@StanfordAI2019 54 wow!!! Congrats on a great outcome .
@berniesmom is probably wondering… HUH? Whatever is she talking about?
But @BenniesMom1 gets it. ??I agree. This SERIOUSLY could be a reality TV show !! A REALLY good one that would have a serious cult following !! Such AMAZING stories. And these threads have been around for a while so they’d have enough for MANY MANY seasons ! TV Producers? nudge nudge… wink wink… SMASH replacement?? 
@StanfordAI2019 your daughter kills me too. That’s hilarious and on point !! Still scratching my head at 54 though… Mind Boggling. This takes the phrase “Whatever works” to a whole new level !! ?
@Jasklo CONGRATS on the ending !! Looking forward to that story.
Ha, I guess there are multiple @berniesmom1 out there :).
Yea… I get that a lot, but no “R” in MY Bennie, is what I always say. BeNnie… nickname for my Benedict.
@StanfordAI2019 I am THRILLED that your D has made a decision, and what a great fit! So happy to hear of a smooth end to one of the most rollicking roller-coaster rides on this board. Congrats!
After years of reading prior classes’ journeys, ready to tell my D’s.
Programs Applied to: University of Arizona, Ball State, Baldwin Wallace, CCM, CMU, Elon, Emerson, Hartt School, Michigan, Millikin, Molloy/CAP21, NYU, Northwestern, Otterbein, PACE, Penn State, Point Park, Texas State, UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, Viterbo, Wright State
Safety (Non-MT: Chapman, Loyola Marymount)
Prescreens: CCM, Millikin, Emerson, Michigan, (passed)
USC & Elon (didn’t pass)
Live prescreens not passed at Moonifieds: TxSt, Rider, Pace, Otterbein, Penn State
Accepted to: Millikin BFA Acting, Viterbo BFA MT, Emerson BFA MT, UCLA BA Theater MT emphasis, Ball State BA Theatre Creation
Withdrew: none
Rejected from: Northwestern, CCM, Hartt, Baldwin Wallace, Michigan, NYU
Wait-listed at: Point Park, Molloy/CAP21, Wagner, UCI
Coach: private Voice teachers since 6th grade; College Audition Coach - Mary Anna Dennard and her team
Summer Programs: Oklahoma City University High School MT program; Five Days of Broadway (Segerstrom Center for the Arts)
Background: D started singing soon after she could talk. Started dance at 3-1/2. Local children’s musical theatre productions from Kindergarten until 8th grade. Was heavily influenced by High School Musical because she shares the same ethnic heritage of Vanessa Hudgens- someone that looked like she does.
Decided in 6th grade she wanted to participate in competitive dance in high school so juggled 7 classes a week in addition to doing 1 musical per semester and joining the junior high academic decathlon team (through 8th grade).
Made the pom team as a freshman as well as advanced women’s choir, auditioned for school musical and cast as understudy because she could ‘t make the time commitment for rehearsals. Same thing happened sophomore year so she decided to let pom go and concentrate on theatre and choir. She missed theatre and not able to take class because of the dance elective. Got the leading role in fall musicals junior and senior year while carrying 4.0 honors/AP classes (first B fall semester this year due to absences from auditioning) Took on a leadership role in choir senior year as well as mentorship role for freshmen.
Must haves: “college experience”, not a conservatory, would have loved to be in NYC, emphasis on triple threat.
But when we were making our list, we were also looking at the ones who emphasized triple threat. And because she’s a girl we threw a wide net.
Worked on material all summer. Tries to get her to finish Common App essays during the summer with no luck, so finally asked a family friend whose job is a college admission coach to work with her to help set deadlines and help with the essays.
Completed whatever applications were due to selected Moonified schools who required apps prior to audition. All prescreen videos were done by whatever Michigan’s second deadline date was. Had to do some extra taping for different dance requirements, but most were the Common pre-screens.
Accepted to Viterbo before Christmas so that was a boost after receiving early rejections from CMU and Moonifieds.
Elon was a “panic” application prior to receiving some of the prescreen yesses.
Chicago Unifieds: Millikin, Michigan, CCM and Emerson. D said she liked the Millikin audition, loved Michigan, but was nervous (because it was in her top 5), felt ok about CCM and was unsure about Emerson.
The following weekend auditioned for NYU in LA, had tech week for school musical and day after closing auditioned for UCLA on campus. She liked the interactions with the current freshmen and their honesty about the good and the bad of the program.
Luckily our school had it’s first ever winter break so she got to rest the week after UCLA followed by one week of school and then flew to NY for Wagner audition. She loved their production and all the students she met.
Rejection from Michigan hurt the most followed by Northwestern. Even though she knew these were lottery schools, she still held out hope. She was elated by the UCLA acceptance and was scratching her head about UCI waitlist.
It came down to Emerson and UCLA. Not being able to visit Emerson was hard. She sat in on a zoom call with them and after hearing how hard it would be to do a semester abroad or a minor, she was able to make up her mind.
Final Decision: UCLA; we think it is the best fit fo her. She is academic so she will have the opportunity to take classes that interest her since she has many units from AP test. Theater is housed in the school of Theater, Film, and Television so she has some exposure to film and TV; we have some industry connections locally so it’s good for her to be able to work with them. If sports come back she will get that college experience. She’s close to home and gets to enjoy great weather year round.
Congrats @flippedout !!
Congratulations @flippedout ! Sounds like she found her fit!
Congratulations @flippedout ! Great story with a great ending. Best of luck to your D at UCLA!
@flippedout Congrats to your D! Amazing program at a fantastic school.
Well it’s hard to believe this road for D has ended and now another road has now opened. Prayers and blessings to all of you, your S’s & D’s and entire families this year especially with all that we have been through together. A sincere thank you to all for sharing.
Programs Applied to: Point Park, Central Oklahoma, Florida State, Wright State, Baldwin Wallace, Viterbo, Ball State, Texas State, Penn State, Oklahoma, TCU, Rider, PACE, Coastal Carolina, Otterbein, Carnegie Mellon, Rockford, Oklahoma City, Webster.
Prescreens Passed: FSU, Texas State, OU, TCU, CMU.
Accepted to: Rockford, UCO, OCU, TCU (Acting), Point Park.
Rejected from: FSU, TSU, OU, CMU.
Wait-listed at: Ball State (PWL)
Background: We may or may not be your typical theatre parents. This audition process was let’s just say intense and challenging, heartbreaking and joyous, so many ups and downs…. not that we should have been surprised but we really had no idea what we were in for. We probably started the preparation later than most. We have three children, all very active in their own activities, but our oldest is who ventured into MT land. D is the captain of this MT ship. She has been singing, dancing and performing since was very little. She was in her first musical at age 7. She has danced for 8 years but not competitively. She has been blessed with a beautiful voice and taken voice lessons the last 4 years and recently started piano as well.
When picking the list of schools to apply she went big and wide. I think part of it was to see what kind of feedback she would receive on a national level. She also identified some good programs closer to home through the state Thespian conference.
Moonifieds: 14 auditions in 4 days. Good and bad. Good: Bulk of auditions are done. Bad: Looking back it was probably too many too soon. She hadn’t really tested her material in a live audition and decided to make some changes after Moonifieds. She also could have auditioned for some of these same programs at Unifieds in February.
On Campus – Texas State, Florida State, Rockford, OCU.
Unifieds: Carnegie Mellon Callback, Webster.
First offer came from UCO in January. Thrilled to have one offer in hand. Then a couple weeks later was offered by Rockford after auditioning on campus before Unifieds. Then OCU in late February. Then the wait, the wait, the wait… Offer from TCU (Acting) in mid-march. What? At first, she didn’t know what to think. Harry knew that she wanted MT so why did he offer her Acting? She emailed Harry and asked for his feedback. He wrote a sincere email back telling her he loved her voice and dance, but he really thought her future is in Acting. Plus at TCU, he told her she can still take all of the voice and dance she wants. This opened our D’s eyes a bit as she thought acting was her weakest of the triple threats. Then an offer from Point Park (yeah!) came in and PWL from Ball State.
D now had options, plenty of good ones in her mind. She was able to dwindle the list to 3 and then it got more difficult. Two programs very similar for MT, both strong vocally but in her mind one stronger in dance and the other stronger in acting. Plus, she had the one offer for Acting that she wouldn’t dismiss. D wanted to go to a program that offered her more of a college experience in her mind than just exceptional theatre training. Larger student body, sporting events, being a normal college kid… almost like not wanting to grow up too quickly… before really focusing in on chasing her dreams of Broadway after college.
Final Decision: TCU Horned Frogs, BFA Acting!!
TCU has an incredible program with lots of cross over between MT and Acting. Harry Parker is amazing… felt a strong connection with faculty and current students as well as other students she met at auditions throughout the year that have also committed to TCU. GO FROGS!
Congratulation @MT85 ! Such an interesting turn of events for you. It sounds like the perfect situation for you D. Best of luck to your D at TCU!
CONGRATS @MT85 !!
Congrats on your D’s TCU decision @MT85 . Such a beautiful friendly campus and an amazing program!
Congrats to @flippedout and your D on her finding her perfect fit! I am so glad that kids are able to find their programs amidst admidst all this craziness. I enjoy reading all the different paths and storied. Thanks!
Congrats @MT85! I grew up going to summer dance camp at TCU and have always loved the campus and the school. It sounds like it will be an amazing 4 years for your D. Best of luck!
Congratulations @MT85 !
Congrats @MT85 and @flippedout!
Congrats @flippedout and @MT85 ! Loved hearing these great stories today! This thread is a total quarantine pick-me-up. Keep it coming, all! So happy for everyone!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing @flippedout and @MT85!! Feels wonderful to have a decision doesn’t it?!!
@StanfordAI2019 Congratulations. You’ve been a terrific source of support, inspiration and good humor here and your D sounds like an amazing young woman. Point Park is doing a lot of things right. The performances spaces, the care for students, etc. Best of luck with everything!