), Interlochen HS MT Intensive, Oklahoma City University 3 wk.,
Artsbridge, Take it from the Top (3 yrs regular, 3 yrs advanced), Ballet summer intensive
The Training:
My daughter started dancing early – from age 3-6 she did tap/ballet. At age 6, she started singing with children’s choirs. By age 8 she was still in choir and started Irish dance and did competitive Irish dance through 7th grade. 8th grade she started in ballet. By high school she was in upper level classes at a ballet school at a professional ballet company, dancing 6 days a week. She began voice lessons soon after she turned 12 and worked with a local vocal teacher over the past 6 years. She began working with a 2nd local voice coach junior year. By senior year she was working with the MTCA vocal coach on a regular basis and an amazing professor from a great college MT program, both of which really helped her voice grow a ton. Also took some local acting classes and worked with MTCA coaches on monologue and song performance.
My daughter was in her first production in 4th grade. By 5th grade, she was in her first community theater production and continued in multiple productions each year. She never had a “lead” role, but had many great roles and was often one of the youngest members of the community theatre casts, giving her an opportunity to learn from many talented individuals around town. High School came, she was cast in shows at high school, but the choir director was more of a vocal jazz guy and didn’t like her stronger, broadway voice, so she never got a callback for a singing part in a musical. (Note to everyone….do not base your assessment of talent on high school casting!) It also led to a strange dynamic within the school where my daughter really felt bullied. Senior year my daughter transferred high schools to a neighboring school in a different district with an incredible program. She earned main parts in both musicals, received some great training, plus had chances to do cabarets, solo/ensemble, thespian troupe, honors choir, made some wonderful friends and had a chance to enjoy senior year.
The Auditions:
First, applying for this many schools, I knew that scheduling was going to be a nightmare. I was kind of a tyrant and made her have all of her applications in by September 30. We took a tag team approach to the applications. I created the accounts and did the “form” part of it, anything that required short answers or any type of essay became a word document that she could open and work on when she had a chance. This made it possible to still do her community theatre productions, school productions and all the other normal high school stuff she wanted to do.
Having the applications in early allowed us to coordinate all the different audition dates, which was like a HUGE jigsaw puzzle.
We started our auditions in the fall, her first audition was on campus at Milliken University. They tell you at the exit interview which program you have been accepted into. My daughter was fortunate to be accepted into the BFA MT program, which set the audition season off to a good start. Next we went to Moonfieds, where she auditioned for 7 schools. By Christmas she had her second acceptance from Wright State and a “hold” from Rider. January came, she received another acceptance from Point Park.
We did January auditions on campus at U of Mich and CCM – my daughter got sick. Actually threw up during her U of M dance call, threw up the entire drive to CCM and woke up the morning of her CCM with a very high fever. The show must go on, she auditioned, but later got a no from both programs.
Next came Chicago Unifieds. We arrived on Saturday evening with first auditions on Sunday. She had all applications in auditions scheduled early – so we had blocks of 2 auditions a day. First day of auditions, she realized she forgot her ballet shoes. Fortunately, there is a dance store 1 block away from Palmer House – got those shoes Monday before her first audition (they were closed Sunday because of the blizzard). Note to all – there is a dance store VERY close to Chicago Unifieds if you forget anything! Unifieds was unbelievable. Loved the Palmer House and the wonderful people we met. It was also completely exhausting. Since we were working with coaches, Dave Clemmons had a suite and had everyone to his room for a super bowl party (half time show with a room filled with MT people – very fun!) Dave was also walking around Unifieds and available for questions, chats, coaching or pep talks. MTCA had an opening meeting Sunday to explain the walk in process and how the week was going to work. They also had coaches available for sessions, a suite you could go hang out, ask questions or be cheered up and one of their coaches actually did morning warmup sessions for the kids. Yes, for vocals – but more importantly to help them clear their head and remind them they were ready for the day. LOVED him because of this – I can’t tell you how much this helped.
Unified auditions went well. Some schools were SO kind and supportive (Boston Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon), others had faculty or support staff that were VERY short and rude, which was sad to see. It was a stressful week for everyone – but these are all just kids, who have worked very hard and spent a lot of money to be there for auditions. This was very disappointing to watch. Frankly, if BoCo and CMU can be kind….there is no reason every school shouldn’t be able to show the kids the same kindness.
Part 2:
The Decision:
BOSTON CONSERVATORY
Summer of 2013 my daughter attended Artsbridge on campus at Boston Conservatory. She came home that summer and said that BoCo was where she wanted to be. Fast forward to fall of senior year, we had watched many very talented people not get into programs that they wanted. As a result, we cast a very wide net and applied to many program. Each of these programs she liked for various reasons, but BoCo remained her love. She attended classes on campus of several of the schools she was accepted to and loved the faculty and the kids, but her heart was still at BoCo. Late March she had an opportunity to attend classes at BoCo and watch a senior directed production, she knew it was where she wanted to be.
We love the location of BoCo. She can fly there and get to campus alone easily, this was very important. The faculty are amazing. The program can really push her in all areas, including dance, building on the training she has already spent so many years at. The kids all seemed extremely talented and very welcoming. We know the training is intense, but she is looking so forward to that and really wanted that conservatory setting and likes the idea of being in a bigger city, learning how to navigate that, plus taking advantage of what it has to offer. As a parent, I watched the faculty interact with kids on my visit – they pushed them, but we very caring too, a nice combination. I also love that they have a wellness center with physical therapy, massage therapy, counseling sessions and other general wellness learning opportunities available to the kids at no cost. This is a stressful industry, both physically and emotionally – I’m very grateful that BoCo recognizes this and provides these services for their students.
The Lessons Learned:
-Summer programs – do them! My daughter worked with faculty from so many different programs during these summer programs. You can get a feel for what you like and don’t like about programs, This really helped shape the audition list. Plus, along the audition circuit, she knew kids everywhere she auditioned, as well as currently knows kids in many different programs she could talk to for information.
-Do as many auditions as possible in the fall – some of them you will find out results sooner. This makes the torturous February/March waiting just a little easier.
-DANCE! So grateful she was a dancer. As boring as classical ballet training may seem, it simply cannot be replaced. When she started in 8th grade – she was one of the oldest kids in the class. She didn’t care. She went to class, worked, danced – and wow did it make a difference.
-Coaches – not just for the child, but for the parent. VERY grateful for our coaches that were there to answer frantic texts, emails and calls. When we went to visit programs she was accepted to, we still visited, talked to and worked with some of her MTCA coaches, they have become like friends. Dave Clemmons has told the kids he’s here for the – through college and beyond. Trust me – it’s great to have these guys as a resource.
- SUPPORT – for you and them. VERY grateful for a few close friends going through this too, and the “mama mafia” to help keep the laughs coming during the panic moments.
- May 1 decisions DO NOT have to apply to MT programs. Out of all of her acceptances – 1 wanted a fully refundable deposit early to hold her spot, the other actually pushed her hard for a decision by April 3, extended the time to April 10, then withdrew the offer when she said she still needed to have all the information back from all of her options before deciding.
-Remember – YOU ARE ENOUGH. This process if filled with SO much rejection. Remember the talent is there, this is about fit. Don’t take it personally (you too moms!) DO NOT give up because you are not the one getting the leads - community theatre or high school. Keep working and training if this is your love.
I still have 4 younger kids at home. The next one wants imed school – but I may be looking at this process all over again in a few years with some of the others. Excited to see what the future has in store.
@mommabears26 … I’ve been waiting for your full story!!
Congrats to you and your D!
@mommabears26 - Congratulations! So happy for your D!
Good work @mommabears26 ! Thank you for sharing… AND for the reassurance about BOCO… Sounds like you and D have spent some valued info absorbing time there to really make you feel good about your decision… Boston is one of the best cities on the planet… Congrats!
I posted D’s final decision many weeks ago but I finally found some time to sit down and write the back story. Better late than never I guess.
Applied to: UArts, Baldwin-Wallace, BoCo, CMU, CCM, Coastal Carolina, Emerson, Ithaca, Hartt , UMich, Montclair, Muhlenberg (safety), Oklahoma City, Northwestern, NYU Tisch, Pace, Penn State , Rider, Webster
Unified Walk-ins: Ball State, Northern Colorado, Texas State (invited to on campus audition after seen by school rep at NY Unifieds)
Prescreens:
Passed - Coastal Carolina, Ithaca, Pace, Penn State
Did not pass – UMich, Baldwin-Wallace (Strangely, she attended a master class with B-W faculty after which the entire class was invited for live auditions whether they had passed the prescreen or not. I have a feeling B-W was not happy with the pre-screen process since this was their first year doing it. I think next year they will probably cast a wider net for live auditions.)
Accepted to: UArts, Oklahoma City, Muhlenberg, NYU Tisch
Rejected or re-directed from: All Others (was accepted academically to all except Northwestern)
Wait-listed at: BoCo, Northern Colorado,
Final Decision: Oklahoma City University BM MT
Coach: MTCA
Summer Programs: French Woods (11 years)
Training:
Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus from around the age of 8. Voice and acting at French Woods each summer, especially lot’s of improv work over the past few years. Very little formal dance training before junior year. After that went somewhat regularly to basic ballet and MTCA dance prep classes. Also worked with MTCA coaches on voice, acting and dance. Wife and I are both singers/musicians and have coached her on occasion with varying degrees of success. As most people know, it is difficult to teach your own children. We exposed both of our kids to a wide variety of musical styles including large doses of Ethel Merman at a very early age.
Background:
We went through this process two years ago with our son who is a current sophomore MT at UMich. Our D knew as a HS freshman that she wanted to pursue theatre as a career so she tagged along on all of brother’s college visits during his junior year. He was accepted to most of the schools where he applied. We knew her journey would be much more of a challenge.
She had her first disappointment when she didn’t pass the B-W pre-screen. She got that email right before she had to go on stage but she is thick skinned and made it through the performance with no one being the wiser. A week later she found out that she didn’t pass the UMich pre-screen which had been her top choice to that point even though she knew it was a longshot. We were not with her when she found out but met her for dinner in NYC that night. She came into the restaurant strangely happy and declared that she was over the Michigan disappointment, she knew it was not the right place for her and she wanted to change her already submitted Northwestern application to ED instead of RD.
Northwestern had been one of those college visits she did early. We all loved it and thought it would be a great school for her. She knew that applying ED at NU would give her a better chance. She had a close friend who was a freshman at NU and she had just been involved with a NY reading with a respected NU theatre alum who ended up writing her a lovely recommendation. We thought, if she gets into NU we would be able to cancel all of her auditions and be done. It was not to be. She took a light class schedule senior year because of the impending audition schedule and that probably hurt her NU chances. Again, she took the disappointment in stride and moved on pretty quickly.
She decided that the material she had used for her prescreens and a few early auditions was not working for her so she met with her coach and chose two new songs. She added a few more schools that were not on her initial list including CCU, Webster and OCU (even though Oklahoma was the last place in the world she could picture herself back then).
She had no steady voice teacher so MTCA recommended that she work via skype with a technique coach who happened to be an OCU faculty member. I accompanied on piano at many lessons and got to hear the training first hand. I was amazed at what this teacher was able to accomplish without even being in the same room. She taught her to belt crazy high notes in a healthy way while also improving her legit technique greatly. She encouraged D early on in the process to audition at OCU or at least submit a video audition. She was hesitant because never having traveled to the southwest, Oklahoma seemed like a foreign country to her. Once a few more rejections came in she decided to apply to OCU and make the trip to the school rather than send a video.
She had done most of her NYC area auditions in January in addition to NY Unifieds where she did 2 scheduled auditions per day plus 3 walk-ins for a total of 11 schools. Texas was also a state where she could not picture herself but the TSU walk-in seemed like a good opportunity. Within a few days she was put in touch with Kaitlin Hopkins who wanted D to come meet her and do a live audition. We made plans to go to San Marcos. Meanwhile a few rejections started rolling in. Getting her first acceptance, to UArts, was a huge relief especially since it was a school she liked and seemed like a good fit.
We traveled to OCU a day before the audition and she was able to sit in on a class with Dr. Herendeen, director of opera and MT. She immediately liked him and the class and was also able to sing at a voice master class later that day. She absolutely loved the school and the program. Everyone we met there was warm and friendly. The current students we spoke to all seemed to be so happy. I think she was wary of falling in love with any program but this one moved into to her top 5 very quickly.
Then on to Texas. She was lucky to be chosen to sing at the audition day master class which was so much fun for her to participate in and for us to watch. This became another program she had to convince herself not to fall in love with. More rejections, a redirect from Ball State, Northern Colorado waitlist and then she made the TSU priority hold list.
TSU ultimately turned into a rejection but not before getting the exciting news that she had been accepted to OCU for MT with both merit and talent scholarships. She was overjoyed.
There were a bunch more rejections and then an acceptance from NYU. Even though she applied to a few NY schools, her preference was to go to school away from NYC since she’s lived in this area all her life and knows she will probably return for her career. She considered NYU but knew in her heart that OCU was the right place for her.
Besides all the great training and support from her coaches, we are so thankful to MTCA because she would not have otherwise considered OCU. We are confident she will get great training at OCU. We are so happy because at the end of this long journey we know she has ended up exactly where she was meant to be.
Congrats @PelkyAgain! OCU is a great place. Dr. Herendeen is awesome as is the voice faculty.