Congratulations to your artist, @fatcatpr ! It’s a wild year.
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Hey! Does anyone have information on the technical programs at TCU and UCF?
@Schadret Has your son made a decision yet?
He just decided the other day - Rutgers.
Ball State was great - fabulous campus… very “cohesive” and the people were awesome, he just felt it was a little too much out in the middle of nowhere. Tough to explain to someone that hasn’t been to college that when you have a self-contained cohesive campus like that it doesn’t really matter much what the surrounding area is since you have everything there… but it’s his decision obviously 
So Rutgers MGSA, BFA with a concentration in Production - Technical Direction (pretty much the only school we saw that had technical director as a concentration).
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That’s wonderful! My D went the other way. She put DePaul on a hard no because she wanted nothing to do with living in a big city after visiting.
Congrats, @Schadret! And welcome to MGSA! (My daughter is there in Lighting Design.)
Congrats, @fatcatpr! Great choice!!
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Congratulations and welcome to the Pickle family!
YAAAAY! CONGRATULATIONS! I don’t know if you’ve followed all the streamed performances but the collaboration between the depts has produced incredible performances. 
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Post this here for future techies to see since there isn’t really a Technical Theatre Decision thread.
Hi all! I’m so excited to finally share my decision. I am a tech major instead of MT, but figured this was the best place to post.
Programs Applied to: **
University of Northern Colorado, Otterbein, Baldwin Wallace (B.A,), DePaul, Ithaca, LIU Post, SUNY Purchase, Catawba, Salem State (B.A), UNCSA
Prescreens: Not really sure how many truly pre-screened, but she had interviews with all the schools that had an interview process
Accepted to:
Otterbein, Baldwin Wallace, DePaul, Ithaca, LIU Post, SUNY Purchase, Catawba, Salem state, UNCSA
Withdrew:
LIU Post (the admissions process was so cumbersome and it seems like the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing)
Rejected from: None
Wait-listed at: *
University of Northern Colorado
Coach: None
Summer Programs: None
Background:
D’s school has a strong performing arts program. She started acting at 5 for t.v. and movies and moved to stage in 7th grade. She has Tourette’s syndrome and unfortunately it became really difficult to control on stage so she quit performing after 10th grade. As a freshman, she started taking tech class and fell in love. After deciding being a forensic pathologist wasn’t for her, she announced she wanted to be a techie for life. (I already knew this was coming and was so happy when she figured it out for herself). She worked four to five main shows a year at the school building sets, running crew, designing and learning all the other areas including drafting, and model creation, but stage craft is her passion.
In addition to theatre, she was varsity captain of the tennis team, captain of the dance team, and leader in her youth group that worked on leadership, speaking, service, etc. Because of her Tourette’s she was not an exceptional student but did okay (3.1 in all honors classes).
We had no idea what we were doing. New Mexico does not have any strong programs for technical theatre, so we hit the web and found the onStage top 20 list, so that’s where we started with a few criteria. 1. No huge schools 2. No urban schools (I have no idea how we ended up with Depaul on the list.
I have no idea what the dates were for the interviews, but I do know the order:
December:
Catawba - went really well. They had a couple of online classes and she came out saying, “I already knew everything”. Interviewers were great. Accepted with BIG scholarship/
UNOC - She hated the interview. Didn’t feel any connection with the professors. Very disappointed. Waitlisted.
January:
Depaul - Interview went really well. Clicked with the professors. Offered max scholarship -2k
Purchase - Really enjoyed the interview, but the professor admitted he could be difficult to work with. Did some research and yeah, that is the general concensus from everyone. Accepted in March but it was already off the table.
Ithaca - D hit it off with her interviewer. She came off with this at the top of her list. She was accepted in January, but I had told her we wouldn’t be able to afford it, but they came through with a VERY generous offer, so she was able to keep it in the running and she started envisioning herself in NY.
February
UNCSA - First part of the day was a tour, Q&A, and presentation by the dean. She was pulled out first for her interview and didn’t come out with a good feeling. She just didn’t feel she clicked and the interviewer was very dry and flat. She knew it was a great school, but just didn’t feel like a match. Accepted Beginning of March.
Otterbein - Got along great with all the professors online. Cliqued with them all. Accepted mid march with a decent scholarship
She received very good scholarships at almost all of the schools, but was having a hard time getting a feel for any of the programs. By the time the beginning of March rolled around, she had pretty much narrowed it down to Ithaca, DePaul, Otterbein and UNCSA (grudgingly), in that order. With things opening up every where except New York schools, we hit the air and visited UNCSA, Catawba (for comparison since we were in the neighborhood), DePaul and Otterbein. UNCSA floored her. Bill Volz (the “dry” interviewer) found out she was going to be on campus that morning and even though he was off, came in to give her the grand tour. She loved everything he had to say and the facilities are to die for. She felt she really clicked with him in person. Next was Depaul and even though she loved the program online, being in a Chicago was a big NOPE. Just not a city girl and it was COLD. Otterbein was a great environment fit and the people were just wonderful and made her feel like she was already one of the crew, but the program just didn’t compare to UNCSA. That left the unvisitable Ithaca. She had to go off of what was online.
When it came down to cost, the three public schools offered the least in scholarships and were the most expensive (hint: Don’t let the private school price tag scare you off. They have more money to give). After the visits, D had to do some soul searching as to what she really wanted from the school as each school had it’s own special gifts.
Decision: UNCSA BFA Design and Technology with a concentration in Scenic Technology
Knowing this is her path and she has no desire to explore any other major, the conservatory was the way to go. Combine that with the weather, location, facilities, numerous opportunities and connections, it was a no brainer. I’m glad I dug my heels in with this one. It was her long shot school and she was apprehensive, but she is over the moon now.
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Great story and outcome, @fatcatpr! UNCSA is an awesome program. Congratulations! 
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So happy for your Pickle (and you as a Pickle Parent!) and thank you for posting the l-o-n-g process for the theatre tech people.
Congratulations!
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If anyone is interested, a few people from the MT Parents group recently started a Theater Tech Parents group on FB. There are only a few of us so far, but we hope to grow it into a helpful resource for the Tech Theatre college application process.
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And welcome from me, too, proud parent of MGSA alum Dec 2019 (costume design)!
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@Loganator – would you msg me?
Here is my final decision information as well!
Programs Applied to: UNCSA, Carnegie Mellon, BU, Syracuse, DePaul, Illinois Wesleyan, TCU, Evansville, Webster, UCF, Florida Southern, Missouri State, UF, Nazareth, U Alabama, Ohio U, Millikin (BFA Theatre Design/Technology or BFA Scene Design if available)
Prescreens: UNCSA, Carnegie Mellon, BU, DePaul, TCU (all passed)
Accepted to: Syracuse, DePaul, Illinois Wesleyan, TCU, Evansville, UCF, UF, Nazareth, U Alabama, Ohio U, Millikin
Withdrew: Webster, Florida Southern, Missouri State (applied academically, decided not to artistically)
Rejected from: UNCSA, BU
Wait-listed at: Carnegie Mellon
Coach: No official coach, but I did have my technical theatre teachers (who all have professional experiences and also went through the BFA application process) assist me with my portfolio and interview skills.
Summer Programs: 2 summers volunteering with a local community college for their summer musicals. Accepted to DePaul’s 2020 summer theatre intensive, but decided not to attend after it was moved online.
Background:
I started taking theatre classes in 6th grade. They mostly revolved around theatre history and acting, but there was also some work with sets and props. I began performing in shows, as well as making some small props for them. I was able to do this 6th through 8th grade. At the end of 8th grade, I auditioned for the technical theatre department at my city’s arts high school and was accepted.
Attending the arts high school greatly improved my skills. I was able to take 4 arts classes each year, including things such as stagecraft, drawing, props, set and costume design, lighting technology, and CAD. My sophomore year, I earned a superior for a set design I took to a Thespians competition, and junior year, I won Critic’s Choice for the same category. I was also allowed to assistant design a total of three productions in school, as well as fully designing a show for a community theatre. I was also able to hold positions of deck crew head and student technical director.
I wanted lots of college options. I chose a mix of affordable state schools (unfortunately, my state doesn’t have any notable tech programs), private and out-of-state schools that were known for being generous with aid, and a few “reach” schools that I likely wouldn’t make it into or wouldn’t be able to afford.
The list came down to: UNCSA, Carnegie Mellon, BU, Syracuse, DePaul, Illinois Wesleyan, TCU, Evansville, Webster, UCF, Florida Southern, Missouri State, UF, Nazareth, U Alabama, Ohio U, Millikin
I applied EA to every school that offered it, then RD to others. I passed prescreens from each school that required it.
November 8th: UF Interview
First interview! I was honestly really unsure how it went and was pretty nervous. I made sure to take plenty of notes afterwards so I could improve my interviews going forward. Accepted November 16th.
November 20th: Nazareth Interview
I was a lot more confident this time, since I had created some notecards for myself. Those interviewing me were super friendly. Accepted February 5th (I was surprised how long the decision took!)
November 24th: Millikin Interview
The longest interview I had. It was almost an hour, so I was able to go into a lot of detail describing my portfolio. Interviewer said she would nominate me for a theatre scholarship! Accepted around 2 months later.
December 5th: IWU Interview
Pretty similar to my interview with Nazareth, around 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn’t really connect with the staff. Accepted January 28th.
December 6th: TCU Interview
My shortest interview, only 10 minutes! I was still able to highlight some of my favorite portfolio pieces, though. Despite the short interview, I felt I really connected to the interviewers. Accepted March 3rd, received notification of Chancellor’s Scholarship in Theatre (full tuition) on March 10th.
December 7th: UNCSA Interview
This one was an all-day event, 9am to 5pm. They started with a video tour and staff describing the program. By the time interviews started, I was exhausted! Despite this being my top school for a while, I really didn’t think the interview went well. I had a bad feeling from the moment the Zoom call ended. Rejected February 12th.
January 22nd: UA Interview
Went pretty well! I really liked the staff and was able to speak with some of them before the interview. Accepted on the spot.
January 23rd: DePaul Interview
Despite knowing how competitive the program was, I actually wasn’t too nervous about this one. My interviewer was very welcoming and said I would likely get a big scholarship offer. I had a good feeling about the interview. Accepted March 8th.
January 28th: CMU Interview
Super nervous about this one! My interviewers were very friendly and asked me detailed questions about 3-4 of my portfolio pieces. I felt good about the interview, but I was aware how slim my chances were. Waitlisted March 27th.
January 30th: Evansville Interview
One of my more average interviews, similar to Nazareth and IWU. Not sure of my exact date of acceptance (I received a letter in the mail), but it was about a month later.
February 1st: Otterbein Interview
I had a lot of fun with this one, but it was shorter than I expected. I was able to speak to some of the staff before and really liked the vibe of them and the school. Accepted on the spot.
February 6th: BU Interview
Another one I was nervous for. My interviewer was super nice, and told me that he’d recommend me for the BFA program, but the academic department still had to approve as well. I felt pretty good about it afterwards! Unfortunately, rejected March 27th.
February 13th: UCF Interview
Another one I felt average about. I had been able to talk to a lot of student beforehand to get a good feel for the program. Interviewers all seemed to like my work. Accepted March 5th.
Last Thoughts:
Despite my strong stats (3.93 UW GPA, 4.51 W GPA, 33 ACT, top 5% of class) and a lot of strong interviews, only 4 schools ended up being affordable. These were UF (Bright Futures scholarship), UA (Presidential Scholarship with theatre work-study), UCF (Bright Futures and Provost Scholarship), and TCU (Chancellor’s Scholarship).
I eliminated UF first, since I was told I would likely only get to design 1 show while being there (due to their strong graduate program). I then eliminated UA, due to the fact they also had a graduate program, and the location.
Between UCF and TCU, I thought that TCU had the stronger program. It was smaller in size with more opportunities to design, two factors that were very important to me when selecting schools. However, in the end, the cost of UCF would have been around 5k, while TCU would have been around 13k. After reviewing finances with my dad, we found it would be impossible for us to afford TCU (I come from a large family, so it’s been important to us to find the most affordable options possible). I emailed TCU to let them know about the situation, and was told that they would see if there were any additional scholarships they could offer me. A day later, I was told I received an extra scholarship that made it cheaper than UCF!
A week after, I was able to visit TCU with my dad. I really connected with the students and staff, and felt extremely welcome within the school. The facilities looked great and the student work I saw was very high in quality. The tour we took helped to make the decision final for us.
Final Decision: TCU for BFA Theatre Design and Technology!
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When you applied to UNCSA, did you do it as scenic technology or design?
I applied for scenic design.