Congrats, @MReader & D! I beg to disagree: I think that IS a big MT success story!
@MReader Ditto what @owensfolks said. This is exactly the MT success story I LOVE to read! (And similar to my Dās, which is days away from a Final Decision.) Also, Shenandoah is a lovely school. A couple of my daughterās friends attended there and have loved it!
All the best to your D on her journey!
Great success @MReader! Shenandoah has a terrific program and awesome faculty. And a 75-minute drive! Thatās a true perk - and what a lovely place to drive to. Our S almost went there, but the 9-hour drive was hard to swallow compared to 55-minute drive at current school. Iāve been seeing that SU credit in lots of playbills lately. Congrats!
Any story on the MT thread is a success story! Just that we all survived without killing each other and members of our family is a coup! :))
I agree @theaterwork !! Feeling a little murderous right now as a matter of fact, but will tamp it down and smile like the excellent mother I am.
LOL @momtojoss! Hang in there.
One of my best friends told me āGod makes them act this way so we are ready to let them goā Well since I cried in CVS today after someone said something nice about my D, I donāt think I am ready but there are momentsā¦
Finally, I can share a decisionā¦
So I came into this process with a lot of singing training, experience in a ton of shows, a decent amount of dance and really no serious acting training (which I thought would me my week point but you never know haha). I applied to a huge range of schools because I had no idea what I was looking fo. Iām not the typical ingenue and I looked for placed that really balanced uniqueness and marketability. I couldnāt do a lot of on campus auditions and mostly focused on unifieds.
Coaching: not really any other than normal voice and
Applied to: Ball State, Coastal, Drake, Emerson, Evansville, MSM, Oklahoma City, Otterbein, Shenandoah, Temple
Prescreens: passed Shenandoah, Coastal, Otterbein (acting), Temple
Walk-ins: Dean, SMU, Utah, Webster
After Chicago Unifieds, the rejections started streaming in from Otterbein, Ball State, and SMU which was pretty frightening. My first acceptances were from Drake and Evansville which was relieving, I had somewhere I could go for theatre, but I didnāt feel like either was quite for me. I had visited MSM, Emerson, and Temple the year before and I was I fell in love with the environments at all three schools. Getting a no from Emerson was probably the hardest too take. I loved Shenandoah at the on-campus audition and felt really good about how I performed. I loved OCU a lot but I wasnāt as in love with the acting program as the MT program. Itās a pretty amazing program but the school and the city just didnāt feel like the right place for me in the end. Finally, I heard a yes from Temple and I was over the moon and couple more rejections I received didnāt seem as important. It really came down to Temple and OCU.
Rejected: Ball State, Coastal, Emerson, MSM, Otterbein, SMU, Webster
Accepted: Dean (acting and MT), Drake, Evansville, Oklahoma City (acting), Shenandoah (acting), Temple, Utah
Final Choice: Temple BFA Musical Theatre!!!
After visiting again and sitting in on classes, I realized that Temple and Philly is exactly where I want to be. The acting training first and foremost is so so strong and there is just so much heart. I like that the class size is small and that they want to do interesting, experimental shows. They were really adamant about making sure that you can accomplish what you want - okay there are so many things that I love so Iāll stop here. To me, prestige ended up being far less important than fit, and I know Temple is the perfect fit for me.
@hopefulthtr Congratulations!! I know you had some really hard decisions to make but it sounds like you found your perfect fit in Temple!!
Congrats @hopefulthtr! Sounds like a great place for you to grow!
@hopefulthtr Congrats! My Dās best friend has chosen it for its science program. Her mother called me very annoyed the other day though because the housing is already fullā¦apparently itās an issue there. So, if you havenāt started that process donāt delay!
@hopefulthtr ā one of our HS grads is a sophomore at Temple; heās the son and grandson of famous actorsā¦so you may want to re-think the āless prestigeā bit! Congrats!
@hopefulthtr congratulations! Temple is a great school all around.
Thanks so much everyone! @marg928 I was actually accepted to the honorās program which has a seperate guaranteed housing area, which is really helpful! @EastchesterMom I mainly say that because the BFA specifically is so new, but thatās great to hear! I really do feel like itās a rising program for sure. 
@hopefulthtr - New, schmoo! Molloy/CAP 21 and MSM are also new programs at established schoolsā¦ and both hit the ground running and became extremely competitive virtually overnight. Our experience has been that a ānewā program is more willing to innovate and push the creative envelope, which I think is all to the good. D used to complain that Molloy/CAP 21 piled on the work as compared to other programs ā Iāve noticed that she now embraces the workload rather than complains about it. She sees that it has made her a better artist.
I guess it is my turn. First of all I have been on the CC boards since my d was a junior. Learned so much. I felt we were so prepared going in. We were very naive.
Applied: Pace, Sam Houston, Texas State, Viterbo, Montclair, Wagner, Point Park, U of AB, and Emory & Henry
Video Audition: Emory & Henry
Moonifieds November Auditioned: Coastal Carolina, Missouri State, Otterbein, Pace, Penn State, Point Park, Rider, Texas State, Texas Tech, U of Arizona, OU, Viterbo, and Wright State.
Coach Mary Ann Dennard
Auditioned at Sam Houston February 17th
Auditioned at Wagner February 26th
Auditioned at Nebraska Wesleyan March 31st.
Background on d she competed at Nationals at the Classical Singer Competition (Musical Theater) as a sophomore (May 2015).
Made it to National Round in Solo at NT Thespian Convention.
Summer: Wagner SMTI summer before Senior year. Loved it.
My dās background dancing since 3 years old. Studied acting for film with Cathryn Sullivan (Master Level) Attended the Fort Worth of Fine arts 5th - 8th grade. No private voice lessons just choir for 7 years. My d is hispanic she gained weight her sophomore year and has a d bust line almost overnight and she is 5ā2. So not your commercial look. I really didnāt think it would be a factor but I guess it was. I hoped that getting all the auditions early she could enjoy her Senior year and commit early did not happen.
Costal Carolina, Missouri State, Montclair, Rider and Texas state gave noās early on. Which I really appreciated.
She did great at Moonifieds she was asked to sing a third song at Pace and Texas State which I took as good signs.
By Christmas Time I thought for sure we would hear good news. Nothing
Our big mistake was not attending Unifieds. My dās birthday is right in the middle of Chicagoās Unifieds and she did not want to attend. Looking back I wish we had gone and done as many walk ins as possible. There are a lot of great programs we knew nothing about.
The audition at Sam Houston was fun for d as she met a lot of her friends from the performing arts school she attended in Elementary and Junior High. She did not think she did her best.
The Wagner audition went great and she loved it there in the summer and we were certain she would get a spot. We were shocked at the re direct there. My d was crushed. I almost decided on a gap year.
Then @KaMaMom suggested Nebraska Wesleyan and it sounded great. We went and fell in love. Small school and great Theater Department. They do an insane amount of productions. She had a great Music audition and a great MT audition.
Emory and Henry sent a Rep to my daughterās school and she loved the visit. We sent in a audition video.
Academically accepted to all.
Nice Scholarships from PACE, Wagner, Emory & Henry, Viterbo and Nebraska Wesleyan
Artistically accepted to Nebraska Wesleyan BFA MT, Emory & Henry BFA MT, Viterbo VP
NWU: Academic and Talent Scholorship E& H: Academic and Talent and Out of State Scholarship
Final Decision: Nebraska Wesleyan!!! And she couldnāt be happier!!! Mom is happy now too.
Thanks to everyone on this board you were so helpful.
@MReader you know I love your story! So glad you shared
Congrats, @Mel2421 ! Even the nightmare audition seasons eventually work out well! Auditioning for these programs makes all of us believe in fate!
@hopefulthtr Temple is a great school and right in our backyard! The city has so much to offer - the only reason my D didnāt consider Temple was because half her high school goes there. She has a few friends in the MT program there and they love it! Best of Luck!
@Mel2421 Congratulations to you and your daughter. I love happy endings! These final decision stories make me so happy - keep bringing them on!