I Didn't Get Into any musical theater programs. Now what? What does one do?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>When Johanna was accepted to CMU, she wasn't thrilled with "starting over", and it certainly wouldn't have been our choice financially. She'd had her share of crew already: sewing, sawing, and painting. But if you asked her today she would tell you is was, without a doubt, worth it. Her four years at CMU have provided training that few schools could match, certaining not the state university she attended her first year. Yes, she grumbled and groaned about crew for two years, but the philosophy at the School of Drama is that their students are "honing their craft" those first years. Rather than suffer from having to repeat her freshman year, Johanna gained an additional year of outstanding training.</p>

<p>Like you Samia, Johanna felt it was going to be difficult to get through two years without being on stage, but there are opportunites to perform on one of the smaller stages/studios before your junior year. Johanna was Cathy in The Last Five Years for a small stage production during her sophomore year. And it just made her junior year that much more exciting when she was finally able to perform on the mainstage in Candide!</p>

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<p>Wow - thanks SO much for sharing Johanna's story! It is truly inspiring, and one I did not know but am so glad to be able to share with my students!There is also a sophomore girl at CMU who went through a very similar process of unsuccessful auditioning during her senior year of high school, after which she came back and was accepted to CMU. I don't know all of her details specifically, but I believe she did gen eds for a year at a college near her home and trained her butt off for her re-auditioning. (Not that she hadn't already done so - but like Johanna, she regrouped and entered her second round of auditions with a maturity and groundedness that obviously read to the auditors.) </p>

<p>And mom - I think you left out that Johanna got her Equity card last summer with PCLO! :) Another great happy addendum to her story!!!</p>

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<p>CMUJohanna's Mom, my daughter informed me that she is attending CMU's showcase in NYC this afternoon. I can't wait to hear about it. I wonder if you will be attending. I'll have to let my D know about your daughter though I'm betting SHE"ll be the one letting me know how fanastic she is! Best of luck to her on the potential outcome of her showcase.</p>

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<p>My D is considering auditioning for the AMDA program in LA in MT. Has anyone ever auditioned for them or attended the program? Any thoughts on how good the program is there. </p>

<p>BTW, re help with MT. Since my D told me about this site, I feel like the line in Amazing Grace, that I had been lost, but now with this forum, I've been found.
Thank you to everyone who participates.</p>

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<p>Ginny,
there's a lot of info about AMDA out there. You can search on this board (if search hasn't been disabled today!) It seems to be a very controversial. school. </p>

<p>Chrism</p>

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<p>Just to save you some time...</p>

<p>and here it is on this board:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=79199&highlight=AMDA%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=79199&highlight=AMDA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>NOTE FROM COLLEGEMOM (MODERATOR):</p>

<p>I have edited this post and the prior post as we do not allow links to other discussion forums. In the Terms of Service, it states:</p>

<p>"Links to Forums, Blogs, and Personal Sites. Please do not post links to other discussion forums, blogs, personal sites, or other non-authoritative sources. In order to fulfill our mission of being the best college discussion forum, we want important topics to be discussed here at College Confidential. Linking to discussions elsewhere defeats this purpose."</p>

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<p>I know there is a lot of tension in many of your homes, especially these next two weeks of waiting. Perhaps if you have not recieved the news you hoped for, and you would still like to look at a Acting/MT/Dance program, you might look at Columbia College. I live in the Chicago area and will tell you a little -actually, all I know ;) - about Columbia College. They accept applications till June 15, I hear they have a high admit rate, their theatre, musical theatre and dance programs are well-regarded locally. Many of my S's high school acting friends will be attending there next fall. The beginning classes ARE large because they accept students without audition, but students not serious about the program leave rather quickly. My belief is that if you are willing to work hard, you would stay in the school.</p>

<p>They allow freshmen to audition for shows right away, and allow you to work outside school. Many students take advantage of the wonderful chance to work in the thriving theatre scene in Chicago. The campus is urban, in 'The Loop' (downtown) in fact, near Roosevelt, DuPaul, and the School of the Art Institute, so lots of student around.</p>

<p>Columbia offers an Open House on April 1, but you need to reserve space now. If anyone wants information on Chicago, or hotels, please PM or email me, I would be glad to help you. </p>

<p>I wonder if any other gems are available for late applicants to have the chance to persue their dreams. </p>

<p>Good luck!
Carole</p>

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<p>Virginia - I actually found cc because it came up on an internet search for AMDA opinions. My D and I visited AMDA last fall and had heard mixed or negative reviews from people so I looked here to find out what the buzz was all about. After the visit my D did not think this program was for her but if you want to PM me, I will gladly share our impressions.
Harriet</p>

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<p>As acceptance as well as rejection (what a negative word!) letters arrive, I thought this thread should be bumped up. To all of you who have not received the "letter of your dreams", you might want to read some of the postings in this thread for encouragement and support.</p>

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<p>cmujohanna's mom -- </p>

<p>i continue to read back through your posts and look at your daughter's success to try and keep my spirits up as i wait for my letter.</p>

<p>as you may know from reading some of my posts, i didn't get into any MT programs last year (i think a BIG part of it was my age, even though i know soozie's d is the same age -- i'm just not on the same level!), so i'm really hoping that the second time will be a charm for me as it was for johanna. </p>

<p>hopefully i'll be able to provide some encouragement as "someone who's been there", and not have to be searching for solace again!! </p>

<p>best of luck to everyone,
maggie</p>

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<p>From Millikin's website, there is still time (it appears) to apply to Millikin, which has a major in Musical Theatre. They have auditions in April. Go to their website and click on admissions, and there's a box on the right hand side of the page listing audition dates in April. You can apply online, and anyone thinking of this option should probably apply ASAP/immediately. </p>

<p>There are posts on this board about Millikin so you can do a search on this school to find out more. </p>

<p>good luck!</p>

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<p>Marietta College in Ohio will take apps until the 15th of April, and possibly beyond that if they still have openings. It is a non-audition BFA program.</p>

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<p>In addition to Millikin University, you may want to check Rider University or Shenandoah University. Rider offers a BM degree in musical theater and Shenandoah offers a BFA degree in musical theater. Rider encourages students to apply by March 1 for fall semester, but it's at least worth the price of a telephone call. I believe Shenandoah is on rolling admissions. </p>

<p>Rider has their final audition for musical theater on April 1 (coming right up), while Shenandoah has their final audition for musical theater on April 22. Our daughter auditioned at Shenandoah University in January and really liked the conservatory and faculty. She's been accepted and is waiting to hear from a few additional schools, but Shenandoah is right up there among her top choices.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>MTPapa</p>

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<p>When my D and I were at an audition at Millikin University last Friday we were told that even though they were still doing auditions their Musical Theatre freshman class is currently full and the best you could do right now is to be put on their waiting list in case some of those they have already accepted should turn them down.</p>

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<p>As I mentioned above, I'd give Rider and Shenandoah universities a shot, but if their freshman classes are already full, I'd follow the advice of some of the other CC posters: consider a non-audition musical theater school, take a year off, etc. There are a number of options available to your daughter, and if she wants it badly enough, she WILL make it happen. Remember: it's not always about the destination, but the journey. </p>

<p>Best wishes!</p>

<p>MTPapa</p>

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<p>So, I have another question...
I have not been accepted to the musical theater programs that I would have liked to attend... I did get accepted to one, but really don't want to go there....
I applied to Northwestern and am probably going to go there next year since they have a great program...
But I can't think if I want to spend four years there (with the cost of tuition) or try my hand at auditioning next year again...
This year was extremely stressful... and I have a lot of faith in the program at Northwestern... but... it's not musical theater...
Does anyone have any suggestions?</p>

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<p>BacktoBefore: How driven are you to pursue MT? You mentioned that you did get into a program, but don't really want to go there. Why did you apply to that program in the first place, and why isn't that a viable option for you now? </p>

<p>First, I think you need to re-evaluate how passionate you are about MT as a career choice. If you feel you just can't live the rest of your life without performing, then I suggest you delay college or attend Northwestern for a year if it is financially possible. (As an aside, my S is a freshman there and loves it, although he is in the engineering school - opposite brain from theater!) Be aware that if you attend Northwestern, even for a week, you become a transfer student (as opposed to a freshman) when it comes to applying to another school. You don’t need to make a final decision about auditioning again until this fall. </p>

<p>In the meantime, work to improve your performance skills, take dance classes and voice lesson, (NW has an outstanding School of Music), review hundreds of songs to make the absolutely best audition choice, read monologues until you can't stand it anymore and then pick the one that best markets you, re-evaluate your clothing choices etc. Make your list of schools with MT programs. Make sure you have varying degrees of selectivity and a safety that you would be happy to attend. </p>

<p>If all that work starts to lose its appeal, then perhaps MT is not for you. Pursuing a career in performance requires an enormous amount of resiliency mixed with determination. There are so many roadblocks, so many disappointments. If a few of those prove too difficult for you, it may be time to change your focus.</p>

<p>As I have posted on this thread, my daughter did not get accepted to any of her choices the first time around. But she was absolutely determined to make it. Just listening to her, you could hear the drive and the passion in her voice. It was clear to everyone that she was serious, determined, and would meet the challenge. This May, she will graduate with a BFA in Drama/Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon.</p>

<p>So use the next 5-6 months to reflect. Why does MT appeal to you? How long have you had the interest? What exactly are you willing to do to achieve your goal? Do you have past indicators of success in MT? Have others often given you unsolicited encouragement to pursue MT? Are you willing to transfer to another school as a freshman in the MT program, regardless of how much college you already have? I think you will come to know what really is the right path for you. No matter what you decide, I wish you the best.</p>

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<p>Oops! Sorry about two posts. I began to write the first one and it kicked me off. I started a new one, but when I clicked "Submit" it ended up posting the old and the new. I'm not sure how to delete the first one.</p>

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<p>cmuJoannasmom, what an amazing post. As a junior who has only been in ensemble and is just seriously immersing herself in the MT search your story was so inspring. I wish your daughter tons of luck in NYC this week, she deserves it!
I never dreamed I would get the kind of response I did to this post. I value each and every response and will take them all to heart as I continue on my journey, and wait patiently for the results of my audition for Once on this Island later today. If I get even ensemble ( as its all adults) I will be very happy. If not there are other shows and other roles out there and I will continue training and working my hardest. Good luck to everyone in their admissions results!</p>

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<p>Thank you cmujohanna'smom for the wonderful post about Johanna's experiences. A young friend of mine, who attends the creative and performing arts high school in Pittsburgh, is anxiously waiting to hear from CMU and NYU. I copied your post and emailed it to her. She appreciated it so much that she forwarded it to all of her friends who are in the same situation; and so Johanna's story is being spread beyond CC and will no doubt be a source of comfort and inspiration to many other kids.</p>

<p>On another note, I am the director of an arts education outreach program in Pittsburgh. Your daughter, along with others in her junior class, worked with some of my students who were entering the Pittsburgh Public Theater's Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Competition last year (through a partnership with CMU Prof. Janet Feindel). One of the students she worked closely with made it into the finals (he was one of 30 finalists chosen from out of close to 1,000); and this year he not only made it into the finals but tied for first place! The CMU kids I've met through this partnership are not only smart, hard working and talented but kind, patient and caring as well (including and especially Johanna!). This is remarkable because obviously these kids have been given lots of opportunities and could easily have a sense of entitlement, but they don't. </p>

<p>As I've been reading these forums I think about some of the kids I work with whose parents (or more commonly single parent, grandparent or foster parents) don't have the financial resources or educational background to help their kids through the intricacies of getting into the best (or sometimes even any) college. Most of the families I work with could never afford all of the private lessons, theater classes, summer pre-college programs (at $6,000!), coaching sessions, SAT prep courses, college essay coaches, airfare to auditions across the country, application fees to multiple colleges etc. that many of your kids are fortunate enough to have the benefit of. Please remind your kids that regardless of what schools they get accepted into or rejected by, they have advantages that other kids can only dream of -- and that these advantages give them options.</p>

<p>Thanks again to cmujohanna'smom not only for her inspirational words but for her daughter, Johanna, a talented young woman (she was marvelous in Urinetown!) who is, more importantly, a kind and decent human being.</p>