Final MT Decisions Background - Class of 2022

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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D, Maryland

I’m so excited to finally be at this point in my daughter’s journey…ready to post a decision! (sorry it is so long! But hey, so is this process!!)

Background: My daughter has always loved music and singing since she was little. She participated in choirs in elementary school. Started playing clarinet in 4th grade and liked band. Attended some fun drama camps in the summer in middle school and participated in a couple musicals in middle school. I always enjoyed hearing her voice but I didn’t really think about “training” or anything more than that it was fun. She sang all the time and asked to start dance classes in 8th grade. (she had done tap and ballet in preschool). Freshman year she landed a lead in a musical and little did I know… that was apparently a big deal. It is a public high school, not an arts school but it is the largest school in the county and known for it’s shows! The other parents started telling me that freshmen don’t usually land a title role or a lead?! All of a sudden I thought… maybe it’s not just me, maybe this girl has a special something!!! She continued in band and chorus and took a s many music classes as she could at school. She kept taking some dance classes through the rec council (nothing too serious) and I got her a private voice instructor. The leads kept coming!! By 10th grade she told me this is what she wanted to pursue professionally… and she started wanting to do shows in the community. My sister had attended school for musical theater (at U Arts) YEARS AGO, but little did we both know, the process is NOTHING like it was 20 years ago. I really had no clue. Her school directors and community theater directors told us she will get in anywhere she wants to go (ha!!! Little did they know!) A few of them had attended schools like Elon etc and even THEY did not know what it is like now. They didn’t know about Unifieds or applying to multiple schools. We really had no one to guide us AT ALL until we found College Confidential and a special kind of “coach” - see below! We also went for a theater tour day at Shenandoah her junior year and this just SOLIDIFIED her decision to pursue this professionally. It also shot ShenCo up to the top of her list as far as where she wanted to go!

Summer Programs: NSLC (national student leadership) at Fordham (Lincoln Center Campus- NY) in theater. Then Baldwin Wallace CSI (summer conservatory) in choral studies, MT track and the college audition prep workshop.

Coach: We actually hired a recent MT graduate from Pace who is living and working in NYC. We met her because she is from Baltimore and she hosted a workshop at a nearby community college called “So you want to major in musical theater?” It was a 2 hour workshop and she was SO KNOWLEDGEABLE! It was the first time I even thought about the process. I didn’t know what a BA is vs: a BFA. I didn’t know we would need to apply to a long list of schools. We attended the workshop the fall of my daughter’s junior year and boy am I glad we did! The Pace student is also the one who told me about College Confidential. She was offering a “coaching” package if anyone at the workshop wanted to hire her. It was the best thing! My daughter connected with her SO WELL and she had recently been through this whole audition process. She learned a lot through school and had so much to share about what she would have done differently etc. She helped us choose our list of schools and material. even spent the day with my D in NYC and helped her choose monologues at the drama book store. They used skype or facetime to work on the material. She came down to Baltimore to film all the prescreens for us! She was an amazing support for us through the entire process. I highly recommend this idea because A) it was affordable (a fraction of what you would pay other types of coaches and SO HELPFUL B) It felt good that the money was going to a brand new MT graduate who is trying to get started and support herself in the city.

Schools Applied for: (16) Baldwin Wallace, Shenandoah, CCM, Wright State, Otterbein, Hartt, Rider, Wagner, Pace, U Arts, Arcadia, Muhlenberg, JMU, Montclair, Temple, Christopher Newport (non audition safety- audition for scholarship only).

Prescreens: (5) passed all: Shenandoah, Otterbein, Rider, Pace, Temple

Academic Acceptances- ALL! (I think MT kids overlook this accomplishment… but I am SUPER proud about this even if my D doesn’t “count” those acceptances.

Artistic Acceptances: Arcadia, Christopher Newport (with an artistic scholarship), Rider, and Muhlenberg. Waitlisted at Wagner and Wright State. Temple accepted her to a BA theater program (not the BFA MT)

Auditions: Early fall auditions were on campus at Arcadia and Muhlenberg. Getting an October acceptance and very generous artistic scholarship (and academic one too) from Arcadia was a great confidence booster and she knew going into audition season she had one option of a school to attend no matter what! We attended Chicago Unifieds for most of our auditions except for BW, Wright State, Shenandoah, JMU, Christopher Newport and Wagner which were all on campus. The other 8 were at unifieds. I would say that the most difficult “no’s” were from Shenandoah (that’s been the school she has loved for a while now and she felt so connected to the program! She saw herself there and LOVES the faculty. She wanted to do the PALM 5 year program for MT and then the masters in Arts Management. She got the email after auditioning saying she was still in consideration and we both got our hopes up!!! So after the last audition day when she got the rejection it was so sad! The other rejection that really hurt was BW. She had spent a couple weeks at their summer conservatory program last summer. She fell in love with the campus, with her voice teacher, with the conservatory staff that she met and worked with. It quickly became a VERY special place to her and BW and ShenCo were about tied for her “dream” schools. It was like all of the other schools on the list were there just in case… (and to be fair- she didn’t really do too much research about the other programs…).

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Decisions:

Arcadia faculty were very kind to us, kept in communication, offered a very generous package! They told me that she was very special (which was so nice for me to hear and made me feel confirmed that we are on the right track in pursuing this crazy path- that was a confirmation that was really important to me personally) We attended one of their shows and were impressed with it- and all that they were able to do with such a tiny theater! But ultimately, my D and I both felt it wasn’t the best fit as the program and facilities are so small and it really limits what type of shows they can do. She wanted more training in dance and other aspects of musical theater and wanted to be immersed in that training- Arcadia will probably continue to grow but as it is right now- it didn’t feel like a good fit for her.

Muhlenberg- we loved the campus! We had a great student tour guide (wow that makes a difference!) Her audition went very well and Charles Richter gave her some great feedback that actually helped prepare her for the other auditions. We were so impressed with their facilities- GORGEOUS and the costume shop, the dance studios, the productions. She observed an acting class and really liked that! (she has never had formal acting instruction and it is something she is looking forward to receiving in college!). She was not sure how she felt about the BA type of program. Even though my D is a very strong student academically- she really was picturing herself in a conservatory type program.

CNU- (Christopher Newport)- campus was very pretty! The arts building is impressive! It was definitely a good “safety” option for us. My D did not want a gap year- 100% so we had both agreed to find a safety non audition option. We also knew she had the grades to get academically admitted. A couple suggestions for CNU. They only have one audition day for MT (auditions are for scholarships). There were people there from all over! We met 2 families that flew there for the audition. We had driven 6 hours and stayed in a hotel the night before. Anyway, they did not do any type of presentation or welcome. They did not have any parent info sessions or any sort of short talk about their program or their faculty- this is something they could easily add that would give me a lot more confidence about the program. They did have brochures out on the sign in table, and I did meet the new director for the MT program, but only because I sort of stopped him in the hallway and introduced myself. They do have other theater program visit days- but I wasn’t about to travel there on a different date for that. It’s a huge missed opportunity- and the other schools that had on campus auditions, I left with a great amount of knowledge about the program and the faculty. They offered my D their highest artistic scholarship- so honestly if she had gotten no other offers, it would have probably been where she attended…? I just still don’t know a lot about that school even though we spent 2 days of our life and $200 on that audition. LOL ugh

Wait lists- she really liked Wagner and Wright State! Both are schools she would be excited about I think if the wait list had become an offer? She liked the campus and location of Wagner more, but likes the BFA type program at Wright State as opposed to the BA. We also know someone who attends Wright and LOVES it. She really enjoyed the other students she met at Wright State at the audition.

Funny story from unifieds:
First- the Rider dance call was to the same music she used for her prescreen dance video. I heard it through the door when I was waiting for her and I started smiling. I kept teasing her at unifieds that Rider saw that prescreen video and loved it so much that they changed their music because of her, (she is not the strongest dancer so we had a good laugh about this one). ha!
Second- At her vocal audition she sang her 2 cuts and then I heard a pop song being sung through the door. It was the first time she was asked to sing pop and it made me so happy that Rider got to hear some different facets of her voice. She really got to showcase several styles and show a sweet classic MT song with some head voice as well as rocking it out with some pop as well as a contemporary MT song with a little edge to it and some belt. She came out of the audition and said they were so nice and warm! (Rider wasn’t even really on our radar at this point, just on our “list”.)
Third- Rider had a parent info session about their program one evening at unifieds. As I was sitting listening to them I got an overwhelming feeling that the people on that panel (Maryann Cook and Robin Lewis) genuinely cared about their students and their program. I was taking notes and really liked what I was hearing! I distinctly remember sort of praying a little prayer in my head… Lord I don’t know where this girl is going to end up, but please let it be in a place with caring faculty like this! Please let her get an MT offer at a school where she feels proud to be a part of the program!

After unifieds the rejections started rolling in. It sucks! The Shenandoah and BW doors closing (the same week!) was really tough. We were both feeling so discouraged BUT I kept talking up those “safeties” and trying to be positive, but you could tell she just wasn’t feeling it and I started to miss that spark! She is usually such a joy filled kid but she was having doubts. (even though don’t get me wrong- we were grateful for a couple options and she would have gone and made it work! That’s who she is!)

When the acceptance came from Rider we were SO HAPPY! And now, the more we find out about the program the more we are SURE this is 100% where she was supposed to go all along. She has connected with some current students (SO WARM AND WELCOMING), she is in a group chat with incoming MT students. She loves the campus, the proximity to NYC, the training, the classes, the faculty that we have met so far. PLUS she can receive a BFA in MT in addition to a minor in Arts Administration- not an option at many other places. They have master classes with industry professionals EVERY MONDAY! We are convinced that God knew RIGHT where she should be and that other doors closed for a reason. This is a new and up and coming program… Rider alumni are already doing some really great things and there have only been a couple graduating classes. It felt to both of us like a family! We could NOT be more excited to say…

FINAL DECISION: Rider University!!! BFA MT 2022

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@owensfolks Congratulations on your decision! I’ve been watching the journey since last year when my daughter went through it and am thrilled that it ends at my daughter’s school, Shenandoah! She’s going to love it there!

@savedrama4momma Loved reading your story. Much reminded me of my daughter’s. Congratulations on Rider! We thought like it had a lot in common with Shenandoah in feel and some incredible advantages in the location and dance training, so well done!

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@MReader thank you so much! And i agree with you! I didn’t mention this in my story but i ended up reaching out to @VoiceTeacher from Shenandoah for advice before we made a decision (that is how much my daughter respects him and that program) and i didn’t think he would have time to respond- but he was so generous with several really thoughtful responses and a ton of good things for us to consider. We were in a financial aid appeal battle for a long time and may have had to go a different route due to finances. In the end, a miracle happened and the place she wanted to be was able to make it a place comparable in price to the other options. Hallelujah! We remain grateful to Matt for some wise words of advice along the way.

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I finally got the acceptance I’ve been waiting for. As a transfer student, it was a rollercoaster of a process trying to keep up with school work in my MT program and trying to audition. I faced a lot of rejection and lost hope. Yesterday, I got the call that one of my schools accepted me and is looking forward for me to be apart of the community. I cannot wait to start a new and happier chapter in my life. Next stop: Muhlenberg Theatre! Never lose hope, there is always new chances and new school that need bright and talented students. Transfering isn’t always easy, but it can be worthwhile in the end. I got my happy ending.

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@savedrama4mama, I love your story! It’s wonderful when, after initial heartbreaking rejections from “dream” schools, the student ends up getting an acceptance from a school that turns out to be a perfect fit! I love happy endings! I also really like that your coach was a recent MT graduate!

@owenfolks and @musicaltheatre28, congratulations! It shows that even without a good outcome the first time, you can learn from the experience, focus your efforts, come back stronger and get a “win” the second time around! So inspiring!

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@savedrama4momma - wow! A wonderful story. So glad it worked out for you! I especially loved how the “connection” she made with the Shenandoah voice teacher helped her out in an unexpected way. That’s the thing about connections, you never know what they can lead to.

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@savedrama4momma congrats on a great decision after such a long and emotional journey. I loved your choice of coaching. I think it needs to be reiterated that our kids do not need the most expensive, most well known ‘name brand’ coaches to succeed. I was very worried about this (given the way the first part of our journey ended, with numerous rejections). You sought out someone who was very knowledgable in the process, and recently went through it. I recall people saying in last year’s threads that many local MT directors really don’t get how complicated and different the process is now. And your dance call story made me lol (that’s something my d and I would joke about, as she is a ‘mover’ not a dancer).

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@owensfolks congratulations on your d’s decision! You have been a great source of support to many here, including myself. Your story just reinforces that you never know how your story is going to end, when your kid starts filling out those apps in the summer/fall of senior year! Many of us honestly don’t believe that it will be such a bumpy ride (perhaps we share in that adolescent mentality that is appropriate for them “that won’t happen to us”), but you just never know, until you’re in it.

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Thanks, @DramaQueen219 ! I want all of the best for your D, and all of these passionate, hardworking kids. You are an awesome mom.

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@owensfolks right back at ya :wink:

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BACKGROUND/CIRCUMSTANCES: D has been in dance classes since 2, then followed me to the studios where I was teaching acting since the age of 5. While I taught acting, she took dance until she was old enough to join in the musical theater classes. She went to performing arts school since 8th grade while continuing to take classes and doing professional shows in our area. Little did we know that ALL that training and experience didn’t matter - as there is SOOO much competition, and everyone is doing the same thing as we are. We just built our D up to love something that was next to impossible to succeed in! So, going into this year, knowing that some of her MT friends didn’t get any offers LAST year, I was biting my nails about the whole process Not my D though… She was aware of the situation, but didn’t let it affect her.

Programs Applied to: Ithaca, Pace, Marymount Manhattan, NYU-Tisch, Point Park U, CCM, Rider, Syracuse, Penn State, Baldwin Wallace, AMDA
Prescreens: Ithaca, Pace, Rider, Syracuse, Penn State - passed all
Musical Theater Acceptance to: Marymount Manhattan BA- Theater Performance/Musical Theater , Rider - BFA - MT
(Marymount accepted 3 days after audition, Rider, on audition day)
Canceled auditions: Baldwin Wallace and AMDA -

  • While driving home from Rider (NJ), we realized we didn’t need a safety school, since Rider was so AWESOME. So we decided to cancel AMDA. In that same conversation, in talking about what D wanted in a school, we realized that Baldwin Wallace would not fit in that niche that D has - and Rider was such a good fit. So, we decided to cancel BW as well!
    Wait-listed: Syracuse - Still staying on wait list…. just in case finances fall through or if Syracuse (by some miracle) happens to offer a lot of scholarship money. (LOL)
    Coach: : Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Academy College Audition Prep course
    Summer Programs: Pace University Summer Scholars Program for Musical Theater. Many friends went to this two week program, and ALL SEVEN of them were so impressed with the two weeks that they had Pace on the top of their college list. Only one got accepted from all of them, (male) but after realizing the program wasn’t all that he wanted, he immediately declined.
    Broadway Artists Alliance. Amazing program that helped a lot with college audition material. Got to rub elbows with some pretty big names on Broadway, too! D also found good friendships there (one of whom may be attending Rider with her and may be her dorm-mate. They happen to have the same unique name as well!

Final Decision: RIDER UNIVERSITY - Westminster College of the Arts!!!

Here are some of the reasons we ultimately chose Rider:

  1. Blind Curriculum Review: From a College Confidential idea, I printed out the MT curriculums from Pace, Marymount Manhattan, Syracuse and Rider, deleting the names of the college on each page. I asked D to review each curriculum, according to what she was looking for in an in-depth study program. After reviewing the curriculum, she handed me her HANDS-DOWN number one choice. She said, “Syracuse, right?” thinking that was the most reputable program, it must be Syracuse, right? NO! It was Rider!
  2. Monday Master Classes. Impressive guest artists teach master classes on Mondays. They bring in agents, choreographer from broadway, book writers, directors, broadway stars… You don’t have to wait for Senior showcase - agents come regularly to see their shows!
  3. Dance Class: Dance director explained that students have already been placed in their class from auditions. However, they invite the heads of the American Repertory Ballet/Princeton Ballet School to view their first dance classes (who also teach for them) to meet the students and ensure they are placed in the right levels. Mary Barton, the Ballet Master, (for whom the role of Clara in the world premiere of Robert Joffrey’s Nutcracker was created for) will be teaching her in her advanced ballet classes to ensure that she wouldn’t lose all of her years of training! And although she loves musical theater, she has a great love for ballet as well, and would like the opportunity to do both. Here, she can do it - and be the unique artist that she wants to be.
  4. Senior Showcase: If you take the Senior showcase class, you are in the Senior Showcase. But more than that, they are right near NYC and they bring casting agents to classes and performances all the time. Many students have signed with an agent before senior year.
  5. LOCATION - LOCATION - LOCATION! 45 minute train ride into NYC! Students often take the train to NY for auditions on the weekends.
  6. Class Size: They want a class of 30, but actual classroom sizes are capped at 17 for dance classes, and maybe 20 for a voice class So you will get lots of individual attention in classes. Also enough to have a great variety of friends!

And the absolute top reason!!! - The way D were accepted - right on audition day. Faculty and students were so caring and information about the program. Absolutely won us over!

Rider University - Westminster College of the Arts was not only a stand out, but felt like the right fit completely for her.

I feel like we found a HIDDEN GEM. We think found a real jewel here that is going to be talked more about for years to come. This is a very new program (about 7 years old) so this is only the 3rd graduating class, and they already have a name - with many students on Broadway, National Tours, and Films (we talked with a current junior who was just cast in the national tour of Rent!).

I am looking forward to coming back next year, with more insight into the program, to be able to help others who are going through the same process.

Good luck, everyone!

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@Fergie978 - I love your story! A great fit. Congratulations to you and your D.

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Congratulations @Fergie978 So nice when they find their place!

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@Fergie978 I’m soooo excited our girls will be at Rider together! Can’t wait to meet you both in person. I echo all that you said! So thrilled about this program!!!

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Rider’s MT program emerged from a BM program at Westminster Choir College that was merged with Rider University some 10 years back. I live on Long Island and it was on our radar when my D was looking at schools in 2007. It was certainly a school that people studying vocal performance or MT knew about in the NYC area. I know several people from our area who have children who graduated from there with the MT concentration. They merged the schools and created the Westminster College of the Arts umbrella as part of Rider about 6 or 7 years ago, but I would not consider it a new program, more a revamped one. I’m sure there is a much greater network of alumni than those who just graduated recently. And certainly more of a long-standing reputation in NYC theatre circles.

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My daughter is currently a sophomore MT BFA at Shenandoah!! Go Hornets!!!

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I have been thinking about this for a while, and it feels odd to be writing about final decisions. This year has flown by. I will try to keep this a reasonable length, but also insert lessons learned along the way for future classes.

Background: Male, 3 years voice, 0 years of formal dance - but a couple of intensives for stage, 2 summer programs - Open Jar and BW MTO, 2 school plays/musicals for each of the past 4 years, 2 summer community theatre productions. No coach.

Originally Applied for MT at: BW, Emerson, Ball State, NYU, Muhlenberg, BoCo, OU, Elon, CCM, UMich, University of MN-Duluth

Lesson learned: I have a procrastinator who did cursory research. Try to get your kid to really look hard at the schools - not just their reputation. S applied to schools he would never have attended. Waste of money, time, and energy. The worst was NYU at $200 in on application and audition not to mention traveling to Unifieds 2 days early to get their audition in.

Prescreens: UMich and Elon (Passed Neither)

Lesson Learned: Make sure you really understand the requirements for each school and have a plan. I didn’t know about summer programs that record your prescreens, but if I had it to do over, I would seriously consider trying to get S into one of those. Or if you have the funds to hire someone to help - do. I think this was the most painful part of the process for both of us (other than waiting), and I think we just did not do a great job on these. That said, if he had passed and been accepted, I don’t know that he would have chosen either of these schools. UMich is huge and Elon is in the south. Neither of these things was appealing to him. Again - wasted time and effort on schools chosen for reputation not actual interest.

Auditions, Acceptances, Wait Lists, and Rejections:
Academically accepted to all schools that gave a separate academic result.

S had done the BW MTO program during the summer and completed his audition in the fall. We quickly learned that he was on their waitlist, Although we both tried very hard not to fall in love with any schools, this was the one got us after having been there for a week during the summer. We purposely did not do college visits prior to acceptances knowing that we would have a hard time letting go when the rejections came if we did - and because of cost.)

The next auditions were at Chicago unifieds. S had a number of auditions scheduled and was able to do 3 walk-ins. On the way to Chicago, I had him researching schools that would be there that might be of interest. (I had a list of schools for him to look at) He found 6 he was interested in, and got walkins at 3 of them - Molloy/CAP21, LIU-Post, and Viterbo. Additionally, after hearing more and more information about BoCo, he decided it just wasn’t for him and removed himself from their audition list.

As we left unifieds and headed home, I was absolutely stunned when I asked S what the top choices were in his mind at that moment, and he said that Molloy/CAP21 and BW were tied for first place. Molloy was a walk-in that we knew very little about before this weekend!

After Unifieds and one other on-campus audition (and much agonizing waiting): Accepted to Molloy/CAP21, LIU-Post, Muhlenberg, UMD. Wait-Listed to BW and NYU. Redirects: Emerson, Ball State, OU, Viterbo and Rejected: CCM.

Decision Making:
At this point, S quickly released the accepted, WL, and redirect schools he could not see himself at, and we made plans to travel to visit the other accepted schools. After that trip, it was crystal clear where he wanted to be: Molloy/CAP21 - so the commitment was made!

Lessons Learned:

The waiting for results truly is the worst part of this whole thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the trips and time with S. The biggest advice I can give for the upcoming class is to really do your research and know what you want. We would have had a better list of schools from a fit perspective if S would have done deeper research and introspection on what he really wanted. Auditioning at unifieds or not seems to be a personal preference one way or the other for many. I would highly recommend going even if it’s only to do walk-ins. S is that kid that did a walk-in and fell in love with a school he hadn’t heard of before I made him look at it during our travel.

Finally, although many we met along the way gasped in horror when I said we did not use a coach, It is possible. It requires a lot of dedicated research and organization. My profession is in research and analytics which helps as I have the knack for it. I spent a lot of time on logistics, preparing S for what he needed to have ready, and helping with searches for plays and songs. Would a coach have made it easier? Absolutely. Would a coach have changed the school list and had us look at other schools we were and still are unfamiliar with? Probably. That said… we’re very happy with the result and his choice - and wouldn’t change it - so I guess we did OK without one.

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Congratulations @speezagmom !! I second your advice regarding doing your research! There were many schools on our list that never should have been there. And like you, we also last minute added a school for Chicago Unifieds that we knew little about but have fallen in love with and hope to be able commit to soon! (Financial package should arrive today or tomorrow) :wink:
Thanks for sharing your story!

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Congrats @speezagmom!! It sounds like your S ended up exactly where he was meant to be!! That’s a huge victory in this crazy process!

Good luck @JavaJo!! I hope your financial package comes through today!!

I hope to be posting our final decision today or tomorrow. My D and I spent last week visiting her top 2 choices. While I’m grateful she has options, I’m ready to move forward in this process!