The Class of 2024 -- Sharing, venting, discussing! MT

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1961

@LinnyLou As others have mentioned, my heart goes out to your D whose options are winnowing. That’s very tough. It has happened to many others and a gap year has been beneficial to them. I have a nephew who was seeking a different type of performing arts admissions program (not MT) that involved auditions, and they just didn’t adequately know what they were doing, and he received all rejections. He was fine in the end. He took a gap year, got an internship in his field, a job, and got new/more training, and I helped him with his college selection and application process (I’m a college counselor). We went about it entirely differently with a new college list and so on and he got accepted to almost every school he applied to.

Your D could benefit as well from a gap year…get an assessment of her skill set, create a new college list, more training, and so on. I will add, as someone else has already, that she may want to add BA programs to her college list. A BFA is not the only path to pursuing a career in theater. There are some very good non-audition college theater/MT programs and some BA by audition programs as well. Ideally, such schools should have been on your D’s list this time around, as BFA schools are ALL “reach” odds, with no fall back options. Something will work out either this year or next for your D.

1962

Thank you all for your kind words. I know this group understands like no other outside of this process.

D thinks UT Arlington is still an option as they said verbally Yes at NTDA. That was months ago and I believe things have changed but we will find out over the next week or so.

D is a twin so I’ve seen what it is like with my other D who is going the traditional route of apply to a couple of schools, get accepted, commit, sign up for housing/orientation/camps, pick roommate etc. It has been so much more positive and moving forward. I wish my other D had that.

1963

@soozievt That is exactly what I’m thinking as well. A gap year is maybe what would be the best for her to get grounded. I’ve been pushing BA Theater the whole time and she wouldn’t even talk about it. I printed off classes for BFA vs BA and showed her many of the same classes. Won’t look at it. Clearly this is emotional for her (and me).

1964

@LinnyLou, big hugs to you and your daughter! This process is brutal! @AnxiousMom is going through this too - look back at her posts, because people made a lot of suggestions to her of programs that have late auditions that she could still apply to!

1965

@Linnylou - I would definitely consider a gap year - work with a coaching group and broaden the list - she is still in the game with those two schools but perhaps she starts to entertain a gap year it will take the pressure off all of you. My D has two friends that have been extremely successful with a gap year this year - people learn from their mistakes, pick a better list of schools and go in with more confidence because they have been through the process and know what to expect. I haven’t heard that any schools hold it against them - both friends a boy and girl both have gotten into top schools already with more acceptances to come - this is a very solid path and I think she will be happier if she embraced it now - good luck to her and fingers crossed of one the two options left comes through.

1966

@LinnyLou fingers crossed for University of Texas @ Arlington. Big bonus about this program is the thriving and large theater districts in the DFW area. Not only will your child be able to do school productions but dozens of community theatre production going on year round at amazing theaters. KD Studios has a Programs as well that’s two year I believe and lots of success from participants of that program. Incredible Michael Serrechia is Department Head and an incredible director In the area. His Broadway career & shows in DFW are very impressive.
https://kdstudio.com/degree-programs/musical-theatre/

1967

Information for all KD Studio program in Dallas appeals to those wanting to get going faster professionally. Similar to way Cap 21 program was before they partnered with Malloy.

1968

My D had a practical response to the gap year. She said, “No, I’d rather just do a 2 year Conservatory and get to work…or get a BA and then do an MFA later. It would just be a year longer than taking a gap year, and you’d have a graduate degree.” Hard to argue with that POV

1969

@LinnyLou My goodness you are so open and honest. Thanks to everyone else who has posted support to which I’ll add mine.

It also is really hard to be a teenager in these times on top of all of the stress generated by this god forsaken process.

From your description it seems like your D feels isolated and is behaving erratically/irrationally. In addition to everything else, it seems like she needs to find someone she can talk to about this. We are in N Dallas/Plano and can PM you some suggestions (you mentioned NTDA). I’m so sorry for your D’s troubles.

1970

Yes, she is shouldering all this largely on her own. I’m encouraged from the advice here and know it will work out for her in one way or another. I’ve tried to get her to talk to someone but she is relying on friends which has good and bad points. Everyone has a different experience and set of circumstances. The other parents in our group are getting frustrated too at how long and late the process is taking.

1971

@LinnyLou nothing I can add that hasnt already been said. this process is brutal…as much as talent this whole year depends on superior planning, IMHO…which one can only accomplish by reading all these threads and learning from everyone elses mistakes, no real guide on how to do this.

like you said re the twin…MY MT D is a twin as well & currently has 3 acceptances out of 20+ auditions waiting on 8 more…conversely her twin sister applied to 6 schools for pre-vet and has been accepted to all, deposited/committed already so I get the added " pressure" & lack of joy that makes it hard for the others in the house to celebrate bc of how your MT kid is feeling…like others mentioned about a gap year…I encourage reading the 2 years of @owensfolks as it shows how great a gap year can turn out…then again many people have had only 1 yes and it was their last hope, we know a kid at ELon currently that didnt get in anywhere else ( last year Elon was his last one waiting on and it was a yes)…anyway. fingers crossed for you guys…hoping for mental health more than anything else as this process crushes even the strongest of Wills.

1972

Crickets on Indiana from 2/8 audition

1973

University of Hartt emailed us around a week ago saying they will accept video submissions and it was after their posted deadline.

1974

@LinnyLou Call and see if you can set up a visit with Dr Healy! We met her at the CAP audition at Waxahachie in August and she was engaging and positive and fun! She talked a lot about trying to grow this program. She brings in guest artists and instructors like Andrew Lippa — she is trying to attract students who are passionate about creating theatre. I noticed one of the local Jimmy Award attendees (DSM HS Musical awards?) chose UTA from many other choices. I actually almost went to their current show which closed today to check out what they are doing. Another to look at is West Texas A & M. One of my students who was a lead in Hairspray and also nominated for the DSM HS musical awards got shut out her for senior year auditions (didn’t apply or audition for many schools) and I recommended she look there. They are actually a very strong theatre program. She is loving it there and feels like it was the best place for her to be! If you need more suggestions, let me know, but those are two great ones to start with! Also - I agree with the comments about gap year. Having more time to train without having to juggle school, senior year and other productions made it a fantastic choice for a lot of kids I know!

1975

@LinnyLou I feel for you as well. My daughter and I are very close but we are really struggling though this process. She is hard headed and won’t listen to much. She has had her share of rejections and a waitlist offer but a few days ago she was at her wits end worried nothing would work out. She auditioned this weekend at a BA program and it went VERY well. Her attitude is a bit better today and she seems open to a BA option now much more than a few months ago… I personally Don’t see it as a huge difference or downgrade if your BA program is challenging … iM open to hear comments about the big difference between the 2 . But if your daughter is like mine, SHE has to come to this conclusion on her own. This is a brutal brutal road for sure.

1976

@Ontheverge If it makes you feel any better my D has not heard anything from LIU so she likely did not get in. She did a walk-in in Chicago and got her academic acceptance pretty quickly but radio silence on the BFA. Since it seems that everyone has heard, I am assuming this means she is not in (again). So it looks like they do reject some kids.

1977

So very brutal. I’m a planner so this is hard for me to wait and wonder. I’m analytical. My daughter is a dreamer.

I’ve read so much on the subject of BA vs BFA. We have talked to so many people who were or are actors. Nothing is wrong with getting the BA but I understand that it hasn’t been part of her dream.

1978

@linnylou As @actorparent1 mentioned, my D is in a similar place so I feel your pain. While my D still has a bunch of pending applications, we also do not have a single BFA acceptance, despite 31 applications of one sort or another. D has two BA acceptances (from schools that she applied to for BFA MT but was instead accepted into BA) but really does not want either of them.

My D submitted 13 MT prescreens and only passed two. She auditioned for these two and has already been rejected by one. The other one sends out decisions next week but I am not optimistic. Of the remaining 11 prescreen schools, 4 outright said NO and 7 said no but redirected her to BFA Acting. So that added another 7 possible BFA programs. One of these has since said no. So, out of these 20 BFA prescreen applications, we have 13 no’s (11 prescreen rejections, 1 no after MT audition, 1 no after acting audition) and 7 with no word yet.

For non-prescreen schools, after adding a number of schools late (on the wonderful advice of CC folks) we did 11 schools. We have had 2 no’s on these and no word from the other 9.

So, in short, my D has more open applications (16) than your D does 2). This is largely because she was willing to apply to a handful of BA programs (more below), do the BFA Acting redirects, and take suggestions from CC about adding some late applications (via walk-ins or digital auditions). I am hoping that one or two of these come through (though with 15 no’s and 0 yes’s (she does not count the two BA programs to which she did not even apply) there is no particular reason to be optimistic). Mainly, these extra options have helped me to feel as if we did everything we could do within the parameters of our resources this year and also that I have scaled much of this steep learning curve so that, if we have to do this again, I am so much better prepared (as is my D).

So, if you are still reading this way-too-long post, here are a couple of unsolicited suggestions from my own yucky experience. First, ASAP try to submit a handful of digital auditions (or even live auditions) at schools with late dates (see all the posts sent to me for some great suggestions, especially if your D is more open geographically open than mine is!) We just submitted two more applications last week so it truly is not too late.

Next, if you can convince your D to take a gap year:

  1. Did your D get any redirects to BFA Acting programs? My D did all 7 redirect auditions. My D really wants MT but has come to a place where she will consider a BFA Acting–at least at certain schools. If things do not work out this year, next year I think she will apply directly to some BF Acting programs (beside the ones she redirected into this year). Perhaps you can pass this by your D (when she is calmer)? It would still be a BFA program (not BA).
  2. My D was willing to apply directly to four BA programs that are pretty performance-oriented and are at schools that do not also have BFAs: American, Wagner, Muhlenberg, and Northwestern. I am hoping that one of these comes through (notifications coming out in March) but, again, if we do this again, I am going to add more schools in this category to her list at least in part because the admission decision is based on academics to a greater extent than at the BFA programs and my D (like yours) has academic strength. Maybe you can get someone in the field who your D respects to show her that not all BA programs are the same?
  3. I don’t know how much time your D spent on prescreens but my D spent a ton so I am going to add more non-prescreen schools to my D’s list since, besides thinking that she is better in-person and demonstrating that she can take direction, it will allow my D time in the fall to be less focused on prescreens and more focused on other audition preparation.
  4. I know you said you went to Unifieds (NYC I think?) Did your D do any walk-ins? My D found some very appealing (and somewhat less competitive) extra options through walk-ins so I am going to take her back to Chicago Unifieds and try to do more walk-ins.

I know that none of this helps with your heartache right now. It sucks to see your child in such pain and to feel (and be) utterly helpless to alleviate that pain. On that front, I have absolutely no advice. I just keep thinking that if I make a new and better game plan that when she is ready I can serve her better next year. Of course, I am not at all sure that there will be a next year but, as you say, if our Ds come round to doing a more traditional application process, we already know how to do that! Hang in there and don’t completely give up hope. You still have two open applications and the option of throwing a couple of more out there and, as others have said, she only needs one yes.

1979

@AnxiousNovice Thanks so much for writing. Not too long. Yes she did walk-ins at NYC Unifieds. So many walk-ins! She left our hotel at 7am and didn’t return until 6pm. Is that how it worked for the other kids? My husband was with her while I was with our other daughter.

Hard place to be. D has worked so hard and it is difficult to have a conversation with her about this. She is exhausted from this process and then juggling choir and theater obligations and working on top of that. Such a difficult year.

1980

@LinnyLou she sounds incredibly strong, independent, and such a capable young woman! She will be fine whatever she does in life, as soon as she can see beyond the current situation. Sending more hugs!