Congrats on her decision, @NeensMom ! And thank you for sharing her story. What a survival story she’s got, shows she’s got tremendous grit! I am so happy that she found her tribe and will be going to a stimulating, nurturing place. A friend of my son’s will be joining UArts next year as a directing major/MT minor. We’re so excited for him. Who knows - maybe they’ll meet!
Congrats to all of your kids!!! @2020MTMom , @tsamuique and @NeensMom !!! I hope all this corona craziness will be DONE by next fall and they will get to move forward with their college choices in their “right” place!
Thanks @onette! Me too! Here’s hoping! Our kiddos all so deserve to be able to take that next step after all their hard work. 
Congrats @2020MTMom, @tsamuique, and @NeensMom! I love your stories and getting to find out more about your kiddos. Thank you for sharing!
Ok, here we go… finally have time to sit down and do this… I have to admit , my D has always said she has to do this so we cast the net far and wide. All we needed was ONE BFA acceptance and we did everything we could to make sure we found one. So our list is huge! We are not crazy I promise - we just had a really driven kid who always knew what she wanted!
Programs Applied to:
Boston U., Northwestern, Viterbo, VCU, UNCG, Univ of Arts, CNU, Roosevelt, Nazareth, CCM, Elon, LI Post, Western Carolina, WVU, Point Park, Wright State, Montclair, Rider, Otterbien, ECU, Kent State, Syracuse, Ohio U, Temple, JMU, Coastal Carolina, U of Tampa, Ohio Northern, Penn State, Wilkes
Prescreens: Viterbo, UNCG, Roosevelt, CCM, Elon, LIPost, WVU, Point PArk, Wright State, Montclair, Rider, Otterbien, ECU, Syracuse, Temple, Coastal Carolina, Ohio Northern, Penn State
Passed: Viterbo, UNCG, Roosevelt, WVU, Point Park, Wright State, Montclair, Rider, Otterbein, ECU, Syracuse, Temple, Coastal Carolina, Ohio Northern
Did not pass: CCM, Elon, Penn State
.Accepted to: LI Post, ECU, Temple, Coastal Carolina, Ohio Northern, Ohio University, Wilkes, University of Tampa , JMU
Withdrew: Viterbo, Roosevelt, Boston U, Northwestern, VCU, U of Arts, CNU, Nazareth, WVU, Point Park, Wright State, Kent State, Wilkes
Rejected from: UNCG, Montclair, Rider, Otterbien, Syracuse
Wait-listed at: Western Carolina
Coach: Vocal teacher since 10th grade
Summer Programs: S.T.A.T.E. at Penn State, Open Jar, lots of regional theatre
Background:
My D has been involved in theatre since she was 5. She has done the usual summer camps etc. as well as community theatre. She was cast in a community theatre show when she was in third grade and signing autographs after the show sealed the deal for her! She wanted to be a star!! LOL She did a lot of things growing up - competitive gymnastics, competitive dance, volleyball but always around her show schedule. By the time she was in 6th grade it became all theatre, all the time. She was lucky enough to go to a middle school with a thriving theatre program and had great experiences there. We also have several great regional theatres within 30 minutes of us. Most years between 6th grade and now she spent overlapping school shows with regional shows with an occasional professional show thrown in. She loves being busy and she continues to do a lot of things at the same time! Her high school has a great theatre program as well and they have a lot of leadership opportunities. They typically do three to four big shows a year. She has had the opportunity in high school to be on the Costuming committee that built all the costumes from scratch, she is the lead choreographer since 10th grade and also choreographed the middle school shows. She won a Cappie in the DC area high schools for Costuming her sophomore year and was a Cappies dancer last year. Got a vocal coach in 10th grade. Continues to dance occasionally as a drop in class but not regularly in high school. She is definitely a dance first though.
We were pretty organized going into her junior year. She knew this is what she wanted to do and it was MT or bust! We did all the prep work the summer before her senior year. Had everything filmed and sent out before Labor Day. We filmed her prescreens with an iPhone at the vocal studio with her teacher and did the dance ones ourselves in a studio here in town. She passed all but 3 prescreens so she was feeling pretty good early on although the No from Penn State hurt!
We planned early auditions hoping to take some pressure off . She auditioned at Ohio, Tampa, JMU all before Thanksgiving. She got an early YEs to Ohio before Thanksgiving and since she loved the school and it was a BFA she quickly cancelled a bunch of schools, some of them very good programs but not the elusive BFA she wanted - Boston, Northwestern, VCU, CNU, Nazareth, WVU and Wilkes. Loved the JMU audition and it was in state! It was a BA but she was really considering it because of the strength of the BA program and she loved the people there ! This audition gave her a real confidence boost in herself. We also then moved some of the December auditions to Chicago Unifieds - we were going to be there anyway and some of the ones we moved she had either been to the city or they weren’t very high on her list - Viterbo , Point Park, U of Arts. This opened up all of December with no travel again until mid January. Mid January and a threatening snowstorm changed flights and off we went a day early to Coastal Carolina. We had been there the previous spring and seen a show and were blown away. Loved the school, campus, and the beach is a plus. This one was high on her list. Audition was great - loved that they took an entire day to get to know the students. She walked out convinced no way she was getting in, everyone was SO GOOD! So we moved on. Did Montclair in late January on campus and it dropped fast to the bottom of the list. Enough said.
February we were off to Chicago - we had moved some stuff around and by the time we got there she had withdrew from Point Park, Roosevelt, WVU, U of Arts, Viterbo,. She decided she didn’t want a conservatory and the others just didn’t interest her much. This opened up some time in Chicago for some fun. She did do Temple ( loved ), Rider, Otterbein, LI Post, Ohio Northern and Syracuse while there.
Came home from Chicago and about two weeks later got the YEs from Temple, LI Post, Ohio Northern. Got no’s pretty fast from Rider and Otterbein. Also got a no from Montclair - take that one off the list! And a yes from ECU on a video audition. Cancelled Wright State at that point.
Mid February and we were waiting on JMU, Syracuse, Coastal and UNCG. Had to do a video call audition for UNCG. Got a No a few weeks later and expected it. Was down to Temple and Ohio U in the running . Went to visit Temple and saw a show - loved it. Talked to a lot of people there and it was a front runner but it was the most expensive school and they gave very little money ( she has a 4.52 and will graduate 10th in a class of 380 and she was offered very little money here so that was a bummer). Still had one last audition at Kent State - debated cancelling but wasn’t sure. So we wait. Another week or so later she gets the Yes from JMU which is in state !!! Woo hoo!!! Cancels Kent State happily and we are done auditioning… Now we are deciding between Temple, JMU and Ohio U. Waiting on only Coastal and Syracuse which she is pretty sure is just a formality rejection letter. Luckily she auditioned on campus or had been to all of them and with the whole COVID-19 thing it was really good. They all were SO DIFFERENT from each other! She was pretty decided on Temple and then out of the blue she gets accepted to Coastal on the same day they close school for the year here in Virginia! Completely shocked! Waits on the rejection from Syracuse but even if she gets in, it’s even more expensive and even she thinks that is ridiculous. So, I think she is pretty decided.
Rejection from Syracuse comes and she makes a decision quickly!
Final Decision: Coastal Carolina BFA Musical Theatre
Congrats @DramaLove2020!
Congrats @DramaLove2020 !!!
@DramaLove2020 congrats for your daughter!!! I have heard great things about Coastal!! I wish her the best!
@DramaLove2020 thanks for the details, you have been riding along with us ALL YEAR, we were at OU together Columbus day… & its been so fun to share the journey with you- though I have to say now it was maddening to know if we were chatting with mom or daughter most of the time LOL
BUT ALL GOOD AND SUPER HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS!! chants up I believe is what the CCU folks say!
Love the story, @DramaLove2020 ! Congrats!!
@NYYFanNowMTdad ooooh I just kept thinking I was getting mixed up with two different people - unrelated accounts ! Lol.
Congrats @DramaLove2020 !
Congratulations @DramaLove2020 ! So exciting to have that final decision!
@2020MTMom @tsamuique and @DramaLove2020 I am so happy for all our kids! Congrats to us all!!!
@NeensMom @DramaLove2020 @tsamuique great stories , congrats!! So thankful to be on this side of the adventure now!
Congrats again @DramaLove2020! 
I didn’t know you had been there the prior spring! Which show did you see?
@stagedoormama. We saw A New Brain last April!
@DramaLove2020 - I was wondering if that was the one you saw! My D was in that show as Rhoda, Gordon’s best friend (who sang as the “puppet”). Awesome!
@2020MTMom Congrats to your D!!
Congrats to @2020MTMom , @tsamuique , @NeensMom and @DramaLove2020 !! Thanks for sharing your stories! Can’t wait for my D to make her final decision so we can add her story here.
Congratulations to your D @2020MTMom !! So happy for you all!