@Jkellynh17 Thank you for that info! He is SO excited.
Congratulations to your S @Jkellynh17!!! Thrilled to hear about his postgrad gigs. Are they in Chicago or elsewhere?
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Both in Chicago!
Congrats to your son @Jkellynh17. That is so great.
Iâm really excited for him. Weâll get to see an invited dress rehearsal for his showcase on Sunday and then the opening of his first post-college play on Friday and maybe Saturday.
@Jkellynh17 THIS is whatâs it all about! Congratulation to your son! BAL!
Ok, so Iâd thought Iâd share my story! I committed a while back, but Iâm going to be getting a MT BFA @ NYU/Tisch (also double majoring in international relations)
Background: I started out with more of a dance background, having been dancing since I was 6 years old, and only starting voice/acting lessons around 8th grade. I grew up with a big interest in EVERYTHING (writing and current events and social work and theatre) so it was hard for me to decide that yes, this was what I wanted to do. The competitive suburban environment I grew up in aided the idea I could do everything. I had high test scores, tons of ECs, and a good GPA. I applied to a ton of schools: UCB, UCLA, CMU, NYU, Boston University, Barnard, Twin Cities, Brown, Columbia, UMich, Wesleyan. I didnât have professional coaches, just my acting and voice and dance teachers who I asked for advice and recs.
Auditions for all of these went well, and I got in at almost all of these. I dropped UCLA because I couldnât do a double major, UCB because their theatre program wasnât as well renowned plus I couldnât afford it. CMU, because I was waitlisted for MT, but accepted for Int. Relations. I was rejected at Wes. and waitlisted at Brown, Columbia, and UMich. I had Boston, NYU, Barnard, and Twin Cities to choose from. NYU was the clear winner there because I had enough local aid + funds + scholarship money (yes they gave me desirability aid) to go through it, I was in love with the location, and I knew I would get tons of exposure. Almost immediately after getting my acceptance to NYU, I committed.
I am pumped. My parents arenât thrilled Iâm pursuing a career in theatre, but considering Iâm not going to be in much debt after going to NYU (which is. a shock) theyâre not too mad.
@kb23345 - Congrats!! Feel free to get in touch if you have any specific NYU questions! I hope you love NYU as much as my D has!
Congrats @kb23345!
Good for you, @kb23345 ! Iâm sure itâs hard when you donât have your parentsâ full support. But at least they are allowing you to pursue your passion. Best of luck at NYU!
@Jkellynh17 BAL to your son!!! So exciting!! When do you think CCPA will announce next yearâs season of shows?
Our turn - the momâs perspective on her Sâs experience!
Schools on the list: CCM, BW, Ithaca, Temple, Michigan, Emerson, CMU, JMU, Hartt, NYU-Tisch, Northwestern.
Application not submitted: CCM because their audition slots filled up very early, which we werenât prepared for, and he was unable to apply to MT (which shocked both his high school theatre teacher and his counselor â âWhat do you mean he canât apply? Itâs before the application deadline!!â)
Coach: No national coach, but took an audition class at a regional theatre school where he has done his summer MT intensives to help prep for the vocal side of this (but the class was not specifically focused on college auditions), worked with his voice teacher on his selections, worked with local teaching artists serving as theatre education faculty at a regional professional theatre to select and work on his monologues
Summer Program: Musical Theatre Institute for Teens, The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts
Prescreens Passed: Michigan, Temple
Prescreens Not Passed: Ithaca
Accepted To: JMU â BA MT, Temple â BFA MT, Northwestern â BA Theatre (with option to audition for MT Certificate in Fall of freshman or sophomore year)
My S is all about music â not only does he sing, but he plays piano and tenor sax, and picks up random other instruments just for fun. He has participated in school bands and choirs, as well as a local auditioned choir since elementary school. And performed in his elementary schoolâs theatre productions, and with a local community theatre company. But as he moved from elementary to middle school, it became impossible to manage his band and choral commitments and act at school. But he could keep performing in community theatre, in the one show a year that fit in between the music performance seasons. He also participated in a few short local summer acting programs. Once he got to high school, he was able to act in the Spring shows. So, this is his life, music and acting, with a bit of school thrown in for good measure 
! He attends an academically rigorous non-PA HS. And then he auditioned for a local MT Institute in the summer before junior year - and is cast in Pacific Overtures. And although I didnât realize it then, this was the turning point where he became firmly committed to pursuing MT in college. Clueless, but wanting him to keep his options open, I insisted he apply for Governorâs School in Vocal Performance. And he was accepted. But he then turned that opportunity down because he wanted to be in Jesus Christ Superstar at the local MT Institute which exactly overlapped with Governorâs School. I knew at that point that he was committed to that path, and that we had some catching up to do to be prepared to hit the audition season.
He drew up his list â identifying many of the most competitive BFA programs in the nation. We encouraged him to expand his list â and insisted that he add at least one non-audition school (so he picked Northwestern - not quite what we had in mind â but we knew that his academic background was strong enough that it wouldnât be a waste of money to apply). As we talked with him, it became clear that he wanted a program with a strong acting focus, as he felt that this was the area where he wanted most to grow (not a trained dancer, he needed that too, butâŠ.). He also wanted to be able to study abroad. In addition, we encouraged him to not restrict his list to BFA programs, so that he would have the opportunity to explore subject areas beyond MT. And working theatre professionals in his life also encouraged the pursuit of the BA as opposed to the BFA.
Then we sat down with the calendar, and realized that his high school musical, in which he was the lead, was scheduled for the weekend before Chicago Unifieds. Since we hadnât had time to do much visiting of schools ahead of time, we decided to make on-campus auditions work between his other commitments.
Next step: finishing the required prescreens (later than we should have), submitting those, and starting to finish up the applications. But the we get the first bad news - he is shut out of CCM as noted above â they stopped accepting applications before the final due date of December 1, and he is put on a waitlist to audition at BW because all the audition slots are filled. For those of you starting this process â START AND SUBMIT EARLY! And we take a deep breath, and proceed (and I start to read CC religiously, and realize how much we didnât knowâŠ), finishing up all the remaining applications.
(ContinuedâŠ)
Getting passed the Michigan prescreen was a high â but we had scheduled the Michigan audition as his first audition â not a smart move on our part. He loved the school, enjoyed everyone he met, thought he would have done well there, but didnât come away feeling like heâd wowed the auditors. Then it was off to NYU, where he thought he had a good audition, and the vocal auditor asked him if he ever accompanied himself when he sang â and then if he would play the piano and sing for them â which he wasnât prepared to do, but did. Back home to school for a week, then off to JMU. JMU is a familiar campus to us, and he was relaxed. He had a strong audition â worked with the MT Director and Acting Director on his songs and monologues and really enjoyed all the faculty and current students he worked with during the audition. We have a bit of a planned break here â because we wanted to save his voice and focus for his senior year musical. And then, his voice goes. He canât perform in his winter voice recital, and spends tech week trying to sing a bit, but mostly resting his voice. Thankfully, vocal rest worked, and the show is a success. No rest for the weary, though. We travel each of the following three weekends: to Emerson (where he auditions between snowstorms), Hartt, and CMU. And to close, we take a day trip to Philly for his Temple audition â where he thought the auditors responded well to his material. Phew.
Every audition was different â and he did not have any bad experiences with auditors. But as others have said â additional time spent with the auditors is not a direct map onto admission. He worked beyond the slate with the JMU and NYU auditors, had interesting and positive interviews with the Hartt and Emerson auditors, and had some back-and-forth with just about everyone, commenting on his resume, or his song choice, or his aspirations.
And then we wait.
Negative news comes first, and we start to wonder if we need to start planning for a gap year. Then he gets the news that he was admitted to the Honors College at Temple, followed several days later with an acceptance to the BFA-MT program. Then we realize that he also was awarded a great academic scholarship, and we are thrilled! Great program with strong acting and vocal training, close enough to home, in a great cityâŠand super affordable. We are all happy â and relieved. He can pursue his dream. Then we are pushing toward the end of March â and he gets into the JMU â BA-MT program â with a nice academic scholarship. More happiness â he loved his audition there and was excited to go back to campus to learn more. And, then the completely unexpected yes from Northwestern. Three very different options to choose from.
So we schedule our visits to his three options â Temple was first. We loved meeting the kids and faculty in the Theatre/MT program, and the kids in the Honors College, and S says, I can see myself here. Then we had down to JMU for their CHOICES program and the overnight for kids accepted into the Theatre/Music/Arts programs. They went to multiple classes, hung out with their designated current student, spent the night in the Arts dorm (which is very cool), parents and kids had dinner with students and faculty, we met the Dean and Associate Dean of the College, and the kids had a walking tour of Harrisonburg. It was great. The classes, students, and faculty were impressive. Kate A., the MT program director, answered all of our questions and more over dinner. And, we went home wondering if this might be the program for him.
The last trip was to Northwestern. A campus that our son had never been to, but in proximity to a city that my husband and I know and love, as we had lived for 12 years in Chicago. So we get to Evanston, and spend the first evening exploring Evanston and campus â remarking on the fact that the campus is right on the lake, and enjoying a wonderful dinner at a ramen shop. The next day is filled with activities â including an inspiring welcome by the President, an information filled session with the Dean of his College, lunch with the current Theatre students and academic advisors, opportunities for the kids to go to classes, and a fantastic showcase to close out the day. My son has a friend currently in the theatre program so he was able to spend the night in the dorm, and then go to an additional class the following morning. It was an impressive day, and we were pretty sure we were in trouble after the Presidentâs talk. He really spoke to the kids, and I think that every kid in the auditorium felt like he was talking to them â not their parents. We had a long talk with the academic MT advisor at lunch to figure out whether he could keep up with his vocal training and get some dance training in if he wasnât admitted to the MT certificate program. The answer was yes. And a double major and study abroad are absolutely possible. Excitement was building throughout the day, but when we reconnected with our S after the MT class that he had gotten to observe, he was ready to commit right then.
But we had to make sure the money would work. Northwestern does not give out merit money any longer, and given what his financial aid package was, we knew weâd have to go home and make sure we could really make this work. After we got home, we ran a variety of scenarios and determined that we could make the money work.
The deposit was made, and he is now committed to Northwestern to study Theatre!! He is ready for Wildcat Welcome for the Class of 2021! And they are ready for him apparently â they sent out a video to all the admitted students after the admitted student days of the kids doing the various activities â he was watching it last week, and comes down to show us the video â because he and a friend of his from elementary school who was also admitted are the final clip in the video â sharing a high five. So, apparently, it was meant to be.
I canât believe that we made it through the process, and I want to thank all the CC MT parents and kids whoâve shared their journeys with us. Although I joined CC late, and am not a prolific poster, it really really helped to hear stories from everyone as they went through this process. I canât wait to read all the Final Decision stories!
Congratulations, @efr9598! What a wonderful storyâŠproving once again that we have to trust the process and our kids will end up where they are meant to be! Iâm mulling our final decision post over in my head and hope to update soon.
Thanks @momto2artists! The process really did seem to work - although in the midst of it, it is hard to remember that! I canât wait to read yours.
Congrats @efr9598, my D will be a Wildcat too! She will also be auditioning for the MT Certificate in fall.
Congrats! @efr9598 I know a ton of people at NW in the theatre department - three of my best friends (one whoâll be attending in the fall, one whoâs a rising sophomore, and one whoâs graduating this year) go there!
Congratulations to you and your son @efr9598 !
Actually, several coaches that I know of provide these services in addition to MTCA. Mary Anna Dennard and Dave Clemmons also offer Moonifieds where you can audition for up to 20 (or more) programs.
@daughtersdreams - regarding the size of the audition pool, here are a couple of posts where I attempted to do some estimates of the total number of students auditioning for college MT programs:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19228858#Comment_19228858
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17289152#Comment_17289152
For those interested in the âoddsâ regarding the professional side of the business (which are really, really grim, by the way), there is this thread: