High School Parents/Students - Class of 2007

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>There are very few schools where "everything" (meaning 100%) rides on the audition. Perhaps it may be so at a stand alone conservatory but it is not true anywhere else. Of course the audition is important. If they don't want you from the audition, it doesn't matter how great the rest of the package is. So, one must be chosen from the auditionees. However, there are usually more who meet the artistic standards they are looking for than slots available. Other factors enter into it for that reason itself. That is not the only reason, however. </p>

<p>A student must be qualifed to be accepted to the college or university itself in which the BFA program exists. Some BFA programs exist at schools that are not that academically selective and thus if you are often over a certain "bar", it likely is not an issue. But many of the BFA programs are in schools that do want the candidate to be admissable like any other college applicant, and they are selective and do not take all who apply. That decision whether to admit to the college is not just about GPA, rigor of courseload, rank, and SAT/ACT scores, though all of those things are important factors in admissions. Essays and recommendations, activity resumes, short answer questions, etc. all contribute in demonstrating who the student is. Many schools examine the application holitiscally. If they didn't care about essays and recs, they would not ask for them. Indeed, many BFA programs have additional essays beyond those that are required for regular applicants to the same college. Admission officers have said that they do read the essays and consider all these factors. I have heard this from adcoms from many BFA programs. Some BFA programs are in schools that are selective. NYU, for example, as a university, has a 28% admit rate. The application has one long essay and four short essays. Academics/application review is 50% of the admissions decision to Tisch. I believe the essays are very important. In fact, when my own kid was selected to be one of 15 Tisch Scholars (all of Tisch, not just Drama), and I learned the selection criteria after the fact in April (had had no idea such a program even existed until she was selected), I can see how things that she wrote about in the essays demonstrated some things they apparently were looking for, though we didn't know it at the time. As one example, things like leadership are not revealed in stats but can be in essays and recs.</p>

<p>Other schools may not weigh academics 50% of the admissions decision but it counts for a certain percentage. At CMU, academic review is only 10% of the decision to accept but even in that situation, when they are taking about 2-3% of applicants for the BFA program, and it is down to the final few, a student who has the "goods" on the application has a better chance than the one who doesn't have as good of an application package. At other schools, it counts more than 10%. Some schools won't even let you audition until you pass academic muster or in some cases, must be admitted to the school first. At others, the BFA program submits names of who they want after auditions, and the admissions office picks who they will accept from that list. I know at one school, in talking to an adcom about acceptance to the college but deferral on the BFA in the early round, they only held onto a small number who they were interested in artistically from the audition but who ALSO were strong academically. They certainly look at the application package. </p>

<p>It makes sense that they do. No, academics won't get you in if you have a poor audition. One must be admissable after the audition by the BFA program but when it comes to the academic part of the process, you gotta have what it takes for that particular school. At many of these BFA programs, students take courses outside of the BFA program, in the liberal arts areas. The university will want students whom they feel are appropriate for the college and can manage the schoolwork. Further, a student's abilities and work ethic spill over into simply being a student in any facet of their education, even in the BFA courses themselves. I work with a lot of students and it really shows who is a good student and who is a fair student. I see the level of work ethic, of ability, etc. even in what I do with them. I know the intensity of a BFA program and some might have difficulty managing it all if not a good student overall. </p>

<p>Anyway, I do believe the essays are important. They set one candidate on paper apart from another, in part, as often many applicants will have the requisite GPA or SAT for the school, but getting a picture of what makes each person unique goes beyond the numbers/stats. I have spent hours and hours each day and night this week helping kids with this very thing. I believe it is important. It won't get you in if they don't want you from the audition, but if theyare interested in you from the audition, better be able to be admissable by the adcoms, and be favorable in a pile of other artistically talented applicants who also interested the BFA program based on their audition. I would never suggest not doing a tip top job on applications, essays and every other facet of the admissions process when we are talking very very low admit rates at these programs. Everything counts. Why wouldn't you put the best possible foot and package out there? Not only that, the essays are the one thing, besides the audition, that really reveal a lot about your personality, more than numbers do. Colleges accept PEOPLE. Adcoms at schools that have BFAs, at least many I've visited, and that my kid applied to, talked about reading the essays. If they didn't matter at all, they wouldn't bother with them. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

<p>PS, as someone who went through this process with my own child, I can tell you she put a LOT into every application indvidually.....wrote many many different essays and other supporting documents and recs and various other things that went the extra mile. I cannot claim what factors resulted in her positive admissions outcome, but I wouldn't want to find out, or in other words, have her ever have risked not doing her best at both school and on the applications and all they entailed.</p>

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<p>Wallyworld,</p>

<p>I would have to agree with Soozie. My daughter is a senior this year and has been putting tremendous effort in her applications and essays. Michigan has to accept your first into the school BEFORE you can even get an audition. I know it may not matter to some of the programs but I do think if there are a few girls they are considering who are all artistically talented, then they may go to the application as the deciding factor. In any case it couldn't hurt to have a great application to present.</p>

<p>Good luck to you d!</p>

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<p>I thought of another reason you should put your all into presenting an excellent application....</p>

<p>We were a bit naive in that we did not realize that all the schools that my MT daughter applied to give out scholarships for merit/talent. It was a wonderful bonus surprise to receive these from every school that accepted her as we didn't know it was even possible. Anyway, the way these scholarships work varies most likely from school to school. Different factors are weighed. My D didn't do any extra paperwork or applications for any scholarships at these schools. The scholarships, in many instances, were large. There were also selections to "honors" type things at some schools. </p>

<p>I believe the ENTIRE application, as well as audition, played a factor in these instances. They didn't select the kid with the highest GPA and highest SAT. They looked at the entire package. For instance, just speaking of ONE school where she got scholarships and selections to honors type things....I'll only explain the one she is actually attending. First, she received a Trustee Scholarship at her current college that is worth $80,000 over four years. I am sure there are kids who are admitted who had a SAT score and a GPA or a class rank that was higher, as she did not have a 1600 (old SAT), 800s on the SAT subject Tests, wasn't ranked number 1, and did not have a 4.0 unweighted GPA. She also only went to HS for three years. So, while she had a very strong academic record in all those respects, I'm sure it wasn't the highest one in the pile. So, they didn't pick her on that alone. Things like essays and recommendations, extracurricular activities, resume, awards, leadership, service, etc. etc. all contribute to the "package", and then there is also the talent piece (audition). So, just for scholarship reasons alone, it is worth presenting a strong application. </p>

<p>As well, at her school, she was selected as a Tisch Scholar, which is based on artistic talent, academics, leadership and service. How can they tell she is a leader? Not from SATs, auditions, GPA! All those things come across in esssays, recommendations, resume, etc. They were looking for leaders in the arts. Being a Scholar has many wonderful aspects to it. A few nights ago, she was treated to a Broadway play that all the Scholars attended. She interns in the city and has bi weekly meetings and events regarding the arts. Last year, she went on an all expense paid trip to Appalachia to an arts community to work with and learn from leaders in the arts there. This year she is going on an all expense paid trip to Brazil to connect with those in the arts in that country. </p>

<p>These examples of scholarships and honors programs are to point out that selection is based on many factors. The admissions committee need to learn WHO you are beyond the numbers, and beyond the audition and weigh many factors in selecting students. A state school may just go by numbers but most schools that are selective go beyond numbers on an application to set one person apart from another. I am talking AFTER the candidate already has the artistic talent in the audition and a strong academic profile.</p>

<p>I recall my older D being selected as one of the top 100 applicants to be a Ben Franklin Scholar at Penn. I am SURE it wasn't just about her "numbers". She had strong ones but I am positive there are applicants to Penn, for example, with higher SATs, some with perfect 1600s in fact. Same with when she was chosen as a Stride Scholar at Smith, one of 50. I could go on, but my point is, that the ENTIRE application package, and audition and anything else supplementary goes into selection for admissions, for scholarships, for honors programs, etc. etc. Something to think about before dismissing the essays, recs and paperwork as a simple task. HOURS upon HOURS were spent on essays and applications. I can tell you that just in the past day, I have advised some BFA applicants on the SEVENTH draft of just ONE of their many essays. </p>

<p>These things count. They won't get you in if you have a poor audition, poor grades, poor SATs. But when there are SOOOOOOOO many qualified applicants talent wise and academically, you might want to make sure you put your best foot forward on your applications and all the other materials. It matters in terms of not only admissions, but possible selection for substantial scholarships and other perks.</p>

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<p>it DEFINITELY helps with scholarships, wallyworld!! </p>

<p>though i have yet to be accepted into a BFA program, my incredible financial aid package from before is proof of the fact that many MANY scholarships are taken from the rest of your application, regardless of the audition. though audition is HUGELY important to acceptance, the rest of your application can have a massive impact on whether or not you can actually attend the school (financially).</p>

<p>best of luck!</p>

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<p>I agree with ya, Sporti, as my D also got a real nice scholarship at your college too. The whole package goes into these scholarship decisions.</p>

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<p>I just wanted to add my two cents that we definitely do read the essays and take them into consideration when we make decisions. As Susan said above, they will not be the primary consideration, but they can often make an applicant stand out. Most liberal arts schools do consider academic merit. At FSU (and I assume we are not unique in this by far) BFA students take an extremely heavy course load in order to fit everything in before they graduate. We want to make as sure as we can that the students we accept can handle the requirements of their academic and performance classes. The essays are one indication of the applicants writing ability.</p>

<p>One last point: in larger programs this may not be as much of a factor, but in smaller programs like ours the MT students (and faculty) are a very tight group. Your essays should be a reflection of your personality and they are a factor for us in looking for new members of our MT "family."</p>

<p>Michele</p>

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<p>Some of you raise some good points, others defy logic to me but we will leave that for future readers to sort through for themselves.</p>

<p>There are clearly a small number of programs that are very competitive yet once you get past a certain level we are experiencing a 180 degree paradigm shift. The unsolicited mailings we get nearly daily from schools around the country is crazy. These schools seem to be desperately competing for students they think they want. </p>

<p>The offer yesterday of which we have had several similar was that a special web page was set up for “Deans Applicants” or some such thing. You go in to this special page and apply to the school. The special part; No application fee, No essay and notification of acceptance guaranteed within 10 days and early consideration for scholarships. And while their arts program is so, so, it’s a very respectable private university. We have been offered scholarships without asking for them to two schools that we did not even apply to including one full ride. And its not like our D is super scholar. </p>

<p>We dont even know how these schools know that we exist?</p>

<p>Hats off to you guys in top programs for coming up with a very enviable business model. We could choose any number of schools close to home with exceptional financial packages. Yet, here we are paying fees to apply, fees to audition, fees to send transcripts, fees to look at your web site (Just kidding) coping with this ridiculous process of application/audition coordination so that we can spend thousands of dollars to travel a long distance to stand in front of strangers for 10 minutes while we beg for you to let us give you $40k a year!! God Bless America!!</p>

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<p>10 minutes? In many auditions it is more like 5 minutes.</p>

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<p>Wally, though my D (a hs junior) has not gotten any offers of instant acceptance and free rides, she does get daily mailings from colleges! :) I am guessing that is because she has gotten on some kind of super duper college mailing list as a result of going on a few college websites and signing up to receive admissions and general info. (Does anyone know if schools sell the names of those who inquire to other colleges, or to some kind of marketing list?) All I know is that, after my D signed up to get info from various good MT schools, the brochures from other programs started pouring in! Other students I know who were National Merit Scholar finalists, etc. also got a ton of printed material from schools, including places such as Harvard and West Point!
Our recycling bin is full. :)</p>

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<p>Wally, schools send out brochures and beg you to apply. In most cases, fees accompany the application. Lots of dollars there. Further, their selectivity index shoots up the more who apply. So, if there are more applicants, they can accept a lower percentage which appears more selective and voila, that helps their "ranking." This is a well known phenomena when it comes to college admissions. </p>

<p>Further, as I stated previously there are schools that are not that selective in terms of academic admissions and a student only needs to have stats over a minimal "bar"....this is often the case at many state schools, for example. SOME BFA programs are located in universities that are not that selective and in those instances, how good an essay is will not make or break the applicant. But some BFAs are located in selective schools and in those instances, a student needs to have the academic qualifications (ie., rigor of courseload, SATs, rank, GPA) and very good essays and recommendations. They do not accept based on numbers alone. In other words, they do not say, "we'll take the kids on the pile with the highest SAT and GPA". Nope, they read the entire application including activities, recommendations, and essays, and demonstrated interest in the college. As I said, kids get in over other kids who had higher SATs or GPA because they are accepting people, not just numbers at any school that is selective. My kids have won scholarships and merit honors type things and while they have excellent academic records, etc. etc, it is not like they have the highest ones of all the kids on the pile. It is the entire application that is looked at IF a selective school. </p>

<p>I understand the examples you are making about some schools in your area that offer scholarships without applying or asking, etc. Likewise, I have a chlld who was offered a Free ride for four years, as well as Honors College at University of Vermont, a well respected university which actually has more out of state students than in state students. She was not an applicant and had no intentions of applying. She won the free ride and Honors College as this is given to every valedictorian in the state and she was valedictorian. So, yes, things like this happen at state U's and at less selective private U's. How do some of the schools find you? Some find you when your child registered for the PSAT. If your child had a decent score, colleges will send mailings or offers based on that alone. My older D got loads and loads of catalogues and letters in the mail. My younger D barely got any because she never took the PSATs. THAT is the difference.</p>

<p>The more selective schools, however, are going to want an application and much more than a good SAT score. The school you mention that has Deans Applicants and no essay.....is not going to be a very selective school. ANY very selective school tends to require essays and recommendations. Schools with high admit rates are the ones that tend not to. We are talking apples and oranges. For instance, did my D's SATs, GPA, essays, recs and extracurricular activities push her over the edge to be admitted to BOCO? (where she admitted) I doubt it. She was overqualified academically speaking. Did the application matter at NYU? You bet. Do I meet students who want a school like NYU, UMich, BU, etc. but who absolutely do not have the credentials, let alone essays, to get in? You bet. </p>

<p>The situtation differs from school to school. Schools at a certain level of selectivity (not talking the BFA part) are night and day as far as getting in compared to schools of another level of selectivity. But at schools that are selective with a low admit rate, add on low admit rate to the BFA program itself, you might want to put forth the best application package as you can. If they only wanted your scores and GPA, they would not bother to have three or four essays on the application as some do. There is a reason they ask for recs and essays and extracurriculars, etc. Very few BFA programs admit based on 100% the audition alone. Juilliard is one that does. Most do not. Something to think about. </p>

<p>As I help students create their college lists for theater programs (or any colleges), you can bet their lists differ, not just due to interest or location, but because their QUALIFICATIONS differ and schools that are suitable for one kid are not for the next. Also, when it comes to essays, I have seen a lot from a wide range of students and I can tell you that there is a HUGE difference in the essays from good students compared to those from students who have a less positive "record". </p>

<p>Colleges are going to want to know which students can hack the non BFA courses, and also which students have the work ethic and other personality traits that can be successful in an intense BFA program. Personality comes across in essays and recs, by the way. A student who has a 2.9 GPA, for example, might have a tougher time with the heavy demands imposed by a BFA program. My child who is in a BFA program has 9 classes and goes to school all day, rehearses all night and on weekends, has an internship, is in an acapella group and is directing a show. She still has all her preparation for the BFA classes (which is alot....scenes, songs, and plays to read, and much more) and exams and papers to write and study for in her liberal arts courses. This kind of schedule and the demands of it are not for everyone. Colleges are going to look at the whole application to determine who they feel will fit their program, as well as who has the talent in the audition. There will be more kids who have the requisite talent than they can possibly admit. For example, at CMU, 1200 audition. They take about 10 for MT, and 18 for Acting. You can bet that more than 18 were qualified in the audition. The mere fact that there are kids who did not get into CMU who are now attending all of the other top BFA programs attest to the fact that they indeed turn away some very qualified applicants. They even turn away NFAA FINALISTS for example. That is just an example, and not meant to focus on CMU. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>NotMamaRose,
We cross posted but I can tell you that kids who have taken the PSAT do get on mailing lists. My older did took the PSAT and got a ton of mail, but my younger one did not. I recall D2 getting something from Harvard, not sure why, but barely anything else. I didn't miss the junk mail, :D. </p>

<p>In case you are wondering why my MT kid never took the PSAT.....here kids take it in tenth as practice and then again in 11th, as my older D had done. D2 was signed up to take the PSAT in Oct. of 10th but at the last min. we were called out of state as my dad was dying and we all chose to go see him just in case (though he lived another month and we got to see him again and he died while we were there over Thanksgiving). So, she missed the PSAT in tenth. Soon after, she asked to graduate early. So, in spring of tenth , she took the SATs twice and 3 SAT Subject Tests and was done all of her testing for college at the end of tenth. In 11th, she said no way was she gonna take the PSATs since she was done with all her SAT testing! :D So, she spent that fall applying to college and her testing was complete in 10th grade. We did not get a slew of catalogues and letters for her! Didn't miss it either!</p>

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<p>Hi! My senior D is applying to MT programs on the east coast, U Mich.& Penn State. She's submitted two of her applications, but it seems like it's taking forever for her to finish the rest. She's an excellent student and has always been very independent about her work, but I think that she's hit a wall. I want to help her, but I don't know how much help is too much help. Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Sarahsmom42</p>

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<p>Hi Sarahsmom!
I went through the same dilemma last...wondering how much help to give and how much is too much! I got some wonderful responses from many experienced parents here. I took the best of the best and compiled it here on another thread. Thanks to cutting and pasting...here is that list again!</p>

<p>I think I’ve got it now! Here’s my new “To Do List”…look at the wisdom here!!!</p>

<p>• Just support and understand this is what they love!
• Encourage them to work, but don't push.
• Be a guide...sit down with them, plan out a time line together, discuss what needs to happen next.
• The motivation to do the work has to be internal. You can guide and facilitate but they still gotta drive this process.
• Try not to nag too much but have meetings about what is next, when they think they might do it, and then check in at some point
• They really DO want your advice but they don't want to ADMIT it! It works when they bring it up.
• Don’t overwhelm them with information and it puts you in the driver's seat of their lives.
• Be the calendar coordinator and travel agent and chaperone for the trips.
• You can nag, encourage, schedule, plan, research, etc...in the end, they decide how much he or she really wants to invest in the process--not just in the quantity but the quality of the time spent…
• Be the keeper of hope and the fanner of the flames.
• Casually drop a tidbit of info, leave it alone, and wait for them to ask for more.
• Remember, even when they are whining about our nagging, seem to be procrastinating or appear really irritated with us, they are probably grateful.
• We parents are meant to be the "guides", to gently nudge them back onto the path and remind them every now and then of where they wanted this journey to take them.
• We are "a soft place to land" - great role for ANY supportive parent.
• Beyond that - this pursuit has to be your child's PASSION, and not yours!
• Ask "who is this for?"
• We all have as much to learn as we have to teach as a result of traveling this road with our kids. The best advice is to LISTEN to the advice we give our kids</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for your response! I will definately heed the advise. So far I've been mostly an organizer of the data. It's so overwhelming sometimes. She has a lead in her school's present play and along w/AP coarses and volunteer work I don't know how she does it. It's probably all very good training for future pressure and I just need to chill out. Oops, it's almost time to eat! I'm trying hard to make sure that she's supplied with healthy food, so I guess I'll add chief cook and grocer to my list! Thanks again!</p>

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<p>MtHeaded, wow, thanks to you for cutting and pasting from many posts on this topic in the past. That will be helpful to many! I recognize a few lines of my own in there, so I must have written on it before (if you stay on CC long enough, every topic comes up over and over again, year to year). </p>

<p>Anyway, I also want to welcome Sarahsmom. Besides the advice above culled from the wisdom of many parents who post here, I wanted to also respond to something else in your post. It is October 11. I have had two children of my own go through the college admissions process, let alone other students with whom I work. My own kids sound a bit like your D, very good students, very motivated and driven. They don't need to be nagged to do applications per se. I can tell you that NEITHER of my children, nor any client I have yet to work with, had all their applications done in October!~ Your daughter is doing fine if she has some done and is staying the course. The only reasons to have a few done by now would be: 1) ED or EA apps; 2) Rolling Admissions apps; 3) to pace out all the apps that need to be done; 4) schools requiring that an app be filed in order to get an audition appointment; 5) schools where early apps affect scholarships (this last one did NOT apply to any schools on my D's lists but I have read some accts. on this forum of school that did this but I have a feeling these schools are not on your D's list due to the geographical location of the schools you mentioned and the names of ones you mentioned.) I am working with many students right now, and NONE have all their apps in. Most have NONE or ONE in. I venture to say that my BFA daughter had two apps in at this point in the fall of her application year. This had NOTHING to do with lazyness at all. </p>

<p>As you are well aware, kids who are good students, taking rigourous courseloads at school with the related heavy homework, and kids who are heavily commited to performing arts training lessons/classes and who are ALSO in theatrical productions, already had full lives before college applications and audition prep were added to their plate. I am guessing this is the case with your D as well given the kinds of programs to which she is applying. Just speaking of my D who applied to BFA programs (though this was the same for my D applying to selective regular colleges), she was at school all day, performing arts training all afterschool into the evening and also in a show 50 miles from home many nights until 11 PM, training all day Saturday all very far away, rehearsals on Sundays, well, you get the all too familiar picture. She is great at time management, but there is no way to have all the apps done by Oct. with such a schedule AND to do the apps justice. </p>

<p>What my kids did (and what I advise with others) was to have an individualized time line of each and every task that needed to be done in the college admissions process month by month. Then each week, we discussed what on their time line they were going to try to tackle that week and when they thought they might fit it in. Often that had to be on Sundays, etc. There were concrete steps that were in sequence. I didn't have to MAKE them do these things. But I was involved as a guide, supporter, facilitator and we would check in on their next steps, how they were going to go about it and then they usually showed me whatever it was they did and so on. By having all their college selection and testing done prior to that year and then pacing out the applications and audition preparation over the fall months, the pace was about just right (yes, very challenging and stressful but nothing was last minute about anything and they did a good job on each application which was filed well within the deadlines). There are no brownie points for having an application into a school two months before deadline (not counting ED, EA, rolling admissions, schools who invite you to audition, or schools wanting an app to grant you an audition appt.). In most cases, if a deadline for an application is Dec. 15, for example, they are not going to necessarily start reading any applications that come in before then. </p>

<p>The main thing is to PACE out ALL the steps that must be done, and to have a plan so that it is not crazy (well, it is still is stressful but the tasks are spaced out). As a parent, rather than nag, ask what her plans are to do next on the list (help develop the list), how and when she thinks she might get to it, and generally how the timing of it all will work out. Then check in and see how it is going. I see no reason to pressure her to have them all in by now. The fact that your daughter already has several done and submitted, is generally a responsible student, makes me think that she has the work ethic to get it all done by the required deadlines. Try not to get too caught up in a "frenzy" or create a situation that is more stressful than this already is. I know some who create arbitrary deadlines that are quite early to get apps in that are not the required deadlines. What for? Not necessary (except in the situations I mentioned earlier). By the same token, I also have worked with some students who are NOT realistic and start this entire process VERY late, and/or put way too much off week to week so that there will be a time crunch in the end. Either exteme should be avoided. But if you work off a time line and keep to a good pace week to week, and you check in with her about those plans, I imagine your D will get it all done. I think you understandably feel stressed and overwhelmed (we all do) with "how will this all ever get done????" The time line is your guide. Develop a reasonable one that spreads the tasks out. Take it one step at a time. As I said, your D sounds responsible if she has ALREADY done some apps. In fact, once a few are done, there are often some essays that can be reused or tweaked, the activity resume is done, etc. and so they get easier. The first one can take the longest in some cases. </p>

<p>So, besides the compilation of the tips that MTHeaded so nicely provided, I just want to say that the juncture that your D is at with all this by Oct. 11, is AHEAD of many others. As long as she has it all done in time and doesn't leave it all to do at the end, she should be fine. I already told you my own kids had about two apps in at this juncture. Both had what I would consider quite successful admissions outcomes. Putting your ALL into an application is more important than having them all in by October which is an arbitrary deadline, not each college's own deadlines. Just something to consider. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>PS...if your D is juggling all these things, like my kids and others I know do, and do it well, that indicates to me that she has the "readiness" to engage in a BFA program because I can tell you now that I have a kid in one of these, her schedule, commitments, responibilities and work are insane. She loves it, however. She was prepared because that was what life was like in many ways before she got there. Sounds like the same with your D. Like your D, I have clients in AP classes who are leads in a musical right now, do all the training in voice, dance, and acting, other ECs, audition prep, AND college apps. Yes, it is crazy and overwhelming. It will get done. Your D does NOT sound like a slacker. It is just an overwhelming process!</p>

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<p>Thanks Soozie,
My D originally thought that she wanted to apply ED to Mich. one of the other schools required app.processing before an audition could be scheduled. This has been a long and very tedious process between the college visits, reading and research to find and narrow the list, the collection of the apps. and audition requirements, figuring out a reasonable audition schedule, training & performing, and preparing for the auditions, resume's, recommendations, volunteer hours verifications, need I say more? She has not had her first audition yet and I'm wiped out!<br>
The truth is that I posted "stressed near Boston" because I needed some empathy. I figured that someone out there could relate to my stress. I don't know very many other MT parents and the ones I know are so competitive that they would never admit to feeling stressed.
I hoped to find some compassion and understanding and I have. Thanks very much.</p>

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<p>Sarahsmom42</p>

<p>There are many of us ready and willing to empathize as we go through everything you are experiencing. My S seemed to be moving along, submitting 4 apps early on. But...... recently he barely has time to look at apps until Sundays and then it's back to AP homework, training, student government and the cycle continues!! Having 2 students go through the college admission process, I know it will all get done. So.....take a deep breath, enjoy the journey. I'm trying to because this is my last! :)</p>

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<p>Sarahsmom - It will be okay, but I agree that the application process with bright but busy kids can be very stressful. I was the calendar keeper and travel coordinator. On our big chart, we had the due dates of the applications. Some schools let you schedule the auditions without having the applications in. Just work toward the deadlines and don't worry about getting them in too far ahead of time. These bright kids know how to meet deadlines. Sometimes it was very stressful to me as we approached deadlines, but somehow they all got done and submitted on time. It will probably get better when her current play is over.</p>

<p>PS - I didn't know that U Michigan did ED for MT; however, if UM's application is one of the 2 she has submitted, rest assured that your work is easier from here on out. That one required the most in terms of paperwork and essays.</p>

<p>Good luck! My son is glad he's not having to go through that process this year and feels for his friends who are in the middle of it.</p>

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<p>Hi CA Griffin,</p>

<pre><code>I've spent the last hour reading some more recent postings and I feel much better. My D is sitting at another computer in the same room and just told me that she's done her final proof of one of the apps. Yeah! I'm sure that it will all be worth it in the end. She's definately worth it no matter what!
</code></pre>

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<p>Sarahsmom, many of us have been in your shoes and our kids have been in your D's "dancing" shoes :D. I completely agree that most local friends have no clue what this process is about. So, welcome, pull up a chair and here you have a group of students and parents....some embarking on this process and some who have been through it...and learn, support, commisserate, rejoice, and share. Welcome.</p>