Wow @mtflmomof1! Sounds like she’ll be in the PERFECT place.
Congrats! How nice to have so many great options!
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Would really love to hear history from this years’ class!!!
Applied to BFA MT: Point Park, Pace, NYU - Tisch, Carnegie Mellon, Florida State (BA), U Central Florida (BA), Penn State
Prescreens: Pace, FSU, UCF (passed) Penn State (rejected)
Accepted to: NYU – Tisch, PPU(WL), FSU BA, UCF BA
Rejected from: Pace, CMU, FSU, UCF
Accepted academically: Point Park, Penn State, Pace (Honors), Florida State (Honors), U Central Florida (Honors), Pitt (Honors)
Final Decision: NYU – Tisch
Coach: College Confidential (Where would we be without this incredible collection of knowledge??)
Summer Program: CMU PreCollege, but not for theatre. Attended for credit classes in Sound Recording and Philosophy. I think this experience was critical as D spent most of her time with the Theatre kids, sang in the PreCollege talent show with an MT student, auditioned for and was accepted to PreCappella, the PreCollege a capella group, and was told by her Sound Recording prof to audition for MT after hearing her in the studio recording herself. She also earned A’s in both of her classes, giving her CMU college credit that looked great on her college apps.
High School: Tiny, rural school. Salutorian with CHS Calc and Stats college credit. Senior year D attended half days at local high school, and half days in a performing arts high school in Pittsburgh where she received excellent additional training.
Background: Yeah, she’s a singing/dancing/acting girl but she was painfully, ridiculously shy as a child and learning to come out of herself and just BE has been the biggest gift that performing gave her. She’s a typical overachiever, very much a perfectionist, and can be incredibly hard on herself. D also enjoys music, is self-taught pianist, plays the violin, records intricate YouTube videos with multiple layers of harmonies, and loves sound engineering and editing.
We approached this MT odyssey a bit differently than many. Instead of applying to 15 schools hoping for acceptances, D targeted schools where she felt she could be happy academically as well as in the theatre program if she ended up rejected everywhere for MT. She also applied to a few BA programs. It has been a lifelong goal of hers to attend a college that is unusual to our local area, and her list reflected her desire to go to NYC or Florida.
Prescreens were recorded at our home, with live accompaniment from a good friend/mentor of D. Getting the prescreens recorded and submitted felt like a huge relief, and our first disappointment came from a rejection of Ds prescreen from Penn State. My S is graduating this year from Penn State (hence my ‘we are college’ moniker), so D was a bit put out by this initial rejection, but Penn State was never a school where I could picture her.
I signed D up for a November PPU audition date to use as a warm-up for her more desirable schools. Although not a school she ever really considered, PPU is a well-respected theatre school that many of her friends will attend. The Waitlist from PPU came in mid January, close to our first audition weekend in New York.
We chose to do all auditions on campus, although we made separate trips to visit the campuses of Pace, NYU, and UCF prior to audition season. I scheduled her Pace and NYU audition for the end of January, not even considering that it coincided with Unifieds in NYC. Due to Unifieds and the impending blizzard, the weekend was overbooked and the Pace audition was hectic! D felt good about it, and headed into her top pick NYU the next morning with a determination that I don’t think I’d seen from her before. She particularly appreciated the interview portion of the NYU Artistic Review, and felt that she was really able to let them see her as a person as well as a performer. Our flight was canceled for the next 2 days, and I rented a car to get out of the city and head back across Pennsylvania. D talked for at least the first hour and a half about every detail of her NYU audition. (For years, when we would fill out one of those ‘Where should you go to college?’ surveys, NYU was always near the top. After visiting in August and attending the Open House in October, ever DH said ‘This school feels really right for her.’) Afraid to get my hopes up, we moved on to the next auditions.
The CMU audition was forgettable. We headed into Orlando for a small vacation and her UCF audition, which was a delight. Everything at UCF is new, and the campus is well laid-out. We both enjoyed the audition day, and even more the time D and I shared at Universal in the warm, sunny weather. The following weekend we flew to Tallahassee and the well-oiled machine that is FSU. Friday we explored the gorgeous FSU campus, and we had a wonderful dinner in Tallahassee. D was excited to be called back at the dance portion of the audition, and was the first one scheduled for songs/monologues. Three minutes later and that’s it…the entire past 5 months of intense scheduling, planning, working, stressing…it was done.
D was offered incredible merit scholarships at Pace and both Florida schools, but cost was our only negative to NYU. From the start, it was important to our family to choose a school where D’s strong academics would be valued as much as her MT skills. I feel lucky to be able to offer our D such an incredible adventure in the greatest city in the US for her university years.
When I began researching MT on CC, I remember thinking that this crazy, obsessive bunch was spending entirely too much time getting their kid into college. LOL! I became one of you, usually lurking, sometimes contributing, but always involved with the ups and downs of the class of 2019 and beyond. As everyone realizes, without the input of current, past, and future parents, many of us would have a much higher rate of rejection in the college audition process. MT is a world unlike most. I found myself telling people that I’d rather be trying to get D into medical school; the odds felt less daunting! So, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who keep this incredible resource alive. D will be off to Manhattan in August, and I feel secure that we found her best fit. Cheers!
A fairytale ending to a grueling odyssey. Congratulations @wearecollege and D!
Congrats @wearecollege and D!
My favorite thread!!! Can’t wait to read more … congrats everyone!!
Can’t wait to share some of these stories with my daughter! (when she “ungrounds” me from talking about college…lol)
Congratulations!!
Just sharing some observations in the hope they will be helpful to others, as we enjoyed learning and benefited from the collective experience of this group.
And the college choice is… Elon!
Numbers:
Programs applied to - 12
Pre-screens/passed - 4/4
Program Acceptances - 4 (Elon, Boco, OCU, Hartt)
Waitlist - 1 (Emerson)
Lessons Learned:
- Start applications early - Given the highly competitive nature of MT programs from a numbers/odds perspective it makes sense to apply to a relatively high number of programs. Of course, this creates a large amount of work with applications, supplement sections, essays, etc… If we were to do it again we would start the process no later than the beginning of June rather than late August, and have as a goal to have all/most applicaitons in before senior year starts.
- Sign up for audition slots early - we were a little delayed on our apps due to starting later than some and needing to redo pre-screens (son was sick first time), and consequently were a little delayed in requesting audition slots at some schools. This led to needing to go to an additional unified audition to fit in target school auditions. This trip could have been avoided (saving money, time and stress). Then again not having all of your eggs in one basket might be worth considering if you have too many at one location.
- For schools that do rolling or waves of admissions - earlier action is usually better. By the time son auditioned for CCM we read on CC that they had already offerred many males through previous auditions. I don't know but suspect the odds get much lower if you audition after they have already offerred many others. It is also true that if you can get an early audition/acceptance it takes a great deal of stress off as you know you are going to an MT program regardless of how other things play out. Virtually all of the schools S applied to delayed decisions until Mid-March or later which was more stressful than spreading out the timeline for decisions. Son also got over the top feedback from one program that ended up not offering him for that program, but did offer alternative majors. Son auditioned late at that program so I suspect (but don't know for sure) that they didn't have room left by the time decisions were made.
- Get Coaching - Given the competition it helps to be well prepared, and getting help from those who are experienced in the process can be invaluable. Our son attended an arts academy for his senior year and they provided this. If he didn't, hiring a coach would have made sense to us. With so many talented kids applying for a fixed and small number of spots, knowing the ropes and having confidence from being well prepared can make a big difference.
- Research programs using as many sources as possible - Fit is important, and being able to demonstrate knowledge about the programs you are applying to can only help your application/audition stand otu. We elected to do most auditions at unifieds, but did have 3 on-site auctions.
- If you or your son/daughter or network know people at the programs you are applying to reach out to them. It almost always helps and rarely if ever hurts to get information from people who know the programs well. Having common acquaintances or friends does make worlds smaller.
- If you really like a program and have a good auditioning experience, let them know you are interested. Our son received some great feedback from 2 schools we were confident were going to offer, but didn't. But there was a long period of time between the audition and decisions. I can't imagine how difficult of a task it is to pick from the 100s if not 1000s of students that apply to these programs. I imagine auditioners want to work with students who really want to be at their programs. Don't know if it was cause and effect, but son got one acceptance after requesting a tour/meeting for over his Spring Break, and got a second and larger scholarship offer from another after attending a tour, and meeting people on site. At unifieds one program sent him a text message that they really liked his audition, but wouldn't be making decision until April, but encouraged him to keep them in mind. I don't know if he replied or not but suspect he may not have. When April came the answer was a no, which was surpising given the audition in person feedback and the email. I suspect (but don't know) that if we had been proactive in communications and visited campus the outcome could have been different.
- It is tough to be "on" all of the time. We had one audition where son was not feeling it going into the audition. Traveling consecutive weekends (with travel delays) can take a toll and life goes on with all of the ups and downs that aren't constrained by travel schedules. If your s or d isn't into it, or it is getting to be too much, consider canceling an audition/trip if it is not a top target.
- If you aren't happy with your prescreen videos, and still have time consdier redoing them. S was coming down with an illness during first attempt, and decided to redo them. This delayed things a couple of weeks, but in hindsight may have made a big difference as the school he ultimately picked was one of the pre-screen schools. These videos may also be reviewed by faculty after live auditions as additional data or to recall aspects of a student.
- It helps to see the school, meet people and interact with facilities. Each of the schools we visited was very distinct and we felt we gained insights from visiting we wouldn't get any other way. We waited until auditions were over to visit several that were still in the mix. We were very impressed with one program we almost cancelled the tour for, and learned a great deal from the visit. It also helps to communicate with people with first-hand knowledge of the programs (thanks CC!).
11 (these amps go to 11!)! - Enjoy the ride. The experience will be one that creates memories that will last a lifetime. It is a great opportunity to get to see new places, meet new people, spend valuable time with s/d, and insert a little adventure into your family.
Best to all on your journey, and thanks for all the intel!!
Congrats Bonski on Elon! Some really good advice here overall.
However, regarding paragraph number 3 as it applies to CCM, and the class being filled before auditions completed, I think you may be confusing last years audition cycle with this year – which was different. Last year, some offers went out before Chicago Unifieds, but that did not happen this year. Instead, a few dozen early auditioners received “Hold” letters, indicating they would not make offers yet because they had not seen everyone, but that they were being considered. Some of those that received Hold letters were ultimately accepted, some waitlisted, and some rejected.
But to my knowledge, absolutely no one was offered a spot at CCM until auditions were completed on February 8th. I believe the date all offers were made via email was February 11th. (Note also that the dates reported on CC under the acceptance thread ALL bear the same date). The only results that went before that date were rejections. There were many rejections sent within 5-14 days of any given audition date. But no acceptances.
Congrats @bonski! I agree with your tips/lessons. While our coach was not a fan of early auditions, I saw from S and his friends that early auditions are beneficial and I do think that it might be harder to get an offer after some have already been given out. In fact, after S got two offers (one from a school he really liked) he decided not to go to Unifieds. There was one school that S did not early audition for at Moonifieds that he wished he had in hindsight. This program made a few on the spot offers to guys at Moonifieds. He ultimately didn’t think it was worth the time and expense to go to Unifieds to mainly audition for that school. However, in planning, we had decided not to do all of the auditions at Moonifieds so as to not put all our eggs in one basket, like you said. What if S had gotten sick on one of the audition dates? There was one girl who was very sick at Moonifieds and I know at least one school told her that they would see her later (Unifieds?) when she was well. If you plan early auditions, you also might be better able to reschedule if your student becomes ill. I became a HUGE fan of early auditions, personally.
Congrats @bonski!! Great lessons learned.
@ transmom - Thanks for the correction. I must have mixed up the dates when reading the CC posts on CCM. Sounds like a better system this year.
Congratulations 
Welcome to NC, @bonski!!!
Congratulations!!!
So here’s my D’s story:
Initially Applied to: Baldwin, Ball, Coastal Carolina, Elon, Florida St., Ithaca, Northern Colorado, NYU, Otterbein, OU, Penn St, Rider, Sam Houston St, TX St, Webster, Wright St. (Yes we spent a lot of money on application fees.)
Additionally Applied to: University of Miami; Molly/Cap 21.
Prescreens: Ithaca, Elon (I know there were others, I just don’t recall which ones)…Moonifieds auditions served as prescreens most of several other schools.
Call backs: Ball, Coastal, FSU, Northern Colorado, NYU, Otterbein, OU, Penn St, Sam Houston, Webster, Wright St. Also received several call backs from the North Texas Regional Drama Auditions…some were duplicative, some did not interest my D, and a couple we followup on: UM and Cap/21.
Academically accepted to: Ball, Coastal, FSU, Northern Colorado, NYU, OU, Penn, Sam Houston, Webster, Wright, Miami, Molloy/Cap 21…all of these offered academic scholarships (some were pretty hefty).
MT Acceptances: Coastal Carolina, Northern Colorado, NYU-Tisch; Wright St, Molloy/Cap 21.
WL: Rider.
Other ‘theatre’ acceptances: University of Tx @ Arlington; Tampa; Academy of Dramatic Arts?..based on regional audition.
Redirects: Miami, Baldwin, FSU, Otterbein, OU, Penn (I think they liked her strong academic background).
Background: Danced at age 5/6/7…but the shoes her feet (LOL), so she didn’t want to dance any more. Piano lessons for about 5 years. Wanted to take voice lessons, so she gave up piano. Worked with a voice coach for about 5 years. Participated in the church youth choir. Majority of her training was through the public school system.
Summers: Freshman yr - spent a week at Fordham in a theatre program…not an audition program; mostly learned about the theatre business…not really performance based. Sophomore yr - we decided she needed to audition for a summer program (turn up the heat) - accepted to TPAP…best 3 weeks of her life. Junior yr - back to TPAP.
Coaching - Dave Clemmons
Lessons Learned:
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Trust in God…she will be where he wants her.
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As a parent…be social; get to know the other parents; exchange numbers…you’ll be glad you did. We’re all going through the same thing, and it makes the process more fun. Most people are not cut throat and are not trying to get you off your game.
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College visits - start jr year when you have more time.
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Give back…offer your help and advice to the next group coming through. People did helped me and I don’t think I would have survived without that help and information.
Final Thoughts:
We met so many amazing people…students, parents, instructors.
I was able to spend some great one on one time with daughter, which gave me the opportunity to have some ‘discussions’ about college life, and beyond.
No regrets…I’m sure we could have done something different, something better…but you never know what that would have led to. It all works out the way it’s suppose to.
Final Decision (I bet you thought I would never get to this part): Wright State University.
@motherofc Congrats! Great story! #1 is so important!