great stories today! 
Love todayâs stories so much! Congrats @EIS0301, @Aiming4Success, and @1bamom!!! Also I really, really loved your ending paragraph there, @1bamom!
Congrats to your D @1bamom! My S also came from a dance background (I think our kids may have both been at PBT in summer 2014), but along the way realized that storytelling is paramount - in Dance and in MT. May your Dâs story dance on.
Congrats to you and your D, @1bamom!
@1bamom congrats to your D I also believe that the school that is right for you will see you in the audition room what a process!
@1bamom congratulations on your BoCo decision. They truly do value dancers! Itâs a great place and city.
I like that sentiment -that the right school for you will see you in the audition process. I feel like that is true and happened with many kids I know including my daughter. Not sure the kids always recognize that! 
@bfahopeful Ainât that the truth!!
Wonderful stories! Congratulations to all of you!
Thank you all for your kind words. @mom4bwayboy itâs fun to think our kids might have crossed paths in the PBT dance studios! And @owensfolks your Dâs story is one of the most inspiring Iâve read on CC! I remember an evening last August when I poured myself a glass of wine and read the entire final decision thread for 2020 (OK, I might have refilled the glass around page 18). It was sobering, of course, but also very helpful, and I hope this thread will do the same for the new crop of students! With that wish in mind, Iâll also share some practical aspects of our year. My D decided to do three shows: one at her high school in October, and two with her dance ensemble (December and March runs). Fortunately (I guess) the spring musical at her high school was not one she longed to be in, and the auditions collided with her college auditions anyway, so she skipped that. She is now in rehearsal for a couple smaller spring performances and enjoying them very much. We also did something more bold than that: she became in essence a part-time student by dropping her math and science classes before school started. She still has three APs, and PE and theater class, but having the extra time in her life was incredibly helpful. We made this decision based on the information from a few schools that acceptance would be based 90 percent on audition, and 10 percent on her academics. She was able to maintain a strong GPA with a decently rigorous class schedule but also breathe her way through an incredibly demanding year of applications and performances. She also took all the stay-healthy advice she received: a flu shot, lots of wipes and hand sanitizer, traveled with a humidifier. She did not get any sign of a cold or flu or any illness from September through mid-April! Still canât believe she pulled that off!
@EIS0301 I nearly forgot to say thank you for sharing your story. I love how you regrouped after phase one of your auditions!
School deposit made-check
Housing deposit made-check
Final Decision Background postâŠ
Applied: Uarts,CMU, Hartt, Molloy/CAP21, Pace, CCM, BoCo, Pt Park, Syracuse, BW, Montclair, MSM, Shenandoah, Univ of Memphis, UAB, Fla. Southern, Penn St
PreScreens-passed all but PSU
Cancelled aud-Shenandoah, UAB
Video audition- Memphis, Fla. Southern
Waitlisted: BW, Fla. Southern
Accepted: academically to all
Artistically: Uarts, Molloy/CAP21, Memphis, BoCo
Summer: pre college intensive @ Westminster(Rider)- entering jr. yr.
BAA intensive-entering sr. yr.
Attended SETC-spring of jr. yr.-great way for D to " get her feet wet" for college auditions, learn about programs she wasnât aware of and meet fellow CCers ( @theaterwork )
Training: voice for the past yr, dance since age of 4-once a wk for fun-not competitive,
acting-monologue coach for Jan & Feb
D belongs to a childrenâs theater since 8th grade where she has done many shows and classes and found a home where she felt accepted for who she is. That theater and the community of professionals she has been fortunate enough to learn from has been a Godsend since she attends a public HS where sports are king and not much attention (or $$$) is given to the arts. D has had 3 different directors in 4 yrs, which has made for a tumultuous HS experience. She performed in fall play/spring musical all 4 yrs and co-wrote, directed and starred in a play at school this past fall.
D knew going in that she only wanted to apply for BFA programs, so that helped shape our list. She had all applications/prescreens done and submitted by mid Oct which was a big help in getting audition dates we wanted. D did 4 early auditions and the rest in Jan & Feb. She enjoyed most auditions and what she thought would be top contenders/fits a year or so ago, changed throughout this process.
After the looooooooong wait to receive all decisions and financial pkgs, D narrowed it down to 2 choices. After carefully weighing the choices locations, costs, and fit-she decided on the school that she initially 8-| when I planned for us to go to their spring open house last year-before falling in love with it ⊠Lol.
A school we may not have known about if not for this forum and @EastchesterMom -Molloy/CAP21!!!
For those who have yet to embark on this journey and are lurking(like I did for the past 3 yrs) :
D had 2 early on campus audition acceptances, 1 unified audition acceptance and 1 video audition acceptance-proving, yet again, there is no one way or better way to do things-just your way
And, finally, a BIG thank you to all who contribute to this community-you are a wealth of knowledge, support and the often needed humor that we all rely on! My D & I could not have done this successfully and survived without this forum. This truly is a process like no other !
WhewâŠI think I need a drink now. Cheers!
Check!
@Jjrmom8 â tears of happiness here! Iâm glad I was able to help in some small way. Welcome to the Molloy/CAP 21 family, and BAL BAL to your D (mine says you have to say it twice)!!!
@Jjrmom8 - congrats to your D. Maybe we will meet at orientation!
@EastchesterMom So happy you saw my post & So thankful for your continued sharing of you & Dâs journey
D & I saw the showcase project a few weeks ago and loved it!
@EastchesterMom, is the greatest Molloy/CAP21 ambassador here!
LOL, @GSOMTMom â every standing O has to start with somebody!!
Awesome story, @Jrmom8 ! So important that our kids be open to schools that they never heard of initially. So many great programs out there!
@Jjrmom8 so glad your journey is done! And yes so glad we met you guys at SETC from our CC communication!
Applied to: American, Baldwin Wallace, James Madison, Montclair, Rider, Shenandoah, Wagner, and two state theatre programs, George Mason (GMU) and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
Accepted academically to all. Passed Shenandoahâs presceen.
No coach. No PA school. No Unified auditions.
This isnât a big MT success story, but itâs helpful to know that there are other happy paths.
Daughter has loved and participated in music, dance, and acting since she was in kindergarten. Sheâs been in school plays/musicals, community theatre, local films, and district/all-state chorus. She plays guitar, writes songs, and performs at school and other places. Though sheâs a talented and multi-faceted performer, she didnât have the strongest MT resume and wasnât looking at the most competitive programs.
She wanted to stay fairly close to our home in Virginia. She also wasnât excited about big city - NYC or Philly - schools. In fact, she started the process with just JMU, VCU, GMU and Shenandoah. But she added a few schools for a mix of BA and BFA, mid-size and smaller schools, theatre and MT, competitive and safer choices.
All of her auditions were spread out over six weeks of weekends of January and February. They all went well in that she was healthy and felt good about them. Some she felt really good about, though they didnât always turn into acceptances. She liked Shenandoah, Wagner and Rider and thought her auditions went great at the first two, so it was even more disappointing to get a pass from them. BW was fun to think about, but like one thinks of winning the lottery. Didnât expect an acceptance and didnât get it. Didnât love Montclair audition, but didnât get in anyway and was oddly accepted for Spring 2018 at American with no money, so didnât follow up there.
So in the end it came back to the state schools for theatre after all âJMU, GMU, and VCU. Of these, she liked VCU the best. They have a BFA in theatre and accepted her the day after her audition â with three audition dates left to go - which made her feel very wanted. But wait! Shenandoah hadnât finished its BFA Acting class, and she was accepted! This had been her favorite school from the start for its friendly vibe, small campus, and superior training. But would she like the acting program instead of MT? Back to the accepted students day to find out.
The day had lots of involvement from the faculty and current students who all talked about lots of overlap/connection between the MT and Acting groups and benefits to both trainings. Some of the musical leads were Acting students, in fact. We also found out then that some scholarship money was coming her way, which always helps.
After taking spring break to process it all, she came back to her first love, Shenandoah University!
Sheâs happy with the school she wanted all along, and the bumps in the road forced her to think about how she sees herself going forward in theatre. Iâm delighted because itâs a great fit, financially viable, and 75 minutes from home! (And because itâs over!)