Gap Year v Transferring

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

Probably a little premature, but we are planners and I like to think through contingencies. Our DD is not thrilled with her current options. She has a handful of acceptances but not thrilled with any of them. We are kicking around the idea of what a gap year would look like. Given the Covid situation, it’s not ideal. So, her options could be to try one of the programs she dislikes or try again. She talked about taking classes in LA or NYC or doing a gap year program and auditioning again next year.

If we did that, here are the questions I have:

  1. Anyone ever do this and how did it work out?
  2. Is transferring a better option vs trying again?
  3. Can you audition again if you’ve been rejected the year prior?
  4. Do schools prefer the HS academics or is getting a year of college the better idea?

Any and all advice would be welcome.

2

No personal experience, but I found this thread sometime last summer and bookmarked it because it was full of useful information re: gap year. Might be helpful:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/class-of-2024-no-bfa-mt-looking-at-plan-b-gap-year/

Hugs to you and your DD :heart:

3

We don’t have personal experience with this, but from reading CC for several years now, here are things to consider:

  1. If you transfer to a new BFA, you likely start over. Your gen-eds would transfer but your conservatory classes will likely not. Most BFAs are pretty rigid about their program and going through it from start to finish.

  2. Many schools have far more scholarship/aid available to freshmen. If you start somewhere and transfer, it’s possible that you may not get much of a merit based package.

  3. You can absolutely re-audition after being rejected, and with MT/Acting - I don’t think most programs care that much about your academics from either HS or college. (There are the few that do like UM and NYU) Using a gap year to focus on improving and honing your audition material can pay dividends. That said - you start the cycle again in 5 short months with apps, prescreens and auditions so you maybe have 6-7 months before you work on prescreens?

If the thought of doing 5 years for a BFA or cost are of concern, I’d recommend contacting the colleges she’s really interested in and asking about both questions so you have a full picture.

So hard. I know there have been others that have been in similar positions and have picked a program and ended up happy there.

Best of luck!

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4

If I remember correctly @onette had some students take a gap year last year and had very good outcomes for Class of 2024. She would be a good person to ask.

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I’d try and explore what “not thrilled” means.

weather? distance from home? Not near a fun/cool city? These things tend to fade into the background once a kid actually starts college and makes friends, gets involved, finds the academics engaging.

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Hello - I feel for you and your D. My D was in the same boat last year. @OutOfMyMind21 posted my old thread, so I got a ping and thought I’d respond. My D went back and forth btwn taking a gap/reauditioning, taking a well-respected acting (not MT) acceptances that would land her in NYC (her dream city), or taking a MT slot in a less desired school in a far less desirable city. She was waitlisted at one of her top choices - CAP21/Molloy. She must have emailed Rebecca at Molloy at least twice a week expressing her desire to go. In the end she got off the waitlist and is now happily in NYC. My advice to your D is the same I gave my D. Take a gap year if your D can really use it wisely. If the inputs don’t change, the output will likely be the same. Last year, my D had great fear that with the pandemic she wouldn’t be able to do much that was new to prepare (other than more mediocre-ish Zoom trainings) plus she couldn’t see her friends, get a job, etc. Taking a gap year this coming school year hopefully will present more opportunities with the pandemic winding down. I do think this year was extra competitive b/c of last year’s grads taking a gap. If your D does take a gap, I recommend that she take some community college classes (the type that most 4 year colleges will accept credits for). She shouldn’t take enough to change her status to a transfer, but could get a few Gen Eds out of the way cheaply. Good luck! Your D will land on her feet!

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Thank you so much for the thoughtful advice. As it is with these things, her fate turned around yesterday with an unexpected yes from NYU so I think, for now, the gap year is off the table. I still think it is a solid idea to regroup and try again if you fall short of your dreams. This process is an up/down one for sure.

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