<p>Quite a lot of us last year were wishing, in retrospect, that we hadn’t known when the calls/letters were going out, because you do find out anyway, eventually, and it’s a lot of stress. Especially that weekend when CMU calls its lucky acceptees. Anyway, all sympathy to the parents and kids waiting for a decision now. It is very, very hard. </p>
<p>I remember how painful that CMU thing was two years ago.</p>
<p>Those old CMU threads stressed me out when I was reading them a few months ago! Very painful.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone!
AAAAAAAAUUUGGGGGGGG!!</p>
<p>My son is a theater kid. We didn’t know anything about this whole audition process etc. until he started senior year and started thinking about college. As he did applications, we started to figure out that there was a centralized audition (unifieds) and some of the other requirements for applying to schools. We were at then last weekend in LA and he auditioned for several schools, we didn’t even know he could do “walk-ins”. </p>
<p>He is very hopeful given the response he got from CMU and a few of the other schools. I found this forum when I was up at 2 AM frantically searching for ANYTHING I could find about the audition and acceptance process. I am so stressed out! I was such a cool and collected go with the flow parent before all this started. Now I’m a mess. He’s currently in a play so has plenty to distract him. Me… I’m still going nuts. I don’t know how I’m going to wait till March. Did someone say something about accepted kids getting a phone call? </p>
<p>He really hit if off with the alumni helping with auditions and asked if he should look him up. I told him not to until after he got the results, but now am wondering if that was silly? </p>
<p>I am so glad I found this forum and see I’m not the only parent going crazy over this. 
</p>
<p>~Oct</p>
<p>Octaviar, it’s hard but you have to let it go. You may get an acceptance in February. you may go all the way through the end of March. We actually got our last decision, which was a wait list, which meant another five weeks of uncertainty, on April 7th. BTW, I know you were not happy about your CCPA audition, and let me tell you, I was extremely on-the-fence about that school up to and including the day I put the deposit down. However, my son has been so, so, so happy there, he receiving excellent training, and he is getting lots of opportunities as a result of being there. So don’t rule it out. Hang in there. It’s like the last month of being pregnant–it only SEEMS to last forever. </p>
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<p>Bardsmom, NCSA was closed yesterday and is closed again today because of the storm. Not sure if you’re local or not but you will want to confirm that auditions are still on this weekend before travelling. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up! </p>
<p>Thanks Jkellynh17. My son was so excited about CCPA, he LOVES Chicago and has dreams of being at second city. It’s reassuring to hear that others had a similar experience with them. I keep forgetting that at least 50% of each audition is the auditors… you know? It’s not all a reflection of my kiddo! They bring energy to the mix too.</p>
<p>I never would have guessed this would be so hard on me. I think part of it is feeling so ill prepared.
I just found out yesterday that my son hadn’t filled his fafsa and that because of the schools he’s applied too, we needed to do a whole other application that was much more involved. He’s in rehearsals from when school gets out till 8:30 and 9 right now for a show that opens next week so he just doesn’t have time to do all the footwork right now. I was up until after 2am getting it all done!<br>
He’s applied to CCPA, Northwestern, CMU, Emerson, PSU, and one I can’t remember atm. He also auditioned for a few including point park and pace at unified s. Pace encouraged him to apply… wondering if that’s standard or if we should cram that application in given his really high work load atm. </p>
<p>It is pretty out of character for me to be this stressed about something like this. I can’t believe I’m thinking of it EVERY single day… you would think I was the one applying!! Good grief. I think I need wine. </p>
<p>~Oct</p>
<p>Wine’s good. Happy Valentine’s Day! I know…every time I say “our audition”…I LOL! WHAT is with me? It feels we all have so much at stake! And it all comes down to…I just want S to have the choice between a few schools he really loves. Is that too much to ask?</p>
<p>Octaviar - I think I can safely say that what you are experiencing is completely normal Many of us on the Theatre/Drama and MT forums have become administrative assistants/sherpas to our children to keep this process on track. I felt a lull in the stress load after son finished his auditions, but am now back to maximum anxiety while he waits to hear if he has been accepted.
MsMommy - hoping son has choices has been my new mantra! We have winter break this upcoming week and I am seriously considering putting myself on an internet schedule so I don’t drive myself insane checking CC and e-mail for news. I spent a lot of time shoveling snow and raking the roof just to be out of the house yesterday.</p>
<p>I don’t want this coming out the wrong way–I don’t mean this judgmentally, but am I the only parent who is not an ‘administrative assistant’? </p>
<p>I read you all saying you check to see what’s due, what notifications there are, checking emails, etc–my son is the only one who has access to his own account. He has handled setting up appointments, applying, communicating with the colleges, and so on. I can’t check anything. </p>
<p>This means that every single time my S walks into the room or I come home from work or an errand, I scan his face for any news and I have to bite my tongue not to ask, “Any news?” He must feel like I felt when I was 9 months’ pregnant. My former MIL stayed with us to help with the baby. But the baby was late in coming. And every single time I walked downstairs or into a room, she would say, “So! Any news?” Like if I had any ‘news’ I’d conceal it from her! So I have to bite my tongue not to ask my S the same thing. I agree, entertainers mom–maximum anxiety. My S still has two auditions to go, but they aren’t for a few weeks. Btw, I spent all day yesterday trying to do my taxes, which didn’t exactly decrease my stress…</p>
<p>Octaviar, just PMed you. </p>
<p>@connections, although I agree with you on most points, I think that filling out a FAFSA is beyond the ability of most 17 and 18 year olds (other than that I concur, that kids need to handle their own communications.) My kids who are in college still count on me to do the financial forms, in part because they have zero access to their parents’ financial records. Before FAFSAs can be filled out, I need to do our taxes. I know literally hundreds of kids in this age group, between friends of my own children and my students, and very few that I’m aware of do their own financial documents. Those who do are the exception. </p>
<p>My oldest daughter, now 27, has been financially independent since she graduated college but she has repeated told me she would never have been able to get through the college app process at 17 if it were not for me behind her reminding her and helping with these forms. </p>
<p>In terms of setting up appointments- if there is a place to travel to, the parent generally needs to be involved in the planning. I’m not advocating babying kids, but this complicated process is still often a family project.</p>
<p>What bugs me (as a college teacher who is also a parent) is when kids remain overly dependent on parental help while still in college. I know there exceptions–kids who need extra support–but sometimes I feel that there are phantoms in the classroom, the moms and dads who have been vetting papers before I receive them. :D</p>
<p>Right now D3 is in the grad school process and I am trying not to drive her crazy with the “any news?” stuff, but it’s hard to contain myself. When she was a high school senior, living at home, I felt much more informed about what was going on. On the bright side, it’s less nerve-wracking when I hear only these occasional updates.</p>
<p>^^Oh, definitely. I do take care of all financial stuff. It is beyond my kids’ ability and besides, I don’t really want my kids to know my personal finances. I actually often help other young people whose parents are not involved in the FAFSA. (Many working class and lower income young people are on their own completely in the process, since their parents are equally at sea.) And I absolutely have to have him bring me into the loop for planning appointments, since, yes, I drive him. It’s just that I can’t access his accounts to hear whether he’s been accepted! It’s both good and bad… Like you, Glassharmonica, my kids are all different. My younger D got strangely passive about this whole college application thing and relied on me to help her with nearly everything (except the communications), then resented my ‘nagging.’ Sigh. There’s never an ideal balance. </p>
<p>connections - That did not come out wrong at all! That is why I used the word “many” and not “all” when I described what parents are doing in the process </p>
<p>Ok, phew! It’s always hard online because we can’t read each others’ body language or nuances. My S is my third child I’m doing this theatre audition circuit with, and my fourth child applying to college. You’d think I’d be old hat by now, but each child is unique and has his/her individual uncharted path; I’m on pins and needles for each one. </p>
<p>Third time doing the audition maze and you are still standing?! I think I probably should have put more of the responsibility for the process on my son’s shoulders, but my need to understand and maybe have some control led me to be the master planner. Son was in charge of all things artistic. I still haven’t seen his pre-screens!</p>
<p>entertainersmom, everyone has to do their journey in their own ways. As for me, I don’t know if I’m still standing… I feel pretty wobbly! The thing is, each of my children has had different goals. My D, who is at Northwestern, became more and more certain as the audition circuit went on that she wanted a BA rather than a BFA, so it’s a good thing she ended up at NU. My oldest was very certain at the time that he wanted a school in or around NYC. My S now wants a conservatory. So it’s been a different process for each child, which makes each time around a venture into unchartered territory. I do think it’s also like labor–you tend to repress how difficult it is until you go through it again. </p>
<p>@Dramamom0804 – seeing as how my daughter has missed I think 4 days so far this year because of snow days at UNCSA, you might want to rethink the warmish climate comment! Good luck to all those waiting hear from UNCSA. My daughter couldn’t be happier. </p>
<p>CMU call weekend was a brutal experience. My daughter had been the summer before at summer program and fel in love with the place. Had a very good audition inclulding the Barbara “call back” with good comments and was very hopeful notwithstanding the long odds. She ended up she realizes now in a place that is much better for her but don’t know she would have made that choice given the emotional attachment she had to CMU. Given differences in tuition, was a great result for me as well. </p>