@Collegegame2018 if you’re talking about Texas State I have heard there is a difference.
For anyone considering Temple University, here’s a new article with some general info and a Q&A with the wonderful Maggie Anderson
@AnxiousNovice – Congratulations!!! I’ve been quietly cheering you on for days!! So happy for a YES! Such great comments about SCAD. Congratulations!!
Has anyone who had auditions at SETC heard anything back yet? I’ve been accepted to LIU Post but awaiting program acceptance. Anyone who was accepted to the school before the program, did your MyLiu portal show a lack of a program advisor, academic program, etc.? Anything to say about that?
I just saw this on Facebook (on the College Audition page) and thought it was timely for so many of you and your kids. My daughter is getting ready to graduate with a BFA in MT in December and she is at a small private college. Trust me, this is great advice:
"Yesterday, the Carnegie Mellon Musical Theatre decisions came out. University of Michigan came out last week. This week and next week several more decisions from the “big” schools will be coming out until a few weeks from now, when all of my students will know the outcome of over a year of preparation and work. Needless to say there are some very happy faces, but also some very sad faces.
While it may not seem like there are any words to make them feel better, I want them to take these thoughts and sit with them for a while.
*MOST people that have had successful careers on Broadway did not go to Carnegie Mellon.
*MOST people that have won Tony awards did not go to University of Michigan.
*MOST people that we hear on Original Broadway Cast Recordings did not go to Baldwin Wallace.
*Most people who are now working on National Tours did not go to CCM.
The name on the building has much less to do with your success than what YOU do when you’re in that building. Your path is carved out by YOU, not the name on your diploma.
Having a famous Alumnus like Kristin Chenoweth put OKCU on the map for Musical Theatre. Wherever you go, you should strive to be your school’s Kristin Chenoweth, because you CAN!"
Good luck with all the final decisions folks and enjoy the next few years-trust me they fly by!
Does anyone have any info on the BA Theatre / MT program at San Diego State University?
@bddub24 my D auditioned at SETC and received acceptance into the MT program from LIU via email this afternoon. It also said she would be receiving an official letter in the mail. She did not apply academically first so I don’t have any information regarding the portal.
Why would someone tell your child they are a perfect fit, please come visit our school after an audition only to ultimately say no thanks. Ridiculous. I’m so glad we didn’t take their advise and spend thousands of dollars to visit before acceptances were released. Positive comments are nice and we’ve learned to not read into them, but please, don’t say those things!! Take notes from CMU. Very complimentary, but didn’t lead my d to believe she would get an offer. Wow. Hard lesson learned. Vent over.
@24mtjourney re post 2170 & 2172, the list @vvnstar and I were referring to was this years…
my rant was of course tongue in cheek as mist people do in fact consider OCU as a top tier program for many reasons including those noted by VVNSTAR… was kinda mocking the ridiculousness of those lists… but appreciate the lists you did post 
I reached out to a CAP21 student who I have worked with (she is class of '22) on her insights about the program (including who it might be a good fit for and the training they get) and she responded. I am happy to pass that on to anyone - just message me. She is also willing to answer any questions, as well.
@Looney2020 - following about SDSU. D applied there too.
This deserves a ???.. and there’s no button for that. So here you go !! Love it. Thanks for sharing.
Lurker Class of 2024 Instrumental Mom here with a niece going into MT next year… so I lurk here occasionally ?She’s been watching her cousin go through the audition process for Clarinet Performance over the last few months and I told her MT has a whole new level of stress that my son didn’t experience. He got into all 7 music schools he auditioned for. He made it look easy to her and I’m trying to convince her that for MT… it just isn’t that easy (not that it was for him either - ‘SUPER stressed’ was his normal answer for how he’s doing, but to her and his record, it looked easy). Anyhoo… thanks for sharing your stories for those who are coming up next year and their lurker Aunts ? Cheering you all on as we are DONE… with a capital D. Cancelled all the rest of his auditions which was the plan all along and how they were scheduled. If he heard from his top two choices which were scheduled in the middle group of auditions before completing the circuit, we would cancel the rest. Worked out a little too well and I’m regretting that Temple Boyer’s School of Music was in the later grouping cause he cancelled that. They sent an email yesterday to see if he wanted to send a video audition despite them being 45 mins away. He doesn’t even want to do that (he generally hates video auditions and had his Momma driving everywhere for live). He’s mentally done and has moved on to new adventures in jazz, with his saxophone, which got NO play during the audition process, and living the stress free enjoying his senior year life. So happy to have my happy chill kid back.
I am convinced that our kids will end up exactly where they need to be. Break a Leg MT folks. Instrumental Momma cheering you all on.
By the way, regarding notes from adjudicators, one of the kid’s acceptance letters came with those specific. “Dr. Z, who hear the sight-singing/ear training portion, wrote that you”…have a great ear" H recommended that you practice solfege and gain more experience singing. (YES, for an instrumental major!) Professor B who hear your performance portion wrote… “He has a ton of potential.” … and so the letter went on for the 4 parts of his audition, including notes from the interview. Said all that to say that there ARE some places that WILL send notes about the audition, on paper. Now this WAS from a small LAC which used to be a conservatory, so I guess that made a difference. Anyhooo…
Thanks for this thread which will help the future. I applaud you… this definitely is NOT for the faint of heart ! Passing that on to my niece today ?
@binggosings — that is terrible to hear. I am so sorry for your experience! I can’t speak for BFA programs, but for years I have had semiannual interaction with administrators and professors at many top universities. (Different field), and I’ve noticed a seismic shift in who and how they service. As the balance of supply and demand continues to shift in their favor (for highly competitive programs such as law, medicine, business, and MT/Acting), schools are changing who they perceive to be their customers.
At most non-elite schools (defined in any way you see fit, but those with low acceptance rates), students are still seen as the customers. They are marketed to, with the understanding and knowledge it is the student that pays the school, and has customer “rights” in demanding product and service quality in the transaction. However, at the “elite” schools, it’s like the employers, media, and donors are the customers, and the students are a means to an end for the school to retain its elite status. Since these programs are seen as formal professional training (rather than just liberal arts education), the schools justify it as such (i.e. “for MT students, this is how the audition process works in the real world, so they should just get used to it.”)
Unfortunately, this is one of the rules of supply side economics. The more customers you have, and the more loyal they are, the worse you can treat them and get away with it. I think many of the BFA programs fall into this, demanding that their potential customers make all the sacrifices, in the hope that they get to buy something. So whether it’s our own parents standing in line for the new Cabbage Patch doll, or us putting a non refundable deposit down for a chance to buy the new Tesla in 5 years, or our kids applying to a top BFA MT program, as long as demand heavily outweighs supply, this dynamic probably won’t change.
About auditors gushing over you but then not accepting you:
Here’s my opinion. The gushing is real and sincere. They wouldn’t bother gushing if they didn’t mean it. They DO love what you did in the room and think you’d be a great fit.
But then it comes time to choose the 12 or 20 or 50 applicants to offer acceptance to…and they realize that far more than that number were amazing and that they LOVED and would be perfect fits. They physically CAN’T accept all of them, even though they loved them all. They HAVE to reject most of them. On top of that, they have to have a balanced and diverse class…so if the finalists include 10 tall, willowy white sopranos, they can only accept 1 or 2, even though all 10 were AMAZING and would be great fits for the program.
A year or two ago, someone here posted a quote from a theater head at one of the big prestigious programs (I don’t remember which one). He said the theater department sat down with the pile of “potential” acceptances - the ones they liked best from each audition session. It was time to pick the 12 they would offer acceptance to, and another 10 waitlist (I don’t remember the exact number, but in that ballpark). After THREE HOURS of discussion and narrowing down, they had only gotten it down to 50! That’s 50 amazing, super-talented kids that they LOVED…but they still had to reject over half of that pile.
So just accept the compliments as sincere and enjoy the validation of knowing they liked you, but DON’T assume that means you’ll be accepted.
@onette I’d love the CAP21 insights!
Is anyone here a student/parent of a student at Marymount Manhattan?
And as for inviting you to visit. This is an investment for them. Four years invested in each student. With the same teachers and facilities and methods and process. No school operates the same as another. They need to make sure you are a good fit for them and this is where you want to be. But it is an investment for you as well. I know students who have seen what is there at a school and just know that it is NOT the right place for them. And that’s okay. Both the school and the student need to ensure it is a good fit before commitment. This really is like a marriage and don’t you want to make sure it’s a good fit first, also? I know that was the biggest mistake I made 40 years ago — NOT visiting. My parents didn’t feel it was necessary. School was well-known and I was accepted. I always tell everyone I know (MT or not) to please go see the school, meet the teachers and the students and see if this can really be your home for four years. Preferably not on a special event day.
@NeensMom , maybe try PMing some of the parents who posted here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/marymount-manhattan-college-mt/
(You may have done that already- just trying to be helpful!)
So, I starting out posting here when things were much happier or at least filled with hope. As I continued to read the posts about S’s and D’s struggling to find their future home I am reticent to share our D’s successes. We have been blessed by a couple of elite MT yes’. Frankly we are in shock. Humbly grateful and quietly overjoyed. Praying for this to shake out positively for all.
So why does a college have to update the scholarship / financial info on the portal on the same day as the decisions are expected but BEFORE the decisions???