There’s still time for your daughter to submit a prescreen to Molloy/CAP21 (NYC), which is a BFA in MT, ideally by Dec. 15.
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I know this can get quite overwhelming. It was for us a few yrs ago too. One thing I would caution your D / you on is being so fixated on getting a yes when it might not be the right yes. There are all kinds of BFA programs. Some are conservatory style where you are MT essentially full time. Very little existence outside of that. Others are more blended with the rest of the school where it’s more realistic to have a typical college experience. I think it would be helpful to have a heart to heart and help her discover what she really wants in a program. Is this what she wants to do professionally? It’s really hard and the competition is fierce. Not just to get into a BFA program, but to get cast into shows once you’re in the program, and of course ultimately, to get work.
In the event she doesn’t have the luck you’re hoping for, a gap yr is a real option and many have used it to really plan for a positive audition season. They also use the yr to deepen their talent through voice and dance lessons. That may be of no interest to her, but I bring it up only to say that many do it. It’s not the end of the world. A lot of people also get in these programs only to find this life is not for them. Will she be happy if she gets in to a lesser known program for next yr vs. trying again (with far more knowledge) in a yr?
Don’t beat yourself up. You can only do what you can do. I don’t know how they expect a parent to know all this stuff. We were fortunate in that D attended an arts HS and I heard some things which made me do a lot of research (the school didn’t help that much). There’s definitely a lot to it.
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So glad it was helpful. You have a lot of good school suggestions here!
Fingers crossed for your family for better news from here on out!
I think an audition prep team could still be helpful even though her prescreens are in. First, there are some schools that accept late prescreens so she could potentially re-record. Second, she doesn’t have to do the same material in the actual audition that she submitted in the prescreens. There have been many comments over the years of kids switching up their songs or monologues half-way through auditions because they weren’t having good luck in the beginning and then doing better with the new choices. A coach or prep team with a lot of experience may be able to offer some perspective on song and monologue choices for upcoming auditions (or retaping of prescreens).
Also, a comment on the being older issue. Especially because of the pandemic, many kids decided to either defer a year or take a gap year because they didn’t like their options. I know there are many kids in my daughter’s freshman class who are 1-2 years older because of this. So, if it comes to it and she decides to take a gap year (which I don’t mean to imply will happen because it’s still early in the process), she will not be the only “older” kid in the program.
Good luck. Feel free to private message with any specific questions. I feel like I got a PhD in this last year after going through this, at times, miserable process!
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This is a really good post. My D was one who switched up her material about 2/3 of the way in the audition cycle. She did pass several prescreens but it was less than she anticipated. Then she didn’t feel like she was received all that well in live auditions, so she chose different material and the results changed dramatically. She ultimately was accepted to several programs. Now, perhaps she was just better in the room with more experience. We’ll never know, but she did seem to have more confidence, which I think makes a difference.
She’s pretty bullheaded and was insistent on using the original material in prescreens and several direct auditions. Previously she was given subtle feedback that the material may not be a great fit (from an audition camp she attended) but she wanted to use it. Kept on giving reasons like “I can’t use X because it’s too popular” or “They’ve heard that song a million times” or “it’s not the right genre”, etc. Her voice teacher told her to just go with what really shows off her talent, that she connects with, etc. Voila, acceptances.
It’s not too late.
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Do we have the same child, LOL? My daughter is also bullheaded and didn’t want to hear anything from me and then got overwhelmed and stressed when I tried to push her. So here we are!
I just want to thank everyone for responding! I was trying to keep up and respond individually to everyone but I got so much great advice, it was hard to keep up! I’m looking over everything though and definitely taking notes so I really do appreciate all the input and help!!
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I coach kids. I work with no more than 5 a year and I do it as a way to help kids who have potential navigate this crazy, cumbersome process. If your daughter did not do substantial planning on her material with or without a coach, then taking a gap year would probably be the best call. There are so many facets to this process but I can tell you the recruiting faculty member from Hartt (Tracey Moore) who goes to most of the auditions is the one who wrote the book " Acting the Song: Performance Skills for the Musical Theatre" that many colleges (including Hartt) use as a textbook for mt. I have had several kids pass their prescreens and every one of them has had great acting through the music skills in their prescreens and initial audition. That is a huge criteria for them (for obvious reasons). But it is for many other schools as well. (Some directors – most directors – will tell you the “acting” is more important than anything else.)
Every school is different, but here is what I tell the kids I work with. It is not a talent competition. In fact, I would venture to say it’s only 50% talent and 50% type. You have to know your type — what roles would they cast you for? What would you do well? Your songs and monologues have to be relevant to you and within a playable age of your age now (usually 5 years more or less). These schools need to be able to visualize how they would use you in future seasons/roles. They are casting for a “four-year” production. Rejection doesn’t often have anything to do with ability. They just might already have one of you. And as much as they love you, they don’t need another. I have one kid now who has NEVER had a lead in her life and she has racked up an unbelievable number of callbacks and auditions and outright offers. The most I have had from any MT kid ever. And did I mention not only has she never had a lead but she also is a mover not a dancer?
How?? Even her parents are asking that… I know exactly how. She has a strong voice. She had a great teacher with a broadway/pop focus over the last two years and has mastered her head voice and mix, not only her chest voice. She and I have worked on her acting the music very well as well as her monologues. And, she skews younger in appearance. We planned all her material to fit that type. I am not going to lie, I was a little worried about her but she has blown up my expectations. For a kid who has never had a lead or strong vocal supporting role before (I cast her as Lavender in Matilda in 2019 and she was an understudy to Robin in Godspell that I directed). She focused her entire pandemic on her voice and it paid off. And she is not just doing the songs she loves for her audition and prescreens. She is doing songs that fit her type.
All of this means you need a great coach will help you with. You have had several suggestions. Don’t worry about her age (for gap year). I know of a transfer student to UCO this year for MT who was 29!! I honestly don’t think some schools care.
I would open up your net to see if you can include 25-30 schools (typically what I recommend for female MT auditioners). I also agree you have a lot of reach schools on there. There are some amazing programs that are more mid-level programs that you should add. Lots of options in the northeast but Ithaca, Hartt, etc. are more reach-y.
I would definitely reach out to David Hugo at LIU Post or Rebecca Overton at CAP 21/ Molloy. Both of them tend to have more rolling applications and both will be at Unifieds in Chicago.
But please get her to work with someone to at least make sure she has the right material for her. 
I hope this helped.
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Almost all of my kids “evolve” their material throughout the audition season. Usually not 100% overhaul but usually at least 50%. Not for the sake of doing something new, but to use what they have learned and what they see is working and either work differently on the rest or replace it. Case in point, one of my kids had planned to do “Anyone Can Whistle” for her golden age prescreen. I love the song, she loved the song. But even after she worked so hard on it and it technically was “fine,” it lacked the verve…the emotion. It felt bland and lethargic. So, we flipped her ballad to contemp and got a more upbeat golden age song. Took about 2 weeks to fully work and her results were much different! It can’t just be about what they love or like — connecting to a song is really important. The acting and expression has to be there. And they need to know who sings the song, when in the story is it sung, for what purpose (is it declaring something or asking a question?). Many schools will stop you and ask if you know who is singing the song and why they are singing it. Or about the “moment before.” That helps create an authentic performance.
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Don’t give up! Just apply to more schools, widen her net. I promise you’ll be glad you did. So many great programs and hidden gems out there!
Lots of great feedback here.
your list is very reach-heavy, with a couple of kind of random – MT-wise-- safeties, and I just want to point out that there are literally probably a hundred MT BFA programs that are not reach-heavy, but that do require auditions. So I would recommend adding some of those to your list, in addition to a couple of non-audition programs. I think having a list that is only “top-heavy” and “complete safety-heavy” is not truly a “wide net.” I would get some of those middle schools in there.
It’s not too late for all schools (especially that middle chunk), but yes – you would need to get on the computer and do some research here pretty quickly. If you are just now learning what Unifieds is then it means you probably need to get on the google a bit more if this is something you really want. (I mean that as tough-love, not a criticism.)
I don’t agree that you absolutely need a coach given you have a vocal teacher you trust, but the hard truth is that if you don’t have a coach, you will need to put in the work to do the research on your own, and you will need to do that now. Otherwise, paying a coach will absolutely fast-track some of that research for you if you would rather go that route. It might be worth your money to find a coach who you can hire by the hour and do a 1. school review and suggestion and 2. a prescreen review. This might only be an hour or two of time over zoom, so it could be money very well spent.
Finally, you can do a ton of research by joining the FB MT parent page and reading and reading and reading for a few hours.
Hope that helps!
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How long did it take to hear back for CMU? My D submitted prescreens the day before Thanksgiving and has not heard anything.
Also, Anyone know if it is true that U of Michigan releases pre screen results today? Thanks for the info and help
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Breathe. It’ll be okay. There are lots of us that didn’t pay exorbitant amounts for private coaching or only really started learning things over the summer. It’ll all be okay.
I haven’t read others responses but here are some really great BFA MT programs to consider that have later deadlines. We always hear so much about the top 20 schools – but truly, there are so many really good programs out there. Relax. Here are a couple of schools that we have on our list that have later prescreen deadlines. If you have concerns and want to send in materials to a few other schools, take a look at these:
Western Connecticut University
Slippery Rock University
SE Missouri State University
Northern Kentucky University
Western Michigan University
West Virginia University
If you need more (or want more) possible options let me know. There truly are still a lot of doors that are open to you. Best wishes!
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The thing is that we did a ton of research, but I feel like a lot of this is “you don’t know what you don’t know.” In fact, I learned so much more in the past week from this one board than I ever found on google searches. There’s a lot on acceptance rates of colleges, but not on individual programs, so that’s what’s thrown me. But it is what it is at this point. She will not go outside of the northeast, and if that means she doesn’t get into a program, that’s her decision.
Her dream school is Hartt so right now we’re just hoping she gets a callback from the prescreen.
I realize our safeties are very random but we live in Maine so USM and UNH make a lot of sense here. She’s already been accepted academically to USM with some great aid so we’re happy that she has a place to go, but obviously would love for her to have a choice.
I joined the Facebook page the other day and it’s super helpful!!
We heard from CMU in about 2 weeks. It was a no.
I have heard U Mich is supposed to release prescreen results today, but who knows? I do know someone who got a yes yesterday. We haven’t heard from them yet.
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Thank you so much for this! We looked at Western Connecticut but I’m from CT and the campus and area are just so bleh that she was not interested. The others are unfortunately just outside of where she feels comfortable going right now and I understand that.
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Just wanted to second Muhlenberg as an excellent option that doesn’t not require auditions.
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They also give excellent merit and talent aid
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CMU:
my daughter submitted everything. 2 weeks later, I was checking on common app an realized, she needed to submit additional Essays separately and weren’t submitted!!! . I submitted for her, and got the call back email the next day
redirected to Acting 
OH Crap!! Essays on the common app? My daughter did those…and I believe she answered the additional questions/essays on the pre screen too
I read 6 girls and 6 boys accepted for MT…is she interested in the acting program? 
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