@sopranomtmom and here I was reading your posts and thinking your D was upset and only had one or a few acceptances. She got some GREAT offers!!! And is going to be at a fantastic program! Hartt is a really great place to be, many congratulations to your daughter!! Wishing her the best of luck!
Congrats to all of you! I am afraid to say individuals as I might miss someone. These stories are fantastic and I am looking forward to all of them!
@Monkeiiboy I think she meant Way To Go with WTG
@sopranomtmom congrats to your daughter! My D will most likely be committing to Hartt as well after our visit this week!
@sopranomtmom Yeah!!! So glad your daughter is joining the Hartt family! Go Hawks! If she wants to be in touch with my D (sophomore MT) send me a private message and I can connect them on Facebook.
Congrats @sopranomtmom!!
Excellent @sopranomtmom ! One of Sās very talented friends From his in state program decided on Hartt as his top choice early, got in, and committed !! Sounds like a great program! So envious and relieved for all of you concluding the journey and starting a new adventure :).
Thanks so much everyone. It truly is a relief. My D commented today that she feels like so much anxiety has disappeared since she made her choice. We went to order her photo grad announcements today and it was so nice to be able to add the information about her college plans. Hoping for great final decisions for all of you very soon!!
@sopranomtmom congratulations to your daughter!! My son and I just returned from a visit at Hartt tonight. He really loved the program. I hope he will make a decision soon:) @evitasmom we had a fabulous visit today! My son sat in on 3 classes and we met with Jan Rust in artistic admissions. Sheās a lovely woman. We also toured campus and thereās so much to really love about the campus
@sopranomtmom congats we loved Hartt the kids were all so passionate and seemed to love the program good luck class of 2021!
I am tearfully beaming, and honestly filled with joy reading this thread! Even though my son is still a junior, Iāve followed these stories and rooted for each of you along the journey. Way to go kiddos!! And way to go moms, dads, steps and guardians - this is a āwhole family inā kind of process!
D applied to UMich, Belmont, Penn State, Oklahoma, Loyola Chicago, and Alabama. Her first audition was for Alabama (a school she never seriously considered) and she came back and told me that thatās where she was going.
My dās journey is short and took a sudden turn, but thought I would share anyway:)
At th beginning of this journey my daughter had a list of about 15 schools. We hired a coach, sent in all the apps and recorded her pre-screens. Our mindset was to go big or go home. She wanted to be close to NYC! That was the goal and nothing was going to change her mindā¦ so we thought.
We are close to Texas Tech and West Texas A&M so I made my daughter check out these programs. We checked out West Texas in May of her Junior year. It was a wonderful visit and we were impressed by the staff and the facilities. Who knew a little hidden gem was nestled right there in Canyon TX. WT is a BA program, but my daughter really had her sights on a BFA. However, after talking to the director at WT, he made some very good points about getting a BA instead of a BFA. He said that it is very important that a student leave school trained in all aspects of theatre; stage, back stage ect. He said you never know when you will need to take a back stage job between stage jobs. This really hit my daughter hard. He was right. My daughter loves MT, but she loves stage managing as well. She has a love for all things theatre. As time went on, WT started rising to the top of her list. We went and visited WT several more times and went and saw as many shows as we could. She felt at home there and it took her by surprise.
Fast forward to Octoberā¦ She went and shadowed Texas Tech. The classes were great and she was impressed by the professors and Dean Nolan. It is a new program, but it wonāt take long before it becomes a solid BFA program. You can tell the staff truly cares for their students. However, she knew immediately that it was not her āhomeā. She could not shake how she felt about West Texas.
After doing a ton of research and soul searching, she decided it was in her best interest to get a BA instead of a BFA. She wants to be able to double major in education and she can do that with a BA. She may have to add on a year of school, but it is doable. She has 30 hours of dual credit, so most of her basics are already covered.
She sent in her pre-screens to West Texas and was admitted to the BA MT by the end of November. She went to visit WT AGAIN after being admitted to the program and had yet another meeting with the director of the program. After that meeting she was sure that WT was going to be her home. We were done with the audition process.
My daughter is beyond excited about WTā¦ we have continued to go to their shows and we continue to be amazed and impressed with the talent. She has already met her roommate as well. I will say that at first, we considered WT a safety school since it is not as well known. However, her future roommate auditioned for MT and was redirected to Theatre Performance. So I am thinking it is not as āsafeā as we thought. Her future roommate fell in love with WT as well and chose to go there even if she was not admitted into the MT program.
Of course there are moments when I wonder if we should have went ahead and explored more programs, and I think that is natural with this crazy MT process. LOL However, she has been able to really enjoy her senior year and I am thankful for that.
My D has several paid theatre positions lined up throughout the summer and if we were in the midst of the crazy audition process she would not have had the time to focus on auditioning for these summer shows. She goes to a small private school and they have already hired her to come choreograph their spring musical for next year. She is thrilledā¦ and will be able to take this job since she will only be 90 minutes away from home. She was also offered a promotional position recently with our big community theatreā¦ She will be a busy girl this summer and getting paid for all of it.
I think my D has been successful at getting these jobs because she is willing and able to work in ALL aspects of theatre. She goes above and beyond in all things. She was the lead in her school musical both her junior and senior year while doing all the choreography and while stage managing the play. She did it ALL!! I honestly donāt know how she did it TBH, but she did. She will step in and help build sets, work at arts festivals and do whatever is asked of her. If she is given a small part in a musical, she treats it as if it is a main part. She LOVES being on stage, but is happy to be back stage as well. She is well rounded and has been told that many many times. I say this because I think it is important for anyone who is getting a degree for MT to be well roundedā¦ learn as much as you can in all aspects of theatre. Keep growing and be willing to be āpresentā on stage and back stage because it leaves a good impression.
Ohā¦ one last thing about West Texas A&M. It is extremely affordable!! I feel like my daughter will be getting top training at a great priceā¦ no loans, no debt, and that was important to us.
I have loved reading everyones story thus far and I am rooting for each and every one
Congrats @momma2a! I must say that Iām just a bit pea green with envy that you will have your girl so close to home. Sounds like she will have a wonderful college experience!!
@momma2a Great Story! Thanks for sharing.
Keep the stories coming everyone!!
This is always my favorite thread of the year!
@sopranomtmom and @theatremom10 Hartt is a wonderful program. My daughterās close friend (and prom date) as well as a close friend of mineās daughter are current freshman and love the program. They are both ridiculously talented singer/actor/dancers. She (and possibly he) will be in great company! Iāve heard nothing but great things from those in the program.
Our story is not quite as exciting as the others but I will share so people can see a ādifferentā (read, didnāt apply to 20 schools or to all the ātopā schools) route to MT BFA. D has been involved in theatre since age 6 doing community and regional theatre. Private voice lessons (new teacher who was wonderfully helpful over the past year and a half), a little dance (mostly tap and basic MT style), lots of acting classes at local theatres and private masters classes with a local coach, summers were spent doing local shows and volunteering with youth productions (stage managing, asst. directing). She also does forensics in school (not science type forensics, drama type forensics) and was a varsity track athlete who went to state 3 years in a row. (we always preached diversity in her endeavors). 3.97 GPA.
When it came time to choose where she would apply, we took into consideration the fact that we did not want her to have any debt coming out of college with a theatre degree and we would love for her to be closer to home. She chose to apply to:
Lipscomb University (auditioned in October-accepted on the spot)
Belmont University (auditioned in October-accepted 2 days later)
SCAD
IUP
Austin Peay State University
Western Carolina University (decided in Feb to add)
and her dream school, UNCSA.
She was accepted academically to all.
She was accepted artistically to the MT BFA at Lipscomb and the Theatre BFA at Belmont and the Performing Arts program at SCAD.
Didnāt audition at IUP(decided not to)
Didnāt audition at Austin Peay (safety and chose to not audition after other acceptances)
Rejected from UNCSA.
Wait listed at Western Carolina
When our child chooses a place to call home away from home for 4 years, we as parents can only hope that they will be surrounded by others who will nurture their growth and their soul, people who will help them find the āwhyā of what they want to do of the rest of their life, we have been lucky enough to find that exact place-Lipscomb University in Nashville TN! These people have been over the top excited about our daughter since she auditioned there last Fall! When she told the department yesterday that she was accepting their offer, the professor actually squealed in delight-there is nothing like the feeling of knowing that you are wanted and that was how our daughter felt yesterday and every day that she has had communication with Lipscomb. I know they will help her grow as a performer and as a person and I will feel content knowing that the environment she will be living in will be fun and full of happy people (every time we have visited, the campus is full of smiling, joyful students). They will prepare her to go out into the world and not only do well but to do good!
I hope everyone who has been on this crazy journey can find their home away from home that they can be happy at! We are so thrilled to have a decision and even more thrilled to know for sure that it is the right decision!
GO BISONS!!!
@momma2a and @CMB625 congrats! I love hearing both types of stories here. The one where the kid applied a zillion places and how they end up choosing and the kid who applied less places and ends up in a great program too. Both stories are great for parents of juniors to read because everyone thinks you MUST go the mega school route and that doesnāt always happen with everyone. Sometimes it just feels right to your kid to limit to just several schools. No matter what just do your research!
Canāt believe itās our turn!! I feel 100 lbs lighter today!! Although truthfully have probably gained 25 lbs and have more gray hair. Thankfully this didnāt happen to S ha but it was stressful ! Exciting but hard !! Thank you to everyone at CC for helping me survive this year lol.
Summer Intensives : Governorās School for the Arts 2015, Broadway Theatre Project 2016, Broadway Theatre Project Vocal Ensemble
Many shows 20+ since 8th grade. Choir since 4th. No formal dance training , lots of voice
Background : August 2016 got a coach because we were clueless. S is in a public school PA magnet program for voice. But not many local kids go this route of BFA MT. And contemporary monologues sounded daunting at best eekā¦ I penned a note to Mary Anna Dennard 8/30/16 because I realized quickly my S could not attend Chicago Unifieds due to a mandatory state conflict. So so grateful she accepted him that late !! Best decision we made! Would have been dead in the water navigating this process ā¦I recommend getting a coach sooner than we did!
Moonifieds was his birthday weekend and we just prayed he would be in good health for 12 auditions. Truly didnāt know what to expect - maybe nothing ? Those were his only auditions and honestly we could barely keep up with that many. This plan turned out to work well!! We booked LA Unifieds in case but canceled later. Made a decision for my husband to go instead of me because S and I make each other anxious. Husband declared Moonifieds more organized than the NFL Draft. Lol! S and husband had a rare and great bonding dad/son weekend together !!
Didnāt audition for any big city programs or big price tag ones unless merit aid was available
Academic : 14 including safeties without MT but vocal performance (wonāt list all of them)
Prescreens passed: Texas State (on Acceptd and Moonifieds). Coastal Carolina Live prescreen
Prescreens not passed: BW, Penn State, Otterbein all live or skype
Didnāt Apply: Montclair, Wright State,
Rejected: Missouri State, Point Park
Waitlist/Alternate: Texas State : This was the biggest excitement and stress of the whole season. We fell in love with everything about the program. And to get THAT close oh my ā¦If you get a callback , GO! Itās a wonderful experience none of us will forget. Stressful to be on a WL though especially a very short one sigh with in state tuition but gave S validation to move forward! Huge boost!!
Accepted: Ohio Northern, Viterbo (callback by video) Rider, Coastal Carolina (callback by video) ā truly ANY of these would be great ! He got lucky !!!
Ohio Northern: amazing visit ! Double overnight visit!! Campus is beautiful/ Inn is so charming !! We felt so welcome! My S loved it! The student host was perfect !!! If you get an offer from them, donāt hesitate to visit. Great scholarships! #6 school in Midwest- has law school and pharm school too! They rolled out the red carpet for us
Viterbo: Awesome facilities - shockingly nice for such a small school. Excellent program - truly special!! Visit!! Great aid ! Saw a great show - strong acting ! Had a wonderful tour- also have one of the best collegiate show choirs in the country. Known for nursing and fine arts
Rider: loved director - very impressed but didnāt get to visit - great scholarship but still a little out of range - class was going to be a little bigger than we were hoping for S. But know lots very happy there and itās an awesome program
Coastal Carolina: Beautiful campus new beautiful buildings !!! Warm nurturing atmosphere too - S very impressed and loved the smaller class size of 10ā¦loved the faculty -awesome program! Whatās not to love ? -
Final Decision: Coastal Carolina BFA MT !! Honors Program with scholarship !
Itās OVER !! Two days ago I didnāt even see this ā¦as people say these things have a way of working outā¦all those cliches about where you end up where you are supposed to ā¦I believeā¦TXST released him the day he was leaving for Coastalā¦meant to be!! Iām telling you I didnāt know how this story would end. Lows: my husband and daughter got hit by a car in TX at another campus while crossing the street ā¦We bathed in a YMCA lol on the road ! S got the flu, I went on anti anxiety meds lol, Recording those darn piano tracks in 32 and 16 bar cuts, getting a dance prescreen video made , all the different essays, all videos, money spent, school absences ā¦sighā¦weird stuff: didnāt get academically accepted at first at TXST - so they were canceling the callback. There was some glitch with TX requirements and our stateā¦shoo- got it worked out - all this at Christmas of course! Viterbo somehow didnāt have his info - got erased - so didnāt call S back. He was so bummed since he thought it went well. Turned out it did and there was some problem probably on our end. Thankfully that was solved ā¦anyway moral is stay aware - keep checking email and portals and CC. S only visited campuses after acceptances with the exception of TXST for on campus call back. I realize that was unusual but it worked for us.
Iāve made so many friends and contacts and Iām not the performer lol. I know S has so many new friends and contacts and is so excited about the future ! Now we can think about caps and gowns and graduation parties in May! And missing Each other! Special thanks to @vvnstar for being a huge support! Xo- please feel free to inbox me! I truly recommend getting a coach. Also I recommend an ACT class to bump up scores for scholarships! That seemed to be a big factor with money.