Don’t mean to be Debbie Downer so soon into the process BUT
Does anyone have knowledge of what students do, and I know it must happen even to talented students, when he/she gets no offers from the several schools to which he’s applied? Or more likely, maybe the “safety” school that accepted him/her doesn’t sound that appealing after consideration?
Say that after Unifieds in Jan, the student gets the feeling she’s not doing well after her auditions thus far: Is it too late to apply to other places? Or she gets “no” from her choices by April? Does she take a gap? Go to CC for a year and reapply?
Is it too late to apply to a non audition BM or BFA program by then?
If anyone can speak to that, I would appreciate it. I see so many good schools but you can’t possibly apply to all of them. Yet, I haven’t seen a thread on Plan B.
Just my personal opinion on some of your questions…
In April, it would be too late to apply to any BFA programs, as well as a majority, but not all, BA schools. January may not be too late at some places though.
Safety schools…put a lot of thought into these…pick at least two so that there are OPTIONS if none of the audition schools come through. Find schools that appeal NOW for the safeties. Don’t just tack on safeties. I’ve had a couple students not get into their audition schools who landed at Muhlenberg, but had a few non-audition options and truly liked Muhlenberg a lot (note that Muhlenberg is not a safety for ALL applicants…depends on your academic profile). So, it wasn’t like things turned out poorly.
I think a gap year can be a good thing! And if the student reapplies the next year, the list should not be the very same college list again. I have a nephew who applied to college in another field of the arts and did not get into any of his schools. He took a very fruitful gap year. During that year, I came on board to help him through his college selection and admissions process. We created a brand new college list and he went about everything differently. He got into all of his schools but one that time. I would not enroll in community college during the gap year because many schools might make your child apply as a transfer student and not as a freshman applicant and that would make the odds much worse for BFA degree programs. The gap year can be used for many things, including additional training, work, travel, internships, etc.
Make sure your college list is appropriate to your artistic talents, and academic profile and well balanced in terms of odds. An evaluation by a theater coach familiar with those who apply to MT programs is worthwhile to see if your child is in the artistic ballpark of the schools on their list (which still means difficult odds but at least they are in the realm of consideration at such schools) and make sure they are in the ballpark academically to the schools on their list. The right list for an applicant can be key.
If your child has two safety schools that they truly like, they won’t be shut out of going to college next year, just saying.
Think positively for now. Cross the bridge later if necessary.
Our D got no offers from auditions. She choose to go the BA Theatre route at a public school that offers a BFA and lets you audition while in college. She takes largely the same classes (although there are some sections reserved for BFAs). Now also minoring in dance and has been able to take voice lessons (although BAs can only take lessons if there is availability after BFAs).
That’s what we looked for as a safety school - the opportunity to still get training even if not at the BFA level. Even if she doesn’t get accepted into the BFA program she is doing what she loves. Plus has a great merit scholarship, which helps a lot. But she applied to this school during the regular time (Oct/Nov, don’t remember). Might be tough to apply late and get in.
My daughter got offers from auditions but decided to go to her safety school which is an audition later BFA. I believe you can apply to this school as late as April or May.
There is one BFA program that I know of that has both a late March audition date and an August audition date for that fall… academically they are a rolling admit, which is why they can do some non-traditional audition dates. Oakland University in Michigan - it was on one of those “most underrated programs” lists. We live near this school, and have known many past and present students in the program (which is why I know about their late audition date). We often go to see their productions because we almost always know several of the cast. (and it’s both my husband and my alma mater - albeit for Engineering and English Lit). They also tend to pull auditioners from a primarily regional pool. Not a safety because it’s an audition program - but could be a plan B audition school because of their late audition dates.
It is definitely not too late to add schools to an audition list in January or even later. Many programs have March audition dates and they may have still have audition slots open in January and academic application deadlines that are relatively late in the spring.
There are some MT programs with auditions through April at schools with very late academic application dates (some schools take accept academic applications in August and September!). Here are some with late audition dates and late application deadlines from last year:
U Memphis March 28 + Video
Northern Kentucky - April 4
UAB - April 11
Sam Houston State - April 17
Western Carolina - April 18
You may be able to squeeze one in at Nebraska Wesleyan before the end of March.
Other schools that may accept late video auditions:
Lindenwood
Santa Fe U Art & Design
U South Dakota
Central Washington
U Tampa
There are no doubt others. Searching through getaccetpd.com is a great way to find schools that you may not have known about.
A gap year can work well, but you do fall “behind” one year in an industry where the primary years for artistic employment are very young.
Fairly late in the game last audition season (Jan-Feb 2015) we were able to add these schools:
Western Illinois University
Western Carolina
Northern Kentucky
Rockford University
Nebraska Wesleyan
D and I had talked about what would happen if she wasn’t accepted to a BFA program - we mulled over taking a gap year, but I think in the end we would’ve really dug deeper into her many academic acceptances, weighed the straight Theatre Studies options and financials and tried to figure out which option would’ve given her the most chances to take BFA-like classes, voice lessons AND given her the most performance opportunities.
Though her end goal was a BFA MT acceptance, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
You probably won’t know the results of many auditions by January/February, and really can’t go by how the auditions felt to your child. There are many anecdotes of a child getting accepted to a program when she felt it was her worst audition. You also can’t make a statement that since 4 of 12 schools (for example) have responded by January and all are no, your child’s chances are low. It could be that the next 6 schools are a yes. The wisest thing to do is apply to one or two safety schools, and some schools that aren’t the most selective audition schools, along with your more desired schools. Don’t wait until January! You will always second guess your list. I still do, and my daughter is a Junior in a MT BFA program.
I have a lot of actors in my life and the most successful of these people (and we are talking highly successful by any standard) doesn’t really believe in going to school for acting. He feels that kids should major in English or History or Psychology - read the great books, learn about the world and about people. Certainly take theater classes, but keep yourself grounded and learning about everything. So, my daughter’s backup is to do just that - study something else, but keep a connection to acting by minoring at one of her safeties with a BA program. Certainly she’d be heartbroken to not do a BFA because it’s really what she loves, but she also knows that one can be a very successful actor without a BFA.
My D was one who got a string of 4 rejections (starting with a fall audition school) before she got her 1st yes (and then got several more acceptances) Don’t assume the 1st news is the “only” news.
KaMaMom above was probably this forum’s best warrior ever when it came to picking the situation up by the bootstraps and re-adjusting while maintaining a sense of humor. I encourage you to search on her posts last year. They are inspiring.
But know that all of this potential and actual disappointment is great practice for what is to come which will feel as dramatic but will be about nonsense though so real in the moment like, “I didn’t get cast in the show and everyone else in my grade did” or, "3 out of 4 of my quad-mates want to live together and I’m the odd guy/gal out so I apparently have no friends blah blah and blah once again.
And then… magically the next year your kid will have the lead. And the roommate that they ended up with when they were rejected by the freshman quad friends will be the best man/woman at their wedding. And the show they were not cast in freed them up to do a student film which won awards and it becomes the next big thing at the Indie festival.
Kumbayah. The audition year is only the beginning of the random bunch of whatevers that are to follow.
@halflokum … you guys are too sweet. :x I love all nice things some of you say about little ol’ moi - but the real credit goes to all of you parents. So many of you were so great to me but publicly here on the boards and in private messages as well. I did nothing any one of you guys wouldn’t do for your kids … I just had the fortune (misfortune?) of having a couple of crazy stories.
I mean seriously, who breaks their foot DURING a dance audition? =))
I truly appreciate all your responses! One would think with my own ( shortlived) background in show business that I would be more detached. But that was a long time ago. Things change so thanks for the reinforcement!
I agree that KaMaMom is an inspiration! I was biting my nails last year reading her threads and praying for a happy ending! She is amazing!
We live in Brooklyn, and my daughter’s safety/Plan B will probably be Brooklyn College. It’s a CUNY (City University of New York) school, which means that NYC residents get SUPER-cheap tuition (only $6,500 a year!). It has a well-regarded BFA Acting program, but it draws applicants primarily from NYC, so not as competitive as national programs. So if she doesn’t get into her other choices, she figures she’d probably get into that one. And absolute WORST case scenario, if she doesn’t get into ANY Acting or MT programs including the one at Brooklyn College, then she’ll just go to Brooklyn College and major in something else, just to get a college degree at a dirt-cheap price, and put the savings toward lots of training AFTER college.
Going to a major city and studying outside of a school is always an option. A student could go to Queens College in NYC, major in business or marketing, take voice lessons from a world-class teacher, dance lessons at the Broadway Dance Center, and acting classes with one of the many excellent schools in NYC.
actorparent and any other parents/students considering the CUNYs please look into the Macaulay Honors College. It is an amazing opportunity! http://www.macaulay.cuny.edu/
Someone asked about OOS and grades in a private message but I cant figure out how to respond pm so I’ll put it here.
Re: Grades - It is possible to be admitted with a B if SAT scores are strong and they also look at other factors such as leadership and community service. I think 1600 was the cutoff for the SAT. If you call admissions they can advise. (212) 729-2929
Re; OOS tuition - (pasted below from the site)
The tuition cost for an out-of-state or international student is approximately $16,050 per year if taking 15 credits per semester at $535 per credit. This is substantially less than most public and private institutions across the country.
Out-of-state or international students who apply and are admitted to Macaulay Honors College receive a free laptop (MacBook Air) and technology support, and the Opportunities Fund to pursue global learning (study abroad), research, internships and service opportunities. Students also receive a Cultural Passport that provides them with access to museums, libraries, and other treasures around New York City. Macaulay offers ALL students a unique array of learning opportunities within an immersive and personalized academic environment, that position our students, and our graduates, for continued success.