Thanks for the article @mtmom911! What a great chance to look ahead.
Welcome to the PPU COPA family, @mezzomother!
Thank you so much @CTDramaMom! And thank you to you and also to @GSOMTMom for all of your help and information about PPU! You were both so incredibly helpful and kind!
Our story:
Background: My daughter was an athlete for her entire childhood. (tennis) We thought for sure she’d be playing tennis in college until she got the MT bug! She joined a studio and started doing shows at about age 12.
Programs applied to: Belmont, Carnegie Mellon, Coastal Carolina, Elon, JMU, Michigan, Montclair, NYU Tisch, Pace, Penn State, Rider, Shenandoah, Tampa, Western Carolina, Wagner
(All MT BFA except Wagner)
Prescreens Passed: Carnegie, Coastal, Elon, Shenandoah
Accepted to: Coastal Carolina MT BFA, Tampa MT BFA
Waitlisted : NYU Tisch, Wagner
Rejected: All others
Cancelled audition: Western Carolina
Video Auditions: Tampa, NYU
On Campus: Elon, JMU, Carnegie Mellon, Belmont, Shenandoah, Coastal Carolina, Montclair, Wagner
Other local schools applied as backups:
Virginia Tech
Lynchburg College
UVA
Did not audition: Western Carolina
Academic Acceptances: All
Redirected: Rider
Coaches: none
Summer Programs: none
My daughter really wanted a traditional college experience with football teams and enclosed campus and BFA MT. It is very hard to find schools that fit this criteria.
Our first audition was early. We did prescreens very early. So two schools were set for November. The first was what she thought was her dream school, Elon. We had visited in the summer and after seeing the current students and auditioning she really fell In love with the school and the program. She also auditioned early at JMU which had the large campus and the atmosphere she liked. JMU is also kinda local for us. We know lots of people who attend and love it. Our first rejection was Elon which really took her breath away. With prescreens rejections and this one, we were at a low point early on. She then added Western Carolina, again looking for that campus and BFA MT experience. That audition was scheduled for December, but as we pulled out the driveway she received an email stating that snow had cancelled the audition. Next came January auditions - Belmont and Carnegie Mellon. My D’s great aunt lives in Nashville so it was a fun family visit. Our whole family went to this one, including her grandmother. The weather was again snow but luckily Belmont said they’d hold the auditions no matter what happened with the weather. The campus was beautiful but the audition experience was average. She had learned an aria and they actually cut her off before she was finished. We left Nashville loving it, but having a few reservations about the college itself. Rejected a few weeks later. Next came the Carnegie Mellon. We stayed in downtown Pittsburgh and it rained the whole time. It was very lively with college students everywhere.( Many Univ Pittsburgh students) Because of the weather , we really didn’t see much of the campus. The audition day was very long and nothing special happened. We were pretty sure it’d be a no and eventually it was. February auditions would be Shenandoah and Coastal Carolina. I forgot to mention that after the Elon audition and disappointment, my D decided she did not want to go to Unifieds. At that point, we scheduled on campus auditions for Coastal, Montclair and had to decide to do a video for NYU. We also had to give up on the additional choices that walk ins might provide. I do not recommend skipping Unifieds to anyone, however I am glad we went to the campuses we did. My daughter always thought Shenandoah was too small and not for her, but I must admit was very impressed with the faculty on audition day. We left thinking she’d be happy there but another rejection. Next came Coastal Carolina. We love Myrtle beach and it felt like we were going on vacation! We stayed oceanfront and had an awesome trip. Audition day was the very best of all the auditions. Not because of any special feedback, but because of he workshops! They actually worked with every student one on one in a voice workshop AND let the parents watch! I was so impressed! They also allowed us to sit in on the dance and acting workshop. At the end, I had to thank one of the professors for taking the time to actually get to know my D. Every other school was 10 minutes max. We left in love with the program, campus and town but very cautious.
At this point, we still have Montclair and Wagner. So a trip to New Jersey and New York City! Sister and dad came along for this one! Montclair was first. Upon arrival, they had pushed her audition time back two hours. We then left campus and had lunch before a fairly quick afternoon audition. No fireworks there but we felt it was an option. Wagner was next… rauining again. The day went well and they spent a lot of time talking to the parents. My d loved her singing audition and was so so about the others. Done with NYC. The day after the Wagner audition, she received her first BFA MT acceptance! Tampa! We were just ecstatic! Yay! She had a school! Two days later, she received another acceptance! Coastal Carolina!!! Our favorite audition, our favorite faculty, and not too far away! She text d me hours after the acceptance “I can’t believe it!” And I said believe it!!! That’s it! We were done!
Final Decision: Coastal Carolina BFA MT!!!
Four more schools to hear from, but we didn’t care. She emailed the department chair and committed! A huge weight was lifted and lots of excitement for he future.
That really does end our story and it is a truly happy ending.
Other notes / regrets: we have no true regrets because we feel we got the happy ending and reached her goal, however rejections were tough and stress was quite high at times. I do think that it would have been beneficial to have a coach, especially for creating a school list. We basically felt that most schools were reaches, had no clue what were matches. It seems the coaches can help with a more balanced list than we had. I think they may have also helped with picking songs and monologues. She chose all of her own material and it would have been nice to have help with that. Also, as I said before we should have gone to Unifieds for the walk in opportunities.
It has truly been an experience of a lifetime. We truly enjoyed each other’s company and I will never forget it. All that being said, I’m very glad it’s over! Thanks to everyone here for support and guidance! It has truly been a blessing to have this forum throughout the process.
Congrats, @anotherBwaymom ! Coastal has a world class program, and you get to visit your kid at the beach 
@owenfolks Thanks so much! Can’t wait to read your story! You have been an inspiration throughout!!
I LOVE stories where, after a season of anxiety and rejections, kids end up landing at a school that’s totally PERFECT for them and that they love!!! Happy endings are the BEST! Congratulations!!!
@actorparent1 so true! And thanks a bunch!
Great story @anotherBway! Congrats!!!
@MTMOM17 thanks so much!!
@anotherBwaymom - I know I told you this before but CONGRATS again! 
Looking forward to (hopefully) meeting you and your D this next year! I heard that you met my D and your D (and the others visiting) got to go to the makeup class with her. Welcome to the TEAL NATION! CHANTS UP! 
@stagedoormama yes!!! Your sweet daughter got us off to a great start! She is so kind and helpful! My D and the others loved their day! One of them committed yesterday! Hope to meet you and stay in touch!
Congrats to everyone who has landed!
I think I should have included in our story that D did not finish sending in all the paperwork like scores or transcripts once she got an MT NO, so we never got a yes or no on academic acceptance from most schools.
@NewEngMTMom , congratulations to you and your D! I had missed your story somehow, but just scrolled back a page and saw it! Another nail-biting story with an unexpected wonderful happy ending!!! Kudos to you for following up on the missing transcript! So happy for your D landing at her perfect fit school!
Anyone going to LIU Post on Sunday for Accepted Students Day?
@NewEngMTMom I wish we were, but D is going to NYC with her theatre class later in the month, so we are going to visit campus then. I hope you guys love every second of it!
@NewEngMTMom Sigh… our communication with LIU’s artistic side has been great. The communication from the rest of the school -not so much. Ironically, we will be in town. We’re going to the freshman showcase on Saturday evening at LIU and then doing a school visit on Tuesday. (We have another school visit on Monday) Haven’t heard from anyone that there’s an accepted student day. Perhaps I need to check in with S as I think this is the only school that contacts him at his personal email rather than through our shared college ap account. Not sure if we would choose to have him sign up for the day or not at this point.
@speezagmom and @NewEngMTMom we are not able to attend Accepted Students day but D is visiting and sitting in on classes next week. So bummed we are missing freshman showcase - please let us know all about it after if you don’t mind!
@speezagmom I believe we saw the Accepted Students Day thing on the check list that was sent by snail mail. We won’t be there on Saturday night for showcase, unfortunately. I wish we could do both days! D has made some connections on some groups, (Facebook I think?) for MT hopefuls, and now a group of people committed to LIU Post have started their own group discussion. She already has people to look for and meet on Sunday! I’ll be the lonely mom since hubby committed a long time ago to a band trip to Virginia with students where he teaches. I don’t love driving, I really don’t love driving where I’m unfamiliar with an area. Sigh. Travelling from western Mass to Long Island. I’m counting on aggressive commuter drivers all being sound asleep on Sunday morning! LOL!