Thank you so much, @sloopysnoop ! I have to say that I have a very strong suspicion that the fact that one of rooms in OU’s library looks like The Great Hall at Hogwarts helped tip the scale in D’s mind as to what school to commit too! lol! 
I LOVE this thread! Mom of a junior, so so good to read!
Love this thread. Congrats to all the ugly ducklings, swans, birds of a feather, baby chicks, Henny Pennies, Chicken Littles, Roadrunners, Mother Geese, strutting peacocks/peahens, Tweetie Birds, penguins, albatrosses, homing pigeons, Hooters, love birds, doves, hawks, Mocking Jays, Foghorn Leghorns, Big Birds, and Stella Lunas!! Chirp! Squawk! Screech! Hoo-Hoo! Peep! Cluck! Coo!
And the lone Lute!
Go Lutes!
Love this thread. It is the most interesting and uplifting to read! Keep them coming! Good news all around and many blessings to all!
Me too, loving all the good news. It is so much fun to read the background story about the process and the decision. Hopefully many more will post here, I know I will as soon as a decision has been made. My d is down to 2 schools, so hopefully I’ll be able to post soon.
It feels like deja vu to all of us Class of 2018ers! Told you it would all work out. Keep the stories coming, and congrats to all!
(male)
Applied to BFA MT: Boston Conservatory, Pace, Ithaca, Roosevelt CCPA Voice, Millikin, UArts, University of Arizona, Oklahoma City University, Columbia College Chicago(BA), AMDA NY
Prescreens: Pace, Ithaca, UArts, passed all.
Withdrew: University of Arizona, Oklahoma City University(couldn’t afford to fly out)
Accepted to: Boston Conservatory, Roosevelt CCPA MT Voice, Millikin University, Columbia College Chicago, AMDA NY
Wait-listed: UArts
Rejected from: Pace, Ithaca
Academically Accepted to: All schools
Final Decision: Roosevelt CCPA MT Voice!
Coach: None
Summer Program: Pace Summer Scholars… great program, I made some amazing life-long friends.
High School: Large public school, I am the only one in my senior class of 700 getting a BFA. Someone in my class asked if the Boston Conservatory was in NYC… I wish I was kidding haha.
Background: I would first like to say that I am very proud of all the work I did. I did EVERYTHING. All the applications, essays, prescreens, song selections, monologue selections, audition scheduling, etc… Not having a coach was very difficult but if you want something to happen, it will happen. This year was very hard for my family financially as my mother is still going breast cancer operations and treatments. There were many moments where my parents would tell me that I wasn’t going to end up anywhere because of money. It was hard to swallow, but I just wanted my mom to be healthy and she felt like this was all her fault, and I didn’t want her to feel that way. At last, she has another surgery today which will hopefully be one of her last.
Training:
Voice: 3 years
Acting: 5+ years
Dance: 6 months… haha
Audition experiences: I got a letter in the mail from AMDA that waived all my fees, so my audition was basically free. I had no intention of going to AMDA but it was good practice for my upcoming auditions and the faculty was extremely nice. Fast forward to Chicago Unifieds, my first audition was for Millikin. It was a very laid back audition, but I was not spoken to once by the auditors. The dance call was all ballet and the teacher came up to me and said “technique classes will benefit you.” As I was leaving this audition I was BLOWN OVER BY THE STUPID BLIZZARD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. It was mortifying and all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and sleep. The next day I had Ithaca’s and Pace’s auditions. Although I was not accepted to Ithaca, their audition was very well planned out and the least stressful. My Pace audition was next. I loved Pace when I was there for their summer program, but this audition felt really off. All the kids in the waiting room were the horrible ones that everyone fears. They were mean, manipulating and just awful people. I walked into the audition room and police sirens start to go off. They don’t stop. I had to sing and perform my monologues over the sirens. The auditors were very nice, but I came out of my audition completely destroyed. That was my TOP school. I sat in my hotel room questioning myself on why I was even doing this. All these other kids were having great auditions and getting acceptances handed to them and I felt like I didn’t belong. I fell asleep and woke up in a completely different mood! I threw out my cliche audition clothes and put on something that represented me. I felt great. I was pumped for my BoCo and CCPA auditions. They both went great. I was blown away by the faculty and current students of both schools. They were excellent. When I auditioned on Roosevelt’s campus it felt at home. I was surrounded by people just like me and the atmosphere was incredible. My last audition was for UArts. It went fine, the lady told me I was accepted, but I was later wait-listed. This was kinda heartbreaking because I really connected with the lady, but hey, everything happens for a reason.
Advice:
- PICK OBSCURE SONGS AND MONOLOGUES. I researched for months and found songs from shows that not even these college adjudicators have heard of. In one of my auditions the head of the department asked me where he could find one of my songs because he was going to start using it in his classes!
- Don't listen to some of the kids and parents at your auditions. There are some extremely condescending people out there and they are only out to get you because they are insecure and need to take it out on other people.
- Distract yourself after your auditions! Do a show or something to get your mind off of it!
- Still audition even if you're sick. I was SO sick during Chicago Unifieds and the auditors knew that and a few of them even commented on how they could tell but I still sounded fine.
- Never be afraid to ask for money. The schools obviously want you and hopefully they understand that the price tag is not a reality.
I would just like to say, your guy’s posts throughout this year have been the best. Everyone is so supportive and informative. I know your S or D will strive where-ever they go!
^^Good for you! And positive vibes for your mom!
Awesome choice! Great and valuable summary. Congratulations!!!
Oh fantastic, welcome to the CCPA family! I remember hearing from you during the decision-making process and feeling terrible about all you were going through. I’m so glad the finances worked out for you.
@MTer1997 Congratulations! You should be extremely proud of yourself for doing everything! So many details to keep track of and all the while you are dealing with normal teenage school and life along with the fact that your mom has been sick. Kudos to you! So happy that you have found a great program!
Wow, WTG @MTer1997 ! What a remarkable story! Sending prayers to you and your entire family! Make sure you update us in the sharing, venting thread on your mom’s surgery today!
Thank you everybody!
@MTer1997 – your story brought me to tears. You are the real deal…you were able to see through the nonsense and had the wisdom to not let it bother you. many, many congrats!
@MTer1997 I rarely post, but wanted to give you a virtual high five and prayers to your mom. Your drive will get you far.
@MTer1997 so awesome! Wonderful things come to those who work for it… Bravo!
Applied to: Ball State, Emerson, Point Park, Millikin, BoCo, Ohio Northern, Santa Fe, Utah, Roosevelt, Hartt, UNLV (BA Theatre)
Accepted: Ohio Northern, Santa Fe, Utah, UNLV
Waitlist: Emerson, Point Park
Redirected to BA: Millikin
Final Decision: Ohio Northern, BFA-MT
Our D started with a list of every school that has BFA-MT and visited their websites and requested information from those that interested her. Eventually got down to about 20 schools and then built a final list that would include a variety of schools. We did an on-campus audition at UNLV in December and got in immediately to the Stage and Screen emphasis (this was our safety). Went to Unifieds in Chicago for the other 10. That trip was so much fun for us.
Visited Utah and Ohio Northern last week over Spring Break. Loved ONU. Great campus, faculty and students. We felt right at home and my D knew right away that this was the place. Generous scholarship certainly helped. Nothing compares with visiting campus. We thought Utah, since it is close to home, would be the place. However, our visits flipped that and we are now Polar Bears (ONU mascot).
We live in the rural west and my D’s graduating class has 26 students. We were blessed to have a vocal teacher from Viterbo and a Drama teacher from Emerson on the high school teaching staff. Plus there are several children’s theater programs in a nearby community. We are always in a production. She took a MT dance class at an outstanding local dance studio and just recently started personal voice lessons. No audition coach.
I am not sure we would do much different. Before we began this journey I sat down with her vocal teacher at school and asked her point blank about my daughter’s talent. I needed an honest assessment so I wouldn’t encourage my daughter based on my limited and skewed knowledge. Once the teacher told me she had the ability I was all in.
Other random thoughts. Staying at the Palmer House at Unifieds was really important. Twice I had to run to the room to get something we forgot. Also, it was easy to get a quick rest or take food to the room between auditions without going out in the nasty weather. My daughter never allowed herself to have a “dream” school, which made the rejection/acceptance process so much easier. I put together a binder for this process that included the audition requirements for each school and then a cover sheet for each school that I created to keep track of application dates, financial aid dates, audition information/room location, and other miscellaneous info. I also downloaded the floor maps for the Palmer House and found each room prior to the audition time so I knew where we were going.
Lastly, I read CC MT a lot. It was almost a year before I actually posted. It helped considerably. Thanks to everyone for your insight and encouragement.
@MTer1997 WOW! What a lot for you to overcome this year, yet you persevered! So proud of you and sending prayers for your mom.