Applied to: 13 BFA MTs and 2 in state schools for other interests.
Passed: 9/10 prescreens.
Accepted at: 5 BFA MTs; 2 offered full tuition (mainly academic scholarship.). 2 were walk-ins at Chicago Unifieds, and not on the original list. Also accepted at the “other interest” schools.
Received the maximum academic scholarship at virtually every school she applied. Awesome, but moot-you can only go to one school; and if you don’t receive artistic acceptance, it doesn’t matter.
Final Decision: Growth Year; reaudition next year.
Things D/we did well: Cast a wide net, and was open to the fact that one’s ideals may change as the year progresses. Got everything in as early as possible. I think we missed our lofty 10/1 goal-but she probably had everything in by 10/15. Scheduled 2 Fall auditions. Accrued points with one hotel chain-greatly reducing travel expenses. Stayed organized. D is away at school this year, and I was so impressed that she kept up with every deadline, every fee, every application, every essay, every prescreen. The ONLY thing that I did was supply the funds, and help her with a suggestion for dates/location (Unifieds vs. On Campus) to make all auditions work, and miss a minimal amount of school. That seemed to be the one piece that overwhelmed her, and I was happy to help.
Things D/we will do better this year: Be open to BFA Acting programs at schools where there is an opportunity to dance, take voice, audition for musicals. Work with a national coach. Don’t waste time (and $) on programs that she doesn’t see herself at-cast a SMART, wide net. Work on voice, as she only began private voice last August (yes, really.)
D committed to a program last month. Within the first week I noticed that she wasn’t announcing her decision on social media, talking about her excitement, joining her classmates in the Facebook chat, etc. This prompted a conversation in which she confessed that she simply did not feel good about the choice. She felt like it was the best choice at hand-but she was not happy. My husband and I are solidly middle class; and both from families in which the pursuit of higher ed is a virtue. We NEVER saw this kid taking a Growth Year-but we never thought we’d encourage her to pursue an arts degree either. We want her to feel good. We don’t want her to have regrets.It makes no sense to send her off when she has the full intent to audition again. Her transfer schlarship offers probably won’t be as great, and she will have to spend 4 years at the second school, regardless.
Just last night, she posted this on Facebook. That last sentence spoke to me. This is the right decision for my D.
I haven’t officially withdrawn from the university I enrolled to, but I feel its time to announce my plans for next year :). I am proudly taking a gap year!
I didn’t receive acceptance to a program that feels like home yet, and I’m not sure I’m ready to dedicate myself to another 4 years of non-stop training anyhow. The plan is to keep learning French, audition for some community theatre, get my driver’s license, get a job, volunteer in my community, take dance classes again, take a weekly singing lesson, do some Linklater and Rodenberg voice training by myself, get myself into a yoga class, visit friends at their schools, potentially take a tumbling or circus skills or photography class, take some master classes wherever I can find them, reaudition for Musical Theatre BFAs and try my hand at Acting BFAs. I’m deferring enrollment to UNC just in case I decide an arts career isn’t for me or I find limited success again.
It’s going to be a busy, amazing, productive, and formative year. UNCSA has been life changing, and I’m so proud that my time here has given me the confidence to do the work I need to do on my own. I’m happy as a clam.
button! Your D’s post was wonderful. Our kids have grown up so much over the last 7 months. It’s not been the easy way to grow or the fun way, but I’m proud of who they are becoming and I look forward to witnessing the opportunities they forge for themselves.