<p>@Alli1drlnd and others who mentioned cost,
you don’t think they offer financial aid? or you didn’t apply?</p>
<p>MagicalTheatre13: Wait list does not yield much (priority or otherwise). The year my child entered the program, one student came in off wait list. The previous year same. The year after same. Each of those times were males who accepted offers at CCM & UMich, respectively. </p>
<p>Actingguy47: It’s my understanding that all of the calls have been made. Mindful, there are double the number of acting majors, so attrition should yield more space on the wait list. Plus, there are prospective students who are accepted as Acting Majors at CMU, who may get accepted MT elsewhere and choose that option. However, I don’t have any personal experience or knowledge in this area.</p>
<p>I am a parent of a 2007 CMU BFA acting major grad. I wish you all the best in your Acting/MT college endeavors. Please remember that there is a college out there for each and everyone of you! You will end up where you are meant to be.
For those that do spend their 4 years at CMU, my son says it was the best experience of his life. Yes, he has debt that he is paying off, but he feels it was worth every penny.</p>
<p>According to our son’s acting coach, Mary Anna Dennard, all the CMU MT calls have gone out. I think she got that from Gary. Three of Mary Anna’s students got in this year. I knew this was going to be competitive before beginning and we needed every advantage which is why we went with a coach. Mary Anna was recommended to me by a faculty member at a top school. And it really has paid off. Will my son choose CMU? Well, choosing a college is like casting a musical. It is a collaborative decision and many things go into it including finances. But when we started this, it was certainly one of the top schools we were “reaching” for. We are in for an interesting weekend.</p>
<p>grayhairedman…we know your son. Or at least my D does. She thinks that your son deserves and that he is a kind person. How cool that 3 of her students got in??? So happy for your son.</p>
<p>We started way late and she helped us quite a bit. At one point my D thought she would take a gap year but fortunately in October we met Mary Anna.</p>
<p>This whole process is baffling~ First off, I’m curious as to why some people keep mentioning that there are more acting students than MT’s. Not true. My D was 1 of 5 girls to be accepted last year for acting… and there were only 7 boys accepted. That’s it. I also think there is a myth that kids need audition coaches and to attend expensive, prestigious performing arts schools to get in. My D went to a public school, had no coach, or had not even one acting class under her belt. What they look for? I’m still not sure. The other schools that accepted her last year wanted her for MT. Which makes sense because she is a singer and a dancer, not an actress. But, CMU wanted her for acting. Go figure! She has a few friends that auditioned this year that I thought would be accepted without a doubt, but shockingly no call. Around and around we go. Wouldn’t we all love to be flies on the walls at their meetings? 
Congrats to everyone at whichever school you end up at!!!</p>
<p>We never thought we needed anyone. However, the process was daunting and we did not know what school would be a good fit for her. We just wanted someone to talk to and help give us some guidance on the process. My D was geared up to take a gap year and decided very late in the game that it was not the route she wanted. Just to talk to someone and to have them say you are on the right track was very helpful to us. In the end, we met a wonderful, wonderful person. My D met with her once. </p>
<p>No one is saying you have to hire coaches, but there is something to be said when the coaches students accepted at CMU make up 1/4 of the Freshman class. </p>
<p>There isn’t a “formula” to any of this. It is whatever makes you feel confident, competent and well prepared. </p>
<p>I am not sure if my D would have been happy at CMU when she loves to perform. The idea of not being able to perform for a couple of years is not that appealing. So, it worked out and most of the schools she has acceptances allow their students to audition. </p>
<p>It is all personal choice and no one should ever make anyone feel stupid or ridiculous for any decision they make, especially when it comes to ones own son or daughter. :)</p>
<p>No, obviously a coach isn’t necessary. Some get in without one. My son goes to public school too. But it wasn’t just monologue coaching we got from Mary Anna. We actually had pretty good access to that “elsewhere.” It was her up to date knowledge of contemporary plays. We got insight to the college audition process. Access to her master classes including one with Barbara M- W, which did help him prepare for an audition with her later. She has an extensive curriculum online of videos, blogs, from experts. She knows the audition requirements of almost every school and as we all know, they vary. And finally, her students, her Moo Crew are a support network for each other, much like many of the parents use this place. Its how we knew approximately when the calls were going out and when they were over.</p>
<p>For us and my son, it was the right decision.</p>
<p>Don’t want to hijack this thread. Sorry.</p>
<p>CMUMomma, I can relate a bit to your post #167. My D applied to colleges a different year. She tried for BFA in MT programs. Her training up until college was in voice and dance and we did not have acting classes or lessons here. She had a voice teacher. She did work with a person who teaches acting on prepping her monologues (he’s not what I would call a coach). But she also went to a public school and it had no drama program, but it did put on shows. While my D did not get into CMU, she got on the Priority Waitlist there for ACTING, whereas she was accepted for MT at her other schools. I was pretty surprised she was considered for Acting when that was the area she had the least training in. In her year, I think they accepted 3 or 4 girls for MT, and so less than they do now.</p>
<p>Okay, I went to the site of the acting coach. OMG, Please, I am not saying that the kids who got in with a coach are not very talented; I’m sure they are. That being said, it is TOTALLY unethical and a conflict of interest for Barbara to be working with Mary Anna, endorsing her program on her website, and then taking 1/4 of the kids chosen out of over a thousand. CMU is a heavy-duty mathematical school, and I’m sure they would find the probability of that to be amazing. A lottery? I don’t think so…she knows exactly who she is taking for at least 1/4 of the talent pool, and God knows how many more. Some kids may be getting in on purely talent, luck, whatever, and that’s great…the way it should be. But, the 1/4 who have hired a coach who is connected to Barbara in a financial way - again, I’m sorry, but that needs to be reported. It is totally unethical for someone in her position to be doing that- period! I feel so duped that I drove my son for three hours, paid an $85 audition fee, and then to find out that Barbara does this? I am appalled. This isn’t Broadway, friends. It is supposed to be a reputable college acting program. I’ve lost respect for the way they did this.</p>
<p>There are a couple of other programs packed with her students as well. I just avoided those schools.</p>
<p>Ya know, I feel so bad about this-not just for my son, but for the 1000s of kids who go out naively thinking that this is a pure system of auditions. It obviously isn’t. Again, I’m sure that many, many schools are not part of this, but if one thinks about the way this works, even if only for a handful at each audition, then it is evident that this is quite the scam. An auditor works with (and endorses) a coach…coach makes hundreds on “consultations,” hires auditor to teach “master classes,” and in turn, the auditor accepts coach’s students. This is not okay. If this were a public company, she would be fired; she would be reported to the ethics board and found guilty for sure of improprieties, and her career would be tarnished. I can’t see, in a system with thousands of people and dollars involved, why this should be any different.</p>
<p>When I learned that some BFA program directors worked directly with private audition coaches and gave master classes to their students, I ended up feeling amazed that my kid got into a number of BFA schools for MT when nobody at any of the colleges ever knew of her before she walked into the audition. We were naive at the time given we live in a rural area and we don’t have performing arts high schools, and nobody here worked with any of these coaches. Several kids from our region did end up at top MT schools anyway. Many others do too.</p>
<p>We also live in a very, very rural area - no coaches here! Shame on us for being country bumpkins and not understanding how it all works at some of the schools. Yes, my son has also been accepted to some decent programs-through auditions, but it looks like some of the “top acting schools” that end up on the lists of “the best” seem to be tainted; I also question how some are on the lists. Connections with the media? Oh well, it is what it is. This is such an unpleasant side of things. So disappointing…how many students would be applying if more parents knew this info? I assure you that I would have saved my money and time: “Sorry, son, this college has a suspect audition system, and you’re not going to be part of it.”</p>
<p>Texas State. Enough said…</p>
<p>Gigrighta’s point is something that has occurred to me many times since I started reading these forums. Even if 3/4 of the admitted class does not have a financial connection to a coach/organization that has a financial connection to the most powerful auditor at CMU, it is still a scandal. That auditor should recuse herself from these deliberations. It’s such an obvious conflict of interest-- but apparently there is no professional organization that regulates this kind of behavior? </p>
<p>I do not mean to imply that the students and parents who subscribe to the coach and her practice are unethical in the least-- it’s the administrator and the system itself that are problematic.</p>
<p>this is exactly what I was saying… I’m a mom with my first kid applying to college and trying to get into a decent MT program… I came across this website and spent the last 2 months reading post after post… this website has taught me SOOOO much!! What I’ve learned on here pretty much explains the whole system. I too feel like I’ve been duped and my D thinking she actually had a shot at some of these “big named” schools. I can totally relate to the frustrations, the disappointments and the excitement that all of you have expressed on many threads in MT forums… I walk away knowing I’ve made some mistakes through this whole process but I feel so much better knowing it’s not that my D lacks the talent to be successful in this field but that it’s a whole picture not one thing is going to lead her to success. It’s how hard she tries, who she knows, where she goes and to never give up. I appreciate all that everyone writes on here because for those who have the experience I don’t or didn’t… has been a wealth of knowledge to those of us who are new at all this. So thank you everyone!!</p>
<p>A couple of years before a certain school hit it big, the above mentioned coach actually ushered her students into the audition room and stayed in there during the audition! I was waiting outside the room to do a walk in and decided the deck was stacked so I left. I do have friends who have used said coach and they do get into the programs she has close connections with all the time. Does it help having the right coach you bet!!!</p>
<p>The hiring of coaches is huge now in regard to musical theater and acting. You can join in the craziness of it all or not…kids do get accepted both ways for sure. Is it a leg up to have a coach? Not necessarily. The talent still has to be there whether you have a coach or not…but any contact and knowledge gained along the way is invaluable.</p>
<p>The expression “it’s who you know” does exist for a reason though. My daughter graduated CMU MT a couple of years ago and has had some wonderful successes since gradution and some difficult struggles. I am sure her life will always be like this. This is the lives our kids have chosen. This business is all about who you know and who you can lean on and call on and who likes you and will call you in for more opportunities. Getting into a college program is only the beginning of it all. Once out, that factor becomes into play even more so. </p>
<p>It is what it is…all part of the game. To complain about it doesn’t change it. All these schools have connections. They all work with people. I try to tell my daughter to not worry about the things she can’t control but to focus on the things she can. </p>
<p>Good luck to all of you auditioning this year. No matter where your child ends up just tell them to work hard and try to get everything they can out of every opportunity. The four years flies by and they will be navigating this crazy rat race on their own!</p>