Hi all!
I am so glad to have some fellow data nerds! My daughter was intrigued with the data I analyzed a few days ago and decided collect data from some MT college students. Thanks to the students, I now have 68 new data points for your viewing pleasure!
People currently in BFA school were asked
How many audition schools did you apply to?
How many did you get accepted to?
Did you use a coach?
What is your graduation year?
Table is listed below.
1 & #2 applied to schools 2 years in a row so counted as 2 data points.
35 applied to BFA acting.
Caveats
- These are descriptive stats. They are used to paint a picture. It is impossible to demonstrate cause and effect from data.
- I will be reporting on averages. No BFA person is “average” and your situation may be different.
Trends
- 28 people used a coach, 38 did not, 2 did not specify
- people with a coach applied to more schools on average (15.57) compared to those without a coach (11.47)
- people with a coach got into on average 36.63% of schools applied vs. 44.04 of people who did not use a coach.
- people with a coach got into 5.43 schools vs. 5.05 schools without a coach
- I asked about class year. Most of the responses were from the class of 2022, so I didn’t separate these out.
What can the data tell us?
Why did you analyze the coach aspect?
- The coach/no coach seems to be a hot button for people and I was personally curious to see if I could gain any insight from people’s answers. From this data, it seems like those who use a coach apply to more schools, get accepted to a slightly higher number of schools, but get into a lower percentage of schools. In the other data set I analyzed, the percentages were almost identical (37.16% coached, 37.25% non coached).
Any other insights?
- From the comments, some of you took a gap year and re-auditioned. In every case I saw in this data set and the other one I analyzed, doing this process twice yielded better results. Not necessarily in the number of schools, but in the “fit” of schools.
Anyway, thanks again, everyone. It was fun! As always, I welcome comments and insights from fellow data nerds.
schools applied schools accepted coach class of?
1 9 0 yes 2020
2* 16 5 no 2021
3 15 7 yes 2022
4 8 6 no 2021
5 10 4 yes 2022
6 17 5 no 2022
7 8 3 yes 2022
8 10 2 no 2022
9 9 2 yes 2022
10 12 4 no 2022
11 15 1 yes 2022
12 12 5 no 2022
13 18 12 yes 2022
14 16 6 no 2022
15 15 3 yes 2022
16 26 6 yes 2022
17 5 2 no 2022
18 8 2 no 2022
19 16 8 yes 2022
20 13 1 no 2022
21 8 3 no 2020
22 10 2 no 2022
23 12 10 yes 2021
24 18 5 yes 2022
25 12 4 yes 2022
26 6 1 yes 2022
27 10 4 no 2022
28 9 3 yes 2021
29 20 11 no 2022
30 11 4 no 2021
31 13 4 yes 2022
32 10 8 no 2022
33 10 8 no 2022
34 12 10 yes 2021
35* 17 8 yes 2022
36 12 8 no 2022
37 7 4 no 2022
38 18 3 yes 2022
39 12 6 no 2022
40 6 5 no 2022
41 12 2 no 2021
42 21 16 no 2022
43 18 6 yes 2022
44 15 4 no 2021
45 13 7 no 2022
46 11 2 no 2022
47 6 4 no 2022
48 14 9 no 2022
49 4 1 no 2022
50 17 6 yes 2022
51 15 3 no 2022
52 17 7 ? 2022
53 16 7 yes 2022
54 13 5 ? 2022
55 22 12 no 2021
56 19 6 yes 2022
57 6 3 no 2021
58 8 4 no 2022
59 22 5 yes 2022
60 9 5 no 2022
61 17 11 yes 2022
62 23 1 yes 2022
63 16 8 yes 2021
64 10 4 no 2022
65 9 8 yes 2022
66 10 7 no 2022
67 23 6 no 2022
68 4 2 no 2022
I don’t know where the 1-2 schools on average admitted “story” comes from since it doesn’t make sense. If that were the case there would be one applicant completely shut out for every applicant with 4 acceptances. I would think the goal of applications is a minimum of 2-3 schools admitted so you have some choice. Some of the numbers will depend upon gender and where you are applying. My D was one with only one acceptance but it was a dream school. Other folks have gone through the process, gotten multiple acceptances only to realize none of them “felt” right. The applicant with 16 acceptances was definitely casting a wide net! If you read last years final choice thread you’ll see a lot of people who say “it was No from all these schools but she was thrilled to get 3 yesses at the end”. Some students who got shut out then applied to other schools where there were openings that need filling, which improved their odds of acceptance. Due to the way this process drags out and the huge variability in results I am not sure averages are all that useful? Fun and interesting but I wouldn’t want the takeaway from this to be you can apply to your top 12 schools, forget the coach and on average you’ll end up with 5 good choices. 
@CaMom13, thanks so much for your insight. I’n terms of most people only getting into 1-2 schools, I’ve been told this by several people. I commented on averages because it was not typical of what I’ve heard. It could be that people get into more schools on average, but it could also be that the people who reported on their year were the ones who were most successful or it could even be that people who join groups like college confidential get better advice and more support. As these are descriptive stats, we really don’t know 
It is great that your daughter got into her dream school. There were 2 people in this survey that got into one school and both commented it was their dream school and they were incredibly happy with their choices.There was also one person who got into zero schools after auditioning the first time and the second time around was hugely successful. They were thrilled with a gap year and their school choice as well after the second time. As many folks have commented, sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason to how this works and as somebody who likes to play with data, I wanted to see if I could see any trends.
After looking at all these data points, I definitely have more questions than answers. But that’s the problem with descriptive stats -they don’t paint the whole picture. But based on the comments that go along with the stats and our experiences so far, I think these truths hold 1) choose the schools that seem right for you 2) make sure your list is balanced 3) get as much support as you can and 4)keep positive and allow for some bumps along the way.
@artandtechmom I’m in the arts (but my husband is a research scientist/statistician). So although it’s not my area I know a little bit about stats. I think there are just way way too many variables for this to have any value. I can honestly say I was one of those people who never posted our acceptances or final story because my daughter is private and this is really her journey. (But of course you can read back over my posts and figure a lot out…). I know there are many parents like me out there who participate in CC but do not post final stats. I do agree with your final basic assessment and think that’s great advice, “I think these truths hold 1) choose the schools that seem right for you 2) make sure your list is balanced 3) get as much support as you can and 4)keep positive and allow for some bumps along the way.” It’s a journey, and as we can never know each individuals talent or story or training - everything is speculation. What I would say based on reading this board over the last two years and from my own experience where we live - is that there is incredible escalation in terms of the numbers of schools that people are applying to. I really don’t think anyone needs 30 schools. But what you do need is a well crafted list. Kids in my area have done very well with multiple acceptances and these kids have varying levels of ability but they tailored their list to that - making sure they had dream schools but also programs that are much less selective. (I would also spend time on ballet technique and learning to read music. Consider taking Music Theory in high school if your school offers it. Make sure your vocal cuts show off your range and diversity. And for god’s sake - read the play your monologue is from and be able to discuss it (I can’t tell you the number of kids I’ve seen who don’t know what they’re acting… - and know they were denied admission from certain programs as a result). Anyway that’s just my two cents for what it’s worth. Enjoy the journey!! Wish I could do it all over again!
From my years of reading CC - I have seen the 10 -12 schools = 1-2 acceptance thing attributed to Moo multiple times. Now, she has TONS of data available from her many years of students- but it does not seem to be an accurate representation of this CC group. But, as @singoutlouise mentions - we don’t really have ALL the data - just what people have chosen to post.
I think I have often read of people in the journey thread who don’t have any acceptances or only one. I believe those are the people who never post in final decision threads as it is not something they want to relive after the experience. I think you tend to get the people in that thread who are somewhat satisfied in their outcome and so those numbers are skewed.
@loribelle It is true I did not post a final decision. However, it was because I was done with the process not that she didn’t get acceptances. :)) She got 4 acceptances and 3 waitlists and applied to 26 schools. She used Moo and did moonifieds as she was not able to go to Chicago Unifieds because of the school musical. She is happily attending Western Michigan University for MT. Best of luck to this year’s seniors and their parents. This place is great for support!
@MI3rdClosingAct I didn’t either for the same reasons…I meant too, but my dad was hospitalized in June and then I became involved with helping families who were wildfire victims and then the big College move. My daughter auditioned for 18, accepted to 7 and waitlisted at 2, plus her safety. We used a coach though, and I know that helped: one, because her list changed and two, I think her material was much more polished as a result. But, I still believe the ones that don’t do well are much less likely to post in those final decisions threads. Despite my d’s overall positive result, I don’t even like posting her pre-screen rejections.
@loribelle I am sure you are right that many people who don’t have things turn out they way they hoped, choose not to post. But I know many people who did amazingly well and also chose not to post. So I think it goes both ways. Or as I mentioned above it just becomes speculation. There are so many people who like to be on here for the info and the kind community but at the same time aren’t really comfortable with a public forum where what you post is always out there.
@loribelle I am so sorry about your dad and I hope he is doing well. Amazing results for your daughter. I hope she is settling in well to her college. I do agree with you and @singoutlouise about people and posting results.
i would say as someone who is getting ready to go through this next year, i find these threads VERY helpful…
a few " freakonomics " posts by @EmsDad were particularly intriguing even though the numbers are way higher today for application numbers or so it seems . . i alos recall @soozievt stating 10-12 or 12-14?? was more than enough and she is a professional at this…i particularly likely hearing those of you who come back even thought its been a year or two or more since you went through this…sure its speculation and sure u can poke holes in these analysis but its just more food for thought,so thanks to all of you ,if i dont like what u say i can ignore it and learn for myself LOL
@artandtechmom Thank you for sharing your data and analysis with us. It would be interesting to view application and admittance data based on splits in demographics to see if there is variance based on “types” especially in situations when it’s been inferred that it’s much harder for some groups: e.g., applications and admittance by most competitive vs. very competitive programs for male vs. female, female blondes vs. female non-blonds, female blonde sopranos vs. female blonde altos, etc.
@Twelfthman, maybe one day people will start to track these stats better :). But, since I only had 68 responders athere likely wouldn’t be enough subjects in each group. And as a sideline parent, I see so many beautiful and unique individuals, that it would be hard for me to type people. Not even by looks, but by type alone. Some of what we’ve seen: a girl who self accompanies themselves on the ukulele, a soprano with a strong high and low belt with a pop rock style, a soprano with a breathtaking operatic voice who can’t yet belt, a trans boy that is a character actor who can sing and dance in heels, and a boy that is a dancer with a huge range who dances to all his songs. And everyone is good and everyone has their own, unique look. So, I’m glad I’m not a casting director, lol.
@NYYFanNowMTdad, so glad you find this data useful. I really did too, so I wanted to see if I could get more info. Mostly to calm myself and see if I could “play it forward” by reassuring people that this works out one way or another. I also agree with the lower number of schools and well crafted list. We have tweaked our list as the year has gone by, but for the most part, we are really enjoying the journey.
Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy & Healthy New Year!
My daughter is also at Western BFA MTP. Class of 2022. She loves it.
Wow, thanks everyone for sharing information about your programs. So many good choices. A few months in and we are wowed by the kindness and support we’ve gotten so far.