<p>My daughter is a rising Senior and we are just getting started. Here is the list of colleges that she would like to apply/audition for. She would like to be a BFA MT major, but would also consider a BA in acting. Her unweighted GPA is 96.3, weighted GPA 101.4. She got a 29 on the ACT. She is in all honors and AP classes. Does this look like a good mix? Any comments would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Penn State
Univ. of Michigan
CCM
Emerson
Syracuse
Elon
Florida State University
Northwestern
Carnegie Mellon
Oklahoma City University
James Madison University
American University
Muhlenberg
Wright State
Hartt
Point Park
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Fredonia
SUNY Cortland</p>
<p>It’s a great list but you will need to pair it down. Seems like too many auditions. I don’t think she needs to do all those SUNY schools. Maybe just Buffalo? Definitely apply to James Madison EA then your D can find out sooner if she gets in for MT. Those kids usually find out about 2 weeks before RD kids. Good luck to your D!!!</p>
<p>I agree that it’s a a great, but long list. What is the reasoning behind each school? (Everyone’s list is going to be different, based on their needs/interests, etc.) Also, do you have a true safety in the mix? (I don’t know about the SUNYs, but many of the others are audition-only, and take only a small percentage of the highly qualified applicants who audition.) Too, although Muhlenberg and Northwestern are (correct me if I’m wrong, or things have changed!!!) nonaudition for admittance, they are pretty competitive academically, and again have more applicants than the school has spaces. Do finances come into play at all? A financial safety can be a good thing, too.</p>
<p>As you’re making up the list, have your kiddo sit down and design the “perfect” MT major for her…then look at the schools you’re considering, and figure out how close it comes (or if some of her “perfect” points become negotiable). For my d, she wanted a BFA in a strong academic university, honors program (academics), strong dance program with the opportunity to minor in dance if she wanted, performing opportunities, voice lessons w/faculty from day one, opportunities for scholarships. Also think about the school as a whole (have you/will you have the opportunity to visit any of these schools?) Not only will your kiddo be doing their wonderful demanding MT program there, she will also be living in the dorms (decent?) schlepping to class (weather?) hanging out w/kids outside of MT (is Greek life…or not…important) and navigating the school as a whole (accessible to students?). Does distance from home come into play? (i.e. will she be able to come home during breaks, no problem, or would this become complicated?) There is such a variety on your list – UMich and Penn State are HUGE campuses, Elon a small school in a small community. </p>
<p>As you’re thinking about the list, consider the logistics of auditioning during senior year, too – will your kiddo travel to each of the schools to audition, do a mix of Unifieds and in-person auditions? </p>
<p>This is a great time of year (summer) to do LOTS of research as you build the list (and I have a feeling this is version 1…d’s changed a lot over the course of her senior year!). It’s also a good time to get a handle on what the schools require as far as applications/auditions, see if they have their audition dates listed, and look into doing the apps for academic admittance as soon as they go “live” – it becomes quite a logistics piece, and managing the audition dates and schedule is easier if you come earlier to the process (also less stressful). Have your d try to connect w/current students at her prospective schools (Facebook?), make sure her audition material is together…and you’ll be ready to be informed and hit the ground running as soon as auditions start! (My d’s first audition last fall was Point Park’s…and it was the end of October…they hold more auditions throughout the year…but it gets crowded.) Enjoy the journey…you’ve got an exciting year ahead! Would love to hear your tales from the road!</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. I agree that it is a long list, but realistically how many schools do MT majors audition for? Knowing how difficult it is to get in, I thought around 20 schools was appropriate, but what do I know? Maybe that is too much. She will be doing the Unifieds in NY in February and I believe that 6 of the schools on her list will be there. I think that she would prefer a smaller, country campus, but honestly does not have her heart set on any one school. When people ask her what college she wants to go to she tells them whichever one wants me. Finances are a concern. We are NY State residents, so the SUNY schools would be affordable. We are hoping for some scholarship money. We just started our research and have so much to learn. Any input is appreciated.</p>
<p>nymom - I love her “whichever one wants me attitude”! Hopefully more than one will accept her so that she will have options come April. Just like mommafrog’s D, my D’s original list of schools changed as she got into the process.</p>
<p>One thing she may want to do is go online and look at the curriculum for each school on her list. One way my D narrowed down her choices was by digging into the curriculum and thinking about what her day-to-day life at each school would be like.</p>
<p>Concerning audition logistics, Elon does on campus auditions only. If you are going to make the trip to Elon, your D may want to explore some of the nearby schools in North and South Carolina. There may be other options that she likes and, if the audition dates align, she may be able to add one or two more auditions while you are in that part of the country. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your D (and to you) as you begin this journey! It was a roller coaster ride for my D and me but the end result was so worth it.</p>
<p>In addition, making it to Western Carolina or Eastern Carolina might be do-able as well as they’re both in NC. Up and coming programs that might be worth researching in the area.</p>
<p>I agree that your list is strong but it does seem a bit overwhelming. But it’s a great place to start! I would find one or two extremely specific things that your D REQUIRES in a school and use that to narrow down the list a bit. You can always add more as the year progresses, you learn about other schools, and your opinions change. But, as tremendous as your D’s positive attitude and your brave commitment to this are, pinpointing something you REALLY want/need in a school will help you out in the long run.</p>
<p>Your list is a great place to start as the “long list” of schools to investigate for purposes of coming up with your “short list” to which to apply. With a properly constructed list of diverse schools, well matched to your daughter’s needs and desires, any of which your daughter would be happy to attend, there is no real reason to have a list of more than 8-10 schools. This should include 2 non-audition schools one of which should be an academic safety. See this thread for a lot of discussion about how to construct a list of schools and about the application/audition process. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/477658-preparing-apply-information-h-s-juniors-seniors.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/477658-preparing-apply-information-h-s-juniors-seniors.html</a> Take the time to scour the school and theatre department websites gathering preliminary info that will help you understand the structure of the program and the department, the curriculum and life at the school to assist in narrowing down your list. Keep in mind that your daughter will be attending to all of her normal senior year high school responsibilities and activities in addition to the application process. A list as long as as yours will add tremendously to the time demands and stress without increasing the odds of acceptances over a shorter more focused list.</p>
<p>I agree with most of what has been posted. I wanted to add to please be aware that the Florida schools and the SUNY schools have (and continue having) massive cuts in funding. The SUNY system has been cut a full third of its operating budget in the last three years. This is affecting the quality of what can be offered and should be checked thoroughly. I did have an opportunity, in the last month, to speak to some Fredonia faculty about the massive cuts. At Fredonia, they have been spared the axe in MT - this is because, at Fredonia, the performing arts is where they “hang their hat” and, as such, the admin protects those departments - not so at other SUNY schools. I am not saying automatically take these public schools off your list - only offering some harsh financial reality which you should be aware of and ask hard questions about. Good luck with your upcoming adventures.</p>
<p>Sorry to disagree with one poster, but since white females are the largest group auditioning (sorry to make any assumptions) but I would definitely do at least 12 auditions. My daughter did 14 auditions and only got one acceptance. Luckily, she was happy with her one acceptance, but you really must consider how daunting this adventure can be…</p>
<p>Oh, and to make a suggestion…go out and buy a copy of I Got In! by Ms. Dennard. My daughter used her book often as a reference for her senior year…she made it a new custom at the theatre banquet at her high school to hand it down to a rising senior for their next adventure into college audtitions. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>My daughter is a “white female” and a soprano to boot. The topic of “how many schools” has been discussed quite a bit on this forum. There are many who have gone through the process with success who have the same take on it as I. In my opinion and experience, with careful research and planning, you in fact can construct a list of 8-10 excellent schools whose characteristics and qualities meet a student’s needs and desires, any one of which the student would be delighted to attend, and which in the aggregate provide a strong likelihood of an acceptance. All you need is 1 acceptance. Piling up the number of schools on the list does not increase your chances of an acceptance. It just increases stress and expense as you try to schedule and prepare for all the auditions. My daughter applied to 6 schools, 5 audition BFA and 1 non-audition BA. She was accepted at 2 excellent BFA schools with national audition pools and at the BA. Her acceptance percentage wasn’t because she was any more a “superstar” than anyone else’s “white soprano daughter”. It was because we spent her sophomore and junior years involved in very focused and structured preparation for the college process including training, school visits, investigation of what the schools were looking for in students, what my daughter was looking for in a school and what my daughter needed to do to make herself a competitive match for the schools on her list. In this regard, it is important to keep in mind that constructing the final application list is as much, if not more, a process of the student matching the school’s criteria as it is the school matching the student’s desires. </p>
<p>As an example of what we did in the research process, we visited each BFA program and met with department heads asking a ton of questions about the audition process, what the criteria were, how they were scored, what types of scores were needed to have a successful audition and what was looked for to get those scores. We asked about songs, monologs, dance routines. We asked about the curriculum, the focus of the acting, dance and vocal components, the pedagogy, all to get an in depth understanding of the school. We identified areas of strengths and weaknesses in my daughter’s existing skills and training and what she could do to better tailor her training based on the info we received from the schools. It was an exhaustive, analytical and time consuming process. This doesn’t even include issues of diversity in terms of program size, regional vs national pools, academic requirements or acceptance rates. While in retrospect I think we played the odds a bit too close by having only 6 schools on our list, the process worked. In contrast, if someone has 14 schools on their list and only gets 1 acceptance, would the odds of acceptance increase if 7 more schools were added whose profiles were closer to the other 13 or would the “success rate” be greater with a list of 10 schools whose profiles were closer to the 1? While good fortune certainly plays a role in any subjective audition process, increasing the number of schools simply to have a larger list does not increase the odds of success.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for all of your input. That is the reason why I love these boards - so many different opinions and suggestions. I am sure that we will be pairing down her list and all of your input is greatly appreciated. Yes, she is a white female so we know that the odds are stacked against her and the competition will be fierce. We just started this process and already have some great input. I’ve learned alot just from this one post. Thank you and keep the feedback coming!!</p>
<p>This is such a personal process. My D’s list changed after the initial fall auditions she did. She added a couple of schools that she felt would be a better fit for her than the schools she had on her initial list. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy with the fall acceptances - she was - but with those acceptances actually in hand she realized that perhaps she wasn’t looking for what she thought she was looking for. Interestingly enough, the 2 schools she added to her list ended up being her top 2 once all of the acceptances came in. She is happily attending one of those. So the one thing I would add is be flexible and open.</p>
<p>As an aside, I know TexBlondie personally. Her D is a very smart, talented young woman. She had what I would consider a nice, balanced list and I was surprised when the audition season was over that she only received one acceptance to an auditioned program. As she noted, it is a program that her D is excited about and I am sure she will grow and thrive there. But it is what it is and I am glad she shared her story.</p>
<p>Just another suggestion. Look at Ithaca’s program as well. Not sure if it’s the right fit or not but you may be able to piggy back your D’s auditions on the same weekend. My D did SU on a Friday and Ithaca on the Saturday. They are very close in proximity. Just an idea!</p>
<p>Yes, it is a very personal process; everyone’s got to figure out what they are comfortable with and what will work for them. And the most important thing is that TexBlondie’s daughter got into a school that she is happy with. That’s great, that’s the end result that I think everyone on this Board is rooting for for each other.</p>
<p>But here’s what has me concerned and what motivated my post. As I’ve observed this Board over the last few years, there’s been an ever increasing level of anxiety and stress that seems to permeate so many posts during each audition season. It manifests in the ever increasing number of schools on application lists, in the fixation with the newly developing MT admissions services industry, to the feelings of panic and despair that many students and parents feel during the roller coaster of the application process as reflected by the rejection threads. It’s almost like MT programs have become the new “Ivies” in the frenzied neurosis of pursuing acceptances often associated with the latter. </p>
<p>So when I see someone like the OP state that a student has a list of 20 schools to which to apply or someone tells a personal anecdote suggesting that unless you apply to a huge number of schools you are courting a bad outcome, I feel compelled to shout “wait, it doesn’t have to be that way, there are viable options, and here’s why”. This process is so damn stressful for students and parents as it is. It’s in large measure subjective and the subjectivity of it can feel judgmental about things that go to the core of how our kids identify and feel about themselves. It’s important to take a step back and make sure that in those areas where stress can be reduced that you do so. Planning out the list of schools and the number of auditions is one of the few areas where you have full control.</p>
<p>I guess it could be worse, “Last Choir Standing” and “Musicality” from the UK might have made it across the pond (AI for show choirs, AI for musical theater).</p>