<p>I’ve had rejections so far from Marymount Manhattan, Roosevelt, Ithaca, Emerson, and Syracuse, today (my birthday, too!) Still waiting on BoCo, UNCSA, and Hartt, but I’m not hoping for much. Ithaca, Roosevelt, and Marymount were my best auditions…</p>
<p>Non-audition wise, I got into two state schools with full- and half- scholarships. I’m waiting on Temple (Theatre Arts since I couldn’t make the MT audition) and UNC Greensboro. </p>
<p>The Spielberg story really made me feel better. Regardless of my audition results, I came up from Georgia, stayed with my cousin by myself, and took the bus to New York every day and walked to my audition places. Two nights, I stayed in a cheap hostel by myself. And, who knows? Maybe if I hadn’t been concentrating on getting places, I would have been more successful. But I did what I had to do, and this makes me even more sure that I will do whatever I can throughout my life to do what I love.</p>
<p>SoSo, try to keep your chin up, even when faced with adversity. You should be proud of yourself for pursuing your dream the way you have, and by yourself, no less. Sending you a virtual hug and I will keep my fingers crossed for you in this difficult process. Wishing you a happy birthday, too! I hope you’ve done something to celebrate that today. :)</p>
<p>With all due respect, while you say it is not foolproof, to even imply you can get a picture of a kid’s level of talent from a piece of paper is unfair and imho could suggest a student who has not had the luxury some of our children have had for training, exposure, casting and awards to simply choose another direction. Wouldn’t that be a sad waste of talent.</p>
<p>Many in the northeast, including my own D, for example, are geographically able to take advantage of master classes and casting calls that someone in the middle of the US cannot. To get awards one has to compete, and just because a kid doesn’t compete is no indication they do not have talent. </p>
<p>As one who has also been there, done that, I say to all the kids applying to MT and Acting programs … if you get in great! Learn, enjoy, explore. To those who get into only a few or to none (including my own DD who is still waiting for several replies) select a college that you will enjoy. If its not an MT program take voice and acting and dance classes, continue practicing your art. </p>
<p>In four years, which I promise you will go by SO much faster than you can ever imagine, if you still have that burn in your belly to perform you keep going! The only one that can stop you from pursuing your dream is you.</p>
<p>So So, I don’t post very often but I was very inspired by your post and postive attitude. You obviously have the drive and to succeed in this business. The college where you end up is going to be lucky to have you! Congrats on your great scholarship offers! State schools are very competitive these days and you should be very proud.</p>
<p>I should have explained this better. I do NOT believe that you HAVE to have artistic achievements in order to get into a college theater program! However, if one has these, it does give some indication of background and level of talent that was required in order to achieve those things. Absence of such achievements does NOT imply less talent!!! As someone who helps students with the college selection and admissions process and reviews every detail of a student’s background, it is EASIER to get a sense of a level of talent when such benchmarks exist. For those who haven’t done as much, one would have less indicators of their talent and thus it is harder to know without a sample. </p>
<p>I brought that up on this thread when someone said that a non-audition school would have no way to ascertain a level of theater talent with no audition to be admitted. I was saying that in SOME cases, some students will have training and artistic achievements on record that provide SOME idea. Those that don’t have such a record on paper may be just as talented, however!</p>
<p>I have also brought this up in another context (not on this thread) when people discuss how they can get an idea of their own level of competitiveness for audition based college programs. There are many ways to evaluate that and I won’t get into all of them here now (as this thread is not about that) but ONE of the ways is if a student HAS been tested in a larger talent pool (such as state, regional, or national artistic adjudicated events, or in a summer program drawing from a national talent pool, etc.) and fared well, it helps them to have SOME idea if they can compete in the audition pool for BFA college programs. I know we used such indicators for our own child. </p>
<p>But believe me, I have seen plenty of kids with much less on paper who have fared well in college auditions! My point is that when there is no audition, there are some ways to find out a student’s background and achievements that can help an adcom at a non-audition program get some inkling about the student. I was disagreeing with the young person here who thought non-audition college programs can’t tell any talent and do not end up with talented students entering their program. </p>
<p>My kid grew up in a rural area. Still, she had some training and casting on her record from our rural state. As any student can, she auditioned for All States for chorus. Also, our All States has a scholarship adjudication for state winners in all fields of music and for example, she was the state scholarship winner for voice (classical) and for jazz (vocal) and so that gave some idea. We read on CC about the NFAA Young Arts Awards which is a national adjudication and so she entered that and won an award that helped us also to see her in a national talent pool. She auditioned for the little bit of theater in our state and fared well. She was the lead every year in the school shows. These things helped us even in our small area (we live in a town of 1700 people!). Our state doesn’t have theater awards or many of the types of awards that I have read on CC in other states. We have no performing arts high schools. We have no acting/drama classes. The things I just mentioned are very basic things that can be done from anywhere, in my opinion. My daughter did do one other thing that DOES cost money and that was to attend a summer theater program that drew kids from all over and so she did get to self evaluate in that talent pool and had fared well in casting there. But that is not necessary to do but again, if one has done those things, it helps to get some idea. </p>
<p>In any case, I completely do not believe you must have any of these things to get into a college theater program. I was merely saying that even without an audition, in some cases, a college can get SOME idea of one’s theater background and achievements. In some cases, they can’t tell.</p>
<p>SoSo: I also want to tell you what a enormous amount of respect I have for you. Most kids will not post their rejections, though they are definitely out there! And you are here, with your honesty and pain, for all to see. I think it is your honestly and humility that will take you far in this profession. It isn’t all about the 2 minutes in the audition room, it’s about so much more. It’s about character, it’s about a person who can stand on a stage and bare their soul like you have here. I read your posts, and those from sassystage, and I have a feeling in years to come you will both be rockin’ the Broadway stages telling stories, to the hoards of people waiting outside the stage door for a glimpse of you, that sound a bit like this…“you would never believe that when I auditioned for college I was rejected by almost every school…”. Getting into a topnotch BFA MT is a first step, but it isn’t the only step and for some it may be their last step towards their dream. It by no means is a guarantee they will be a success, but I know you already know this.
So sassystage and soso, promise all of us that you will include in your Playbill bio’s your CC names so we will all nod our heads and think “I knew they’d make it big”! Hugs to both you lovely ladies!</p>
<p>^^Agreed. These young ladies should press on and continue to pursue their passion. No rejections or set backs should impede them. They can study theater at any college, take classes, train, and keep on keeping on. Most successful people have met many rejections and setbacks in life and what made them successful is that they believed in themselves and kept going and did not give up. Their inner drive led them to new heights, even with dips along the way!</p>
<p>all these posts are great! Hang in there. The most important traits an actor needs are determination and resilience!! </p>
<p>I would just like to counter, though, what musictheatre wrote, and say that being on Broadway should in now way determine the success of an artistic life. There are plenty of opportunities to be involved in theater in cities and venues of every sort. </p>
<p>Don’t let anyone or any program define who you are and what you become in life!</p>
<p>I don’t take any of these rejections personally, they just frustrate me to no end! I know I’m good enough - a lot of us are, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to get into a program that takes 20. It’s just a depressing reality. Had I been able to afford a coach like so many, I think my audition results would be different. But we’ll end up where we are meant to be!</p>
<p>So far my rejection list includes Ithaca, Temple, Syracuse, Pace, and Plymouth State. I’ve yet to hear from the University of Hartford and Marymount Manhattan and still have to audition at Montclair State. No acceptances yet.</p>
<p>I’ve two non-audition schools that I got into and will consider more. I’d also love to go to Temple even though I didn’t get into the MT concentration, but the financial package was rather underwhelming as an out of state student.</p>
<p>I’m one of those people that believes that everything happens for a reason and I’m 100% sure I’ll end up where I’m supposed to be. It’s just where I’m meant to be and where I want to be aren’t exactly the same at the moment. :/</p>
<p>We can do this guys. Life is so much bigger than just college. Everything will come together in the end.</p>
<p>It’s great to have such a positive overall attitude in a thread that would otherwise seem to be quite depressing. Yes, it’s disheartening to receive rejection after rejection. But there are so many factors, and they’re not judging you- they’re judging the part of you they saw in the minuscule amount of time they had to see you. </p>
<p>That’s what I’m telling myself, at least…still waiting on Hartt, BoCo, and UNCSA, as well as Temple (BA Theatre Arts) and UNC Greensboro. I have an audition for the Columbus State theatre program in Columbus, GA this Friday, and I’ve already received a full scholarship from the school itself. So, that’s something.</p>
<p>Good luck with your audition and remaining schools SoSo. You have a great attitude. Congratulations on your full scholarship-that is a huge accomplishment!</p>
<p>We’re right there with you SadieDKH. We got the “not admitted” online from CMU as well. Not really too bummed here though. It was the reachiest of my son’s reach schools and the one we had the least connection to going into auditions. I’m just happy to have all the college answers in so we can now get down to making an actual decision and putting this whole marathon process to bed! Then we can get on to the fun part–him actually going to college in a program he’s passionate about! :)</p>