Congrats @MTSthistime ! Thank you for sharing your story- so happy for your S!
Woohoo! Great story, @MTSthistime ! I love that the late-breaking switch by Elon didn’t sway him. Congrats!
@MTSthistime, congratulations! There just no predicting where you will end up in this crazy process. So happy for you that your son found his place!
Taking the lead from @MyPennyX2, we live in a “flyover state” and seem to be the only family from here on CC MT. I haven’t posted much because it’s pretty easy to figure out who we are, and some of our story has been complicated and potentially controversial. DS is a gamer kid only child, and has gone to a tiny academic private school in our small town since 7th grade. I took him to NYC to see Book of Mormon, Pippin and the Lion King when he was 11, definitely too young for BOM and Pippin, but he was enchanted, especially by the Lion King. We know the actor who was Scar in that production and got a backstage tour after the show. The fates were at play! In the next middle school musical he was cast as Scar, and so began a very steady interest in acting and MT. He took all the acting classes his school offered, and did summer camps including Rider U/Westminster Choir College. He went to our state’s Jimmy Awards feeder program last year, and had a life changing experience. Instead of pursuing academics for college, (the presumed path) he decided he wanted to pursue MT. He started regular voice lessons only a year ago, and took a ballet I class in fall of senior year at our community college.
All of our prep began in June of the summer before his senior year, and I had to do a lot of work to keep him engaged. We used a private coaching service and he did early auditions in the fall through them. He struggled with pre screens and got feedback from the coach that he wasn’t competitive for the top schools he thought were the best options. He did not pass pre screens for Elon, Michigan, TSU, Ithaca, and Pace, but was thrilled when he was invited to audition for CMU acting. It was a great sign early on, and he was able to see them at Chicago Unifieds, where he auditioned for them, SMU, U of Utah, WMU, UAB, CAP21, and Webster. Other schools in play were U of AZ MT/Acting, JMU, Texas Tech, Tisch MT only, American, U of NV Reno, Niagara U, U Tampa, Eckerd/Circle and U of Central OK.
He was accepted artistically to SMU, JMU, American, Niagara, U NV Reno, U of Tampa, UCO, Eckerd and waitlisted at U AZ, TT, UAB, WMU. He moved off the WMU wait list fairly fast and committed to WMU MT on May 1; he was holding out hope for movement for the MT wait list at AZ, where he received a huge scholarship and Tucson is driving distance for us. We heard today (May 20) that AZ released him from both MT and Acting wait lists.
Thanks to @EmsDad and @MI3rdClosingAct we were able to get a great understanding of WMU, a program we hadn’t visited. He had a zoom meeting with Jay Berkow, and has been participating in lots of virtual work sessions with WMU Theater since he committed, and I am sure it is the right place for him, despite the distance and his lack of familiarity with the campus. He will be participating in the WMU Honors program, and has already found friends in the MT program who share non MT interests. Thanks to everyone here, especially @onette and @Libish who have provided so much information and support. My take away is that despite not having a lot of experience or training, and starting very late in the process, this dedicated young man had incredible success and stuck through a very tough year. Future applicants, you can do it, too!
Congrats, @allfour1 ! So happy your S found his place in this nutty decision environment. Best of luck to him!!!
@allfour1 thanks for sharing AND CONGRATS!! in addition to all of @EmsDad excellent reporting, we know a girl from our HS who will be a soph next year at WMU for vocal performance & we hear she is very happy there, glad it all worked out for you guys!
Congratulations @allfour1 ! Great story! I am so happy it all worked out so nicely for your son! Best of luck to him at WMU!
Congratulations @allfour1 ! Best wishes to you and your son!
First and foremost, I want to say thank you to everyone at CC who took the time to help us. Had we known about this forum at the beginning of our journey, we could have saved or son a lot of heartache. Thankfully, we discovered CC right on time and learned so much from all the stories, posts and messages. This allowed us to guide our son through the final leg of this process. Without MANY of you that helped, this would not have been possible. A special shout-out to
@tsamuique for caring-your effort made all the difference. We hope to pay it forward one day. Thank you from the bottom of my family’s heart.
Programs Applied to: NYU (BFA Acting ), Pace ( BFA Acting, BFA MT ), Julliard (BFA Acting), Syracuse University (BFA Acting), Rutgers University(BFA Acting), Carnegie Mellon University (BFA Acting), DePaul University (BFA Acting), Northwestern University(BA), University Of Miami (BFA MT), UCF (BFA Acting), FSU (BFA MT)
Prescreens: Passed All except (UCF, FSU, Northwestern has no prescreens).
Summer programs: Applied to Carnegie Mellon and DePaul was accepted into both and decided on DePaul (family in the area).
Accepted to: NONE
Wait-listed: NYU, University of Miami.
Coach: Voice Coach, Acting Coach.
The scramble:( NOW WHAT after going 0-11): Skidmore College (BS in Theater) Purchase College (BA Theatre and Performance) Sunny Oswego(BA Acting/Directing) Drew University (BA Theatre & Dance). New World School of the Arts College (Theater BFA Acting)
Accepted to: ALL
Background:
Our Son started acting in the summer of 5th grade because we just wanted to keep him busy. Subsequently, he joined his school’s thespian troupe in 6th grade and never looked back. He performed in his first musical in 7th grade and was hooked. He attends an all boy preparatory school in South Florida that has two full productions per year with a live orchestra. The productions are extremely competitive for both male and female roles and are open to students from other local schools.
Since the 5th grade, he’s performed in about twenty large- and small-scale productions. His sophomore year he was casted as Gomez from The Addams Family, in a local theatre production in Coral Gables, FL. Afterwards, he was then casted in the school’s MT production as Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
We really thought it was too much with the rigorous schoolwork and rehearsals, but he pulled it off. Then came the awards seven Florida Regional and State Critics Choice Awards. As parents, we were new to this world and had no clue about this path. But when we saw his passion and how he would just bring these characters to life we knew it was his gift.
The Journey: We traveled to New York for his first round of auditions, NYU, Pace, Julliard, Syracuse and Carnegie Mellon. It was an eye-opening experience, but he felt he did his best work. On this first round he received two denials (Pace BFA Acting and Julliard). I always questioned his monologues and why one had some curse words, but what do I know. We then traveled to Chicago where he auditioned for DePaul (BFA Acting) and Rutgers (BFA Acting). He had completed a three-week summer program at DePaul and felt extremely comfortable there. They knew his work ethic, talent and he received so much positive feedback that summer from the professors and staff. Once we returned to Miami he auditioned for University of Miami. We never thought he would receive a rejection from DePaul. That denial letter was the worst of all!
The Scramble: Things happen for a reason and thankfully, many schools had extended their application process due to the COVID-19 nightmare. The CC forum, and people who took the time to help, provided information on quality BA theatre programs that were still accepting applications. Within two weeks of receiving these options, our son had applied to four additional programs suggested by CC forum. One day he received a call from the Senior Associate Director of Admissions from Drew University, and she proceeds to tell him the theater professor was extremely impressed with his resume and personal statement; they were going to make him an offer! A week later they offered him three scholarships and he spoke to the acting professor. The more he researched the program, the more it made sense to him, that he can, not only continue to perform, but also learn all aspects of theatre and look past the fact it was not a BFA. He then realized they had a Shakespeare Theatre on campus, and he loves to perform in Shakespeare roles. During our London family vacation, we watched a performance at The Globe Theatre. After that London trip, he said one day he would be performing on that stage.
The truth is, we have always taught our children to have a plan A & B in life. I honestly think those little voices were telling him you need a backup plan just in case. He came to us and said Drew University has shown me the love, it’s 50 minutes from NY, it’s a very well-regarded acting program with many connections and internships. It just fell on our laps and he was happy and ready to commit.
Then the twist-University of Miami accepted him to the BFA Musical/Theatre program off the waitlist. Yes you heard right, just when he was happy with this BA program that gave him a well-rounded education in theater and performance, and when all the heartbreak and rejections were behind him, he now had another major decision to make. Our son struggled for some days knowing that University of Miami gave him extraordinarily little time to accept the offer. He reflected on the time he spent in those audition rooms and how hard he worked. He reflected on the BFA dream, and how a BA can also help him dig deep as an actor and further develop his skills. The truth is-this profession is extremely competitive and there are no guarantees with a BA or BFA. We all sat down and had some real discussions as a family. Our daughter, which is a prosecutor, also sat with him and objectively proceeded to help him make a list of pros and cons of a BA and BFA education. In the end, we wanted HIM to make an educated decision that was best for HIS future. After much thought, our son came to us with our society’s new normal, his sister on zoom, and made the decision that was best for his overall growth in Theater.
There is an old quote “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail.”-Henry Ford
Final Decision: Drew University BA Theatre and Dance
We hope one day when another parent reads this, they understand this is a highly competitive process. Do not try to apply common sense to the process and please do not try to figure it out, or it will drive you insane. In the end- you need to apply to as many programs as possible. Even though your child may, be extremely talented and check off all the proverbial boxes, that gets diluted on a national scale. Apply everywhere you can and never give up!
@APerez - great story- thanks for the contribution- will be VERY helpful to future parents/kids- truly happy it all worked out for you as I remember clearly when you first arrived on CC exasperated by the NOs. CONGRATS!
Congratulation @APerez ! Great story to share for future students that go down this path. I am so glad to hear your son found his perfect place. Drew had a great reputation and offers so much with regards to Shakespeare.
@APerez - Congrats and break a leg to your S! You may want to contact @bisouu - her D graduated from Drew’s BA Theatre program in 2018. She was a superstar there and loved it! She has had a lot of professional success since graduation, too.
Wow, congrats to @APerez and @allfour1 ! So many interesting paths in this business, which is really great but such a roller coaster. Best of luck to your kiddos!
Congrats @allfour1 and @APerez! Loved hearing your stories! Wishing you and your sons the best as they embark on their college journeys!
@allfour1 I am so happy for your son!!! I only wish I could have met you guys in person!! I love WMU - I only wish that Thomas was going there also so he and your son could hang out and game together! I am so happy for his success and look forward to hearing about what happens at WMU! I really, really like Jay and that program!
@APerez one of my theatre kids is heading to Drew in the fall!! She is an amazing creative young woman…an introvert, but onstage she comes alive! I don’t thinj she has decided if she will pursue theatre but I hope your son gets to meet her! She is one of my favorites!! Congrats!!
@APerez I love how your family supported your son in so many ways on his college application/discovery/decision journey. All the best to him at Drew!
@APerez , I am so happy for you and your son that he has ended his journey in this place of abundance after his disappointing season. I am so glad to have been of help - our 3-hour tour of Drew paid off! 
I’ve also have a few email exchanges with an educator at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ and they’ve been lovely. I wish him all the best!!
had hoped to see a bunch more final decision stories and details now that June 1 has passed…crazy world we live in , feel good stories are good for all of us, so please share your successes or even your failures with lessons learned, what do you say?? paying it forward is good karma!