<p>She started out as a dancer, but later would describe herself as a singer who dances. Acting was where she had the least training. But she got into 6 programs, 4 of them BFA MT (the other 2 were Wagner and Marymount). But even though Acting was where she needed the most training, going into a straight acting program would have been depressing for her. She would rather have taken a gap year. Singing and dancing feed her soul. </p>
<p>The current lead in Newsies told the story on campus tours at CMU that he was rejected by all of the schools before his CMU audition. He said he realized he was trying to be what he thought they wanted and since he was rejected by them he went into his CMU audition with the attitude that I’ll just give them me. </p>
<p>Although my D is only a high junior, she is very intent on pursuing MT at the college level, and I’ve been following all the threads on CC with great interest. She came to MT as a dancer, and is known to her classmates as “the dancer” in MT. However, since she started focusing on her voice, I’ve seen tremendous improvement, and I’ve told her, she hasn’t peeked yet. I agree with the poster who said that at 17 these kids haven’t realized their potential yet, and even if they go to “second tier” schools, may in the long run be competitive with the kids who are polished now. I have to have faith that there are schools who recognize that there are students with enormous potential who are still growing at the very young age that they are auditioning at. And also that some of the “top tier” schools will also recognize that these young kids still have a lot of room to grow. As to not having the “right look” to be successful in the business, I think the look changes as people age, and the character actor with the long career on stage and screen, may never have had “the look”, but may have “the career” that many would envy.</p>
<p>
That statement is a key reason that I think ‘ranking’ schools by their track record at landing recent grads on Broadway may be penny wise, pound foolish. D wanted the school with the strongest sustained track record of launching successful longterm careers in all aspects of theatre and entertainment. So keep in mind that a school that rejects you in favor of the look-of-the-year may not be as in vogue in 20 years as it is today… and hopefully the industry, and more importantly our kids, will still value their alma mater 50 years from now. </p>
<p>entertainersmom, I could have written your post, except I have a daughter. She has one admission, to a state university (who seem very eager to have her), but she kind of pretends it didn’t happen. </p>
<p>Sigh…</p>
<p>@Raellis123, same here. d only discovered theatre in mid-sophomore year and their school didn’t do a musical throughout her 4 years, leaving her with limited experience. The two notifications she’s received have been rejections - both for good schools where she made it very close (getting asked to do an extra song, getting through multiple rejection rounds) but didn’t quite get there. She is crushed. She was in a professional theatre company after taking a wild leap of faith and literally every day after school from 4-11 had rehearsals under studying and observing, as well as acting in some to get as much experience as possible. She hasn’t gone out with friends - not once - since sophomore year because she spends all her time rehearsing or working 3 jobs to pay for dance classes. I am proud of her but also saddened that her hard work is not paying off the way she wants it to.</p>
<p>That being said, she knows a very successful guy who’s been in some really famous Bway shows and in a VERY famous Tv show and he told her that wherever she goes, she just needs to do as much as she can to improve. I hope to God she gets in somewhere but otherwise we are going to take her academic acceptances, and then maybe let her reaudition at one school next year, hopefully for a scholarship too. </p>
<p>I also have trouble dealing with the fact that an audition, all of which last under 2 mins (my D went to Unifieds) can determine someone’s 4 year success. At one great audition the auditors told us it may take 3 years for a student to break through their shell. How can a student who has had limited experience but is an incredibly hard worker show a college she has enough in 2 mins? I don’t get it. I also don’t understand how schools can expect students to come in with a perfect set of skills. We’re paying a lot of money for them to learn! I know many schools are open but most of the ‘top’ ones tend to accept highly polished performers - which in turn leads to fabulous alumni, a better rep, and so on.</p>
<p>I guess we are feeling hopeless at this point and wondering how she will ever become qualified enough if no one will accept her because she doesn’t have enough qualifications. you only get an experience from HAVING it. Lol. We know for a fact that at the 2 schools her lack of opera training was what hindered her in the end. Sigh!</p>
<p>Wish I could hug you all! I feel for you and love these discussions. So cathartic.</p>
<p>Ps I’m not bitter, although it might sound like it. I don’t know how a college could accept someone for an mt major without doing auditions. It just feels unfair, lol.</p>
<p>I wonder, too, ddBroadway2, how these schools can select future students for their programs from a 5 minute audition. But, they do, and they must know something that we don’t. My son’s only acceptance so far comes from a school where his allotted 15 minute audition lasted 45 minutes. They had him do his required elements (sounds like ice skating at the Olympics! LOL) but then threw other stuff at him-- asking him to change things up, some improv, etc. Obviously they liked what they saw because he was verbally accepted on the spot (and since then all paperwork/applications have been approved.) My point is… in this case more time was needed for them to see his “stuff.” These auditions are such factories-- in and out-- quick, quick, quick. I think it would be better to see fewer kids (that’s where pre-screens come in handy), but spend more time to get to know them.</p>
<p>I think as parents we all feel the same way. I do have to say however there are people on Broadway who have never gone to college. If someone has a gift but not the look a school is looking for it does not mean they can never get into what they love to do. We sit here with one no and one wait list and waiting on 4 more schools. He choose the big name schools to audition at. That was his path he chose and only time will tell. I have to say sitting in a job that I do not like or have any passion for and giving him this opportunity to pursue his dream makes us happy. We support him 100% and always will. Yes he knows it will be tough at times but he is willing to wait the tables if need be in between gigs. Trust me I am nervous and have gone over it in my mind will he make it where he wants to be. He personally tells me being on Broadway does not define a person. He truly feels that moving people through his passion is more important. How could we ever crush that dream?</p>
<p>This might seem random, but I’ve been checking the FB Unified page regularly (just lurking, of course)…and it is unbelievable when I see the kids who have been accepted and how much “type” goes in to play. For example, I looked at the Penn State acceptances, and there was a blonde and a brunette…very different-looking…My D and I were sitting together, and I showed her the page and said, “Here’s the blonde who was accepted at PSU.” She looked eerily similar to my D, and it made complete sense why there couldn’t be 2 similar-looking kids accepted. I am assuming this blonde was likely more talented than her, so I have to wonder if they “compartmentalize” say, 4-5 kids of the same type, rank them, and then accept from the top of that list until they have their ideal “cast” of freshman. Not sure if this is making sense to anyone else, but it kind of clicked for me about type. </p>
<p>First, I appreciate the stress but rejection is most of what actors experience so this is just the beginning. As has been said so often here, there are so many different ways to succeed in this business, nothing is a “death notice.” We all can name mediocre actors who have succeeded professionally and wondered why a particularly talented actor has continuously remained “under the radar”; there is so much more to success than just talent. </p>
<p>My daughter had been acting professionally for years before she auditioned for colleges but after her first year of school she told me that in retrospect, she wasn’t ready for many of the schools she auditioned for. She is young for her age and that always worked for her professionally but was clearly not right for college. </p>
<p>She had also been involved with improvisation all through middle and high school. When she didn’t get into any of her schools improv groups she decided to take matters into her own hands and began taking professional classes in Chicago. She completed the numerous classes, was asked to begin an all-female musical improv group, gained some success from there, and was thrilled that she was rejected at school so that she could experience Chicago improv with one of the true originators of improv. This has been great for her in NY and she is making her mark in the improv world while having some success in MT. She has never been an ingenue, always the sidekick, best friend, etc. Adult character actors need more maturity than ingenues, she is very content to move in that direction.</p>
<p>The gist of what I am saying is, while it seems like the end of the world right now, there are plenty of different ways to the end goal. Hopefully you’ve got a safety or two, non-audition schools with good programs, and remember the definition of a good program is one that works for your kid. My younger, non-theatre daughter is at a small LAC that has allowed her to do many different things that would not be possible at a larger school. For example, she applied and was one of four students chosen to direct a short (13 minute) play which was a lot of fun and well done, beneficial for both the actors, stage crew, and my daughter. Next year as a junior she may apply for a larger production, she may not, but she’s had this opportunity that would probably not be possible at a larger “better” theatre school.</p>
<p>I’ve babbled a bit but I hope I’ve put some perspective on this horrible process. Oh, and my daughter graduated June 2013.</p>
<p>ddbroadway2 - sounds like you D has been very dedicated and working diligently towards this goal. I can understand why you both would get frustrated. But at the same time, rejection is part of this business so just hang in there and keep at it, something will work out. BAL</p>
<p>@doremimom, that makes sense and a school told us that they do just that. They put headshots of the similar types in piles. While I’m not certain, I do believe they used some sort of ranking system, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s wholly based on talent since it’s a prescreen school. If someone passed the prescreen, they think that person is talented. I’m sure there are a lot of factors that would rank one higher than another–passion, confidence, something that just clicked with the faculty, etc. I would think that to be the case even in non prescreen schools.</p>
<p>Regarding the audition process a few have commented about. Here are 2 things I have heard along the way this season.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>At Chicago unifieds we were waiting for my D’s audition time at one of the popular school’s mentioned here frequently. One of the professor/judges (also someone mentioned by name often on CC) was outside for a bit and I asked him how they made so many decisions in a short period of time, how they remember each person, etc. Not trying to push for my D, I’m just really curious about the process. I deal with process, leadership, etc., in my professional life too, so always looking for another application. His response was, “We score them, review and prioritize them each night.” Not much help or insight, but it seems to work for them. But like many of you, I question whether they can get much from such a short audition.</p></li>
<li><p>At an on-site audition after unifieds, also a popular school often mentioned here, in the Q&A with the staff someone asks a similar question. Their response was that a professional audition is typically only about 1 minute long, so having 4-5 minutes actually gives them a lot of time to assess each person.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My take from both of these accounts is that this is purely a casting process and they aren’t really interested in getting to know the person. There are schools that spend more time and do try to know more, but at least in these examples, and I suspect for many if not most, they are just looking for who “wows” them at the audition. Doesn’t really matter if someone has “potential”, is a “good kid”, comes from a poor home and can’t afford private lessons, or whatever. It is purely about existing talent with some personal type thrown in. </p>
<p>Having said that, I’m also not complaining about it. That is what this whole acting business is - talent and type. It won’t be any different in the “real world” for our kids, in fact it will be much tougher. But understanding that is part of what helps me keep some perspective on things. If it is meant to be it will work out - keep plugging away at it. </p>
<p>raellis123 I definitely agree. Although they talk about looking for potential, my D only got that vibe at one of her schools, where she was given 2 callbacks (she doesn’t think she stands a chance though…they have accepted former Broadway performers in the past). That was also the only school where they actually asked my D what SHE wanted in a school. None of her other schools even asked her why she was applying to them! </p>
<p>Also, we were looking at the scoring sheets for a couple of schools when we were filling out paperwork. Some schools had grading systems for each juror like ‘High, Medium, or Low’ interest. One school had a sheet that was purely assessing appearance, with a variety of descriptions under categories such as ‘posture’ and ‘body type’’. </p>
<p>I agree that this a good experience for our kids to get used to rejections. I think it’s just tough for me to fully accept because it’s college, not a job or role they missed out on. </p>
<p>(Of course, I know absolutely nothing about judging these kinds of things, but I think in the end, it does seem to boil down to pure talent at most of the schools we’ve seen).</p>
<p>I was going to bring that up too - I noticed scoring metrics at the bottom of a few sheets my S completed. Even “accept y/n” “talent award y/n”. </p>
<p>Several schools score by numbers. Older daughter has X-ray vision and saw she got 8’s from a program that rejected her. But, 8 out of 10 is not bad and we honestly couldn’t afford that program anyway. Hang in there, everyone.</p>
<p>I overheard the Director of Recruitment for Point Park tell a mom that they score MT kids 40% vocal audition 20% dance and 40% monologue. </p>
<p>It is really tough to say what each school is looking for. I do like the two pre screen schools we went to because I feel they have already reviewed what he had to offer and felt they wanted to see more. One school asked him questions about our home town. The other asked him to perform a second monologue after telling all of them they only wanted one. They also had him do other things during his songs to get the passion through without using his hands. What does that mean? Who knows. We have tried to think and re-think everything that was said to him at all auditions. Bottom line is you just never know what they want. </p>
<p>X-ray vision - that would be handy! She isn’t a superhero is she? (although I’m sure you think she is 
)</p>