@Daddily FIRST CONGRATS!! secondly- great story!! our girls had so many similarities yet so many differences, I guess thats what makes it COOL!!. enjoy NYC maybe we can grab a beer one time when you are out here & trade war stories
@Daddily WOW!! What a wild ride!! It sounds like your daughter is in the perfect spot for her. I agree — you learn a lot about a program about how they treat young people. Granted, this year has been more stressful for everyone all the way around, but regardless of the obstacles and stress, you still need to be considerate and respectful. Good for your daughter!! She is where she is supposed to be…
Congratulations, @Daddily! Fantastic outcome! I agree that the programs reveal tidbits about themselves in all kinds of ways. We experienced a few of those less-than-stellar moments ourselves. In fact, I think I’d add that as a TIP: remember that you are auditioning/interviewing the programs, too.
I’m so glad she found her perfect place! 
Congratulations @Daddily ! Great story with what sounds like the perfect outcome for your D! Best of luck to her at NYU.
@Daddily I enjoyed reading your D’s adventures with this process. She certainly had a very positive result with many fine offers!
There was one part of your story I could relate to having happened with my own daughter, and that was how my D had always wanted to attend NYU/Tisch since she was 12. Sounds similar to your D. And like your D, we even contemplated applying ED (and she had several friends who did that at Tisch), but I felt she should not commit that early because we had not visited all her schools yet because she decided to graduate high school a year early and I thought we’d visit all her schools in junior year, but junior year became her admissions year and so we hadn’t seen all the schools by the time she’d have to had to apply ED and so she didn’t do ED (she did see half her schools by that point though). Like your D, she did all her auditions and in the end, enrolled at NYU/Tisch for MT, and so it was full circle, but I felt it was worth going through the whole process to come to that conclusion rather than that easier route to have just applied ED, which in her case would have been around her 16th birthday, when I wasn’t sure she could know for sure it was the best school for her. So, I feel like you, glad to have gone through all of it to reach that same initial choice. It was a truly informed choice. I truly hope your D loves Tisch as much as mine did.
I also agree with the point you made that some schools seem to really get people ready to get into a professional ensemble right out of the gate and some are more aimed toward principle roles, which take longer to get to a successful level. Looking back on it, I feel that many of my D’s peers from her college have gone onto principle and supporting roles, and I don’t know hardly any working now in the ensemble, and my D would also say that it takes several years out of the gate to reach some level of success and more regular work and so don’t go by what a graduate is doing just in the first year. I do think ensemble is great, don’t get me wrong. It just is not something my own D is longing to do, and at 5’3", would not be apt to be a chorus girl. She has never attended open chorus calls, in fact.
Anyway, great account and outcome! Congrats to your D!
@Daddily - that has to be one of the most organized, lucid, long, final decision stories ever! I loved it. I want to punch that high school director in the mouth and I hope he gets his, but I loved the rest of it. You guys were sooo on top of your search, wow - so great she had so many wonderful options and I love her final decision!!! Sometimes the dream school is the right school. 
Welcome to NSB! It’s a unique and wonderful place. NYU has been an amazing experience for my (rising Junior!) D and the studio truly wants to develop artists. I’m sure your D going to have an amazing time … and her parents get to have a total blast visiting her in NYC!!!
Congratulations @Daddily ! Sounds like the perfect outcome for your D. I loved reading the whole story, thanks for posting.
Congratulations @Daddily ! What a journey, thank you for sharing. I’m so proud of your D for standing up to that director, that is NOT easy! My D had a similar situation, but in dance. It was shocking how much garbage the adults were allowed to get away with in the high school environment and scary how much everyone expected my D to just fold and keep coming back for more treatment like that. She was confident enough to know she deserved better but as her mom I can say it doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt when she had to tough it out and how isolating that can be, especially if your friends are in that same bubble and don’t want to stick their necks out to support you or worse, double down to show their alliance to an adult who controlled their fate as well! So congrats to her, it’s what looks easy in the after school special but is so painful in the context of high school life! And regarding the school that kept stringing her along, it’s not surprising but unfortunate. I kept being surprised by how some were willing to ask kids and their families to do more and more things that were financially and emotionally exhausting to meet their very particular needs!
Your D sounds wonderfully talented and will thrive at NYU! My D and I were just saying how we all went through this insane wormhole and came out the other side, and dispersed out to so many different schools but all seem to make so much sense.
Catching up on these stories - thank you to @NYYFanNowMTdad and @Daddily for the fascinating reads! I enjoyed every minute of your tales and appreciate the time it took to put your experiences into writing. Congrats to both of you and @PeterPan8th on the happy endings for your wonderful kids!
Congrats @NYYFanNowMTdad - so glad the waitlist worked out! It was meant to be! And congrats @Daddily- a great story of your D finding her perfect place! Keep the stories coming everyone!!
Congrats to your D @Daddily ! It’s always inspiring to read about a young person who is not deterred by small-minded adults. I wish her all the best!
Wow I step away for a week and miss some great action!!! Trying to limit my time on the computer/phone and focus on family. Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone. Thanks for all the fantastic stories. This is always my favorite thread, but especially love the outcomes and don’t envy these kids having to make decisions during this time!
Congrats to you and your D @ElizaDoolittle . How very cool that she had the premonition that she would end up at Pace! My D has several friends there and they all LOVE the school.
Huge congrats to @NYYFanNowMTdad what an absolutely great detailed story you gave that is sure to help those in the future! You have been a constant on this MT board since you joined and have enjoyed following your journey. You have always been positive, encouraging, and humorous. And I am humbled to think I and my D added a little to your inspiration. So pumped for her to have landed at BW. That was my D’s dream school…until they rejected her from not one, but two different programs (but now she is at her new dream school so . She still keeps in touch with her voice teacher from camp there. I know your D will do great things with support from a Dad like you!
Congrats to you and your S @PeterPan8th ! He had some fantastic acceptances. Hope he has a fantastic time at Indiana U. Sounds like a great fit!
And @Daddily another epic story that will help those going forward. I love all the details. Its always great when the kids land right where they always dreamed. So many opportunities at NYU. Congrats to your D and you for a fantastic outcome and to be done with the process. Sorry about the waitlist…that really stinks that unfolded the way it did! But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
Congrats to all on these wonderful final decisions–love all the stories and so happy for your kiddos to land in the place that’s right for them! I’m keeping up with everyone’s posts, even if I can’t always comment in the moment.
Just wanted to say to @NYYFanNowMTdad I feel for you with the Bell’s palsy! I came down with Bell’s just days after my son was born–first grandchild on both sides of the family, and in all the pix my face looks a mess! Took about 2 months to get back to normal, but now 20 years later, you’d never know I had it… So glad it sounds like you’ve had a good recovery! And also great to hear your D had a happy ending to her journey! Congrats!
I’m working on our own final decision post–slowly but surely! Will update soon…
I never imagined that I would be posting the Decision Background for my D. Past two years was an absolute rollercoaster ride with so many twists and turns. It even feels unreal that we have gone through this process (part of it due to the quarantine as I’ve been losing track of time and even three months ago seems like a long time ago).
Finding the MT forum at CC was one of the luckiest things that happened to us during the process. I feel that all of us in here are more connected than ever before and any other class despite/because of the unprecedented pandemic. We are separate but all in this together.
I want to thank all MT parents who shared and gave good advice, encouragement, best wishes and congratulatory comments.
Programs Applied to: Baldwin Wallace, Ball State, Carnegie Mellon, CCM, IL Wesleyan, Indiana, Ithaca, Michigan, Northwestern, Pace, Penn State, Point Park, Roosevelt, Temple
Safety: Northern Illinois University (BFA Acting), 6 other schools with a “back- up” major
Prescreens: Ball State, Carnegie Mellon, CCM, IL Wesleyan, Indiana, Ithaca, Michigan, Pace, Penn State, Point Park, Roosevelt, Temple
Prescreen Passed: All, except CCM
Auditions: Chicago Unifieds – Ball State, Carnegie Mellon, Ithaca, Pace, Penn State, Point Park, Temple, Northern IL
On-Campus – Baldwin Wallace, IL Wesleyan, Indiana, Michigan, Roosevelt
Accepted to: Point Park, Roosevelt, Northern IL
Withdrew: n/a
Rejected from: Baldwin Wallace, Ball State, IL Wesleyan, Indiana, Ithaca, Michigan, Northwestern, Pace, Penn State, Temple
Wait-listed at: Point Park (then accepted)
Coach: local voice and dance lessons
Summer Programs: CCM (Summer before senior year)
Background: D grew up playing a few musical instruments (piano, cello and harp) but the cello has been primary and consistent since 4th grade. She also took a few years of art, dance, gymnastics, swim and Taekwondo lessons alternately or simultaneously from preschool through junior high but none of them further became serious enough for her to pursue in the long run. She was an introvert girl who tried different things that caught her interest at the time.
After D played the cello in the pit orchestra for 2 years at HS, she completely threw off her dad and me saying “I have wanted to sing and act all my life”. Excuse me? What had we been missing all these years? She was signed up for an advanced choir in her sophomore year and showed a slight interest in auditioning for a cast for the winter act and the spring musical but we never knew she had such a strong desire for the stage because she didn’t even budge when I suggested she sign up for summer theater camps at times.
My husband immediately opposed to D’s seemingly brand new pursuit without a blink of an eye. He argued that her interest won’t last long just like she had jumped from one to the other and another. None of them materialized. And that it was such a critical time when she was going into her junior year so she should be preparing to go to college. No more wasting of her time! Sigh…. In a way, I agreed with him. However, I spent so many nights arguing with him and trying to convince him that she should try whatever she wanted to do to find her passion before she went to college. Otherwise, she may end up wasting more time and money wandering during her college years. We as parents are not here to judge her but only to advocate her along the way to find her path. If she needs to hear “no” while pursuing one of the most competitive professions, she needs to hear it from the industry professionals, not from us.
The next 18 months were filled with weekly voice, dance, acting workshops, summer camp, spring musical (onstage debut as an ensemble), fall play, winter act, ACT prep, writing essays, lots of tears, and sweat. While I wanted to provide D with financial and emotional support for her new passion, I needed for her to realize what it would take to pursue her dream, and to sort of prove herself. I gave her two conditions before she could apply to colleges; Audition-based top MT programs up to 15 schools and those available to audition in Chicago Unified (as we live in the suburb) unless they are located in the 5-hour radius in driving.
Prescreens got all submitted by early November. All we could do was just wait and see if auditors could see D’s raw talent if there was any. The results came mind-blowing. She passed all prescreens except one. She not only beat the odds but also turned her dad to an annoying advocate by then (From that point on, he wanted to know and double-check everything about the process!).
December came with her first rejection from Baldwin Wallace. She took it in strides (her dad took it worse) but it was pretty tough for her to take six rejects in a row after the Chicago Unifieds followed by two on-campus auditions. Her first acceptance was from Roosevelt-CCPA and a week later the waitlist notice came from Point Park University. She was leaning to Point Park so she immediately wrote an appeal letter expressing how exciting she was just to be waitlisted as well as her most positive audition experience with them during the Chicago Unified. (The auditors asked her to sing more songs from her repertoire and the director of the program worked one song with her.) No response came in. D followed up a week later and emailed directly to the program director to make sure she got D’s appeal message. After a short response came from the director, another follow-up email was sent with her intent to commit if accepted. And two days later, she came off the list!
We didn’t get to visit the campus but we’ve been to Pittsburgh during our campus visit to CMU past summer. Based on her audition experience, D has become confident that PPU will be a good fit! She has already found her roommate and started bonding with her future classmates by having regular zoom meetups.
Final Decision: Point Park University BFA MT
P.S: I will cherish our 10-hour road trip to/from her very first audition at Baldwin Wallace. We talked, laughed, cried together, and thanked each other looking back on our journey.
congrats @AbigCurveBall its so crazy the nearly opposite experiences we had with pre screens & yet our kids still ended up at their perfect fit?! wild no doubt
Congrats @AbigCurveBall . Great story. Wild Ride. Love the emotion re the ride back/forth to BW. Have had a few of those moments myself. Precious.
Congratulations @AbigCurveBall ! What a wonderful ending. So happy for her and for you.
@AbigCurveBall - Congratulations - great story - I will also miss the time with my D and the traveling - Although I hope she will be able to start in the fall I will miss her too. Good luck to her at PPU
Wow @AbigCurveBall - what a great ending for your D! Lovely that the program she loved was persuaded to love her back with a bit of polite encouragement! I think she will have the time of her life at PPU, it’s a top-notch program.
Wow, how much can change in just a few months, or a couple of years @AbigCurveBall ! Congrats to your D.