Oh man! I was hoping that summer programs were far enough out to be safe. 
@AmarilloTX - my apologies if post #85 was insensitive, I certainly could have responded differently or not replied at all, or PMâd you & said, âHey theres alot going on right now that might rub some people the wrong wayâ
Maybe I would have reacted differently had you started off with something like, âI know there are bigger things going on right now but this is a venting thread so here goesâŠâ ??
Whatever, Im not sure, but I am sure that the class of 2025 will want you around, everyoneâs contributions help the whole group over the next 12-13 months , you will all certainly need itâŠ
Anyway, after watching Tom Hanks as Mr Rodgers tonight in my semi-quarantined home, I realize I contributed to the bad vibes & thats not, nor has it ever been my intention⊠I am sorry that they cancelled Nexus, it sucksâŠI remember when my D got rejected from MPULSE I thought it was truly horrible, we were sad & depressed- in hindsight I realize it was just another minor speed bump in this long windy road, which I am nearing the end- or at least preparing to move on to the next stageâŠANYWAY-
Lets just chalk it up to a bad night & move forward, fair?
@rainbowparent I would not be surprised if Fall auditions (at least live ones) are cancelled or significantly reduced. Unified auditions arenât off the table either.
Class of 2025, keep the faith! Audition season is still a long way away. Iâve personally written off this school year (admittedly, I donât have the heart to tell my senior that) and the summer will not be normal, but Iâm still holding on to the idea that by the fall, there will be something closer to normal, if not actual normal.
Something ânext to normalâ? 
Ok, so I donât want to seem insensitive at all, but I have been thinking a lot over the last few days and I am getting a bit concerned about what opportunities my son will have next year. I am seeing many posts on here and FB where parents are saying that due to not being able to visit schools, even though their child got into several great programs, they may encourage, or have encouraged their student to take a gap year next year. If that happens, I have huge concerns about the potential for the class of 2025. It seems that this year there has been a HUGE pool of applications at all schools, so much so that many could not handle the influx and have been behind since the beginning, so much so that some are now thinking they may need to add prescreens if they did not have them. Now add many of those students back into the mix, what chances do 2025 have? Has anyone else thought about this? Should I have my son continue on? He is talking about accepting any program even BA as long as it will allow him to develop and grow, and if its an acting program rather then MT he says he will do vocal lessons online if he has too. Thoughts?
@Sonnie323 I completely understand your angst. The times are what they are. Nothing we can really do. My D will likely choose a program site unseen and just go with it. She was fortunate o get admitted to some high on her list (although she really doesnât know much about them. Sheâll have skype meetings with the program heads and perhaps get connected to a few existing students to get a feel but thatâs it.
All that said, other than just saying we need to focus on the big picture (health and safety), I think the real dose of reality is this is a ridiculously competitive field. Whether or not it gets more competitive due to gap yrs isnât really a gamechanger (IMHO). Fast forward to when theyâve all graduated and are auditioning. Thatâs when the real competition begins. It wonât matter where they went, , if they went, when they graduated, if they graduated⊠Kind of like sports, itâs just about ability and what they want/ need at a point in time.
This whole situation stinks for everyone. Nothing we can do but wait.
@Sonnie323 I agree 100% and that was my point I was trying to make ( among others) a few days ago on this thread
My heart hurts for the class of 2025 and for all the anxiety and uncertainty that surrounds the situation we are all in. And itâs perfectly okay to have those feelings and to logically look at the situation too. Venting is a great way to share concerns. It highlights the impacts from this situation. It can also help to creatively look for possible answers and solutions. You are not being insensitive at all.
Just like @rickle1, my d is going to be making a choice with several schools that she hasnât been able to visit or sit in on classes at. She is doing the same in reaching out to current students and to faculty. She may even ask to sit in on a virtual class if allowed. It is what it is for our class and we are doing the best we can to navigate these uncharted territories.
So please continue to share your concerns, reach out with questions, and connect with your class of 2025. It is what CC is for. You all are in uncharted territory too with some very different circumstances. And what you are feeling and the things you worry about are just as legitimate as anyone elseâs worries. Having that support is crucial to getting through this.
@Sonnie323 My daughter is going to pick a school sight unseen and we feel okay about it. Itâs not ideal, but I think the vast majority of parents are not encouraging their kids to take a gap year if their kids got into programs with good reputations. The schools are doing their best to meet with kids remotely to answer questions and even allow for kids to chat with other students. There may be a few extra gap year kids auditioning in 2025 but I doubt it will be significantly more than usual. Trust me, after you go through this process, you will NOT want to do it again! The only reason we would have chosen a gap year is if she had not gotten into a school that had been on her radar since the beginning.
@NeensMom agreed never want to do this again, but I do think there will be marginally increased more applicants- it goes up each year and this situation is likely to cause gap yearsâŠmaybe due to finances ( people have lost a tremendous amount of their net worth in the last 4 weeks and most 529 plans are invested, maybe due to sight unseen, maybe due to waitlists that could drag on well in to July w June 1 date now the normâŠthat said we will make a choice on a school this year, but I do suspect it will have SOME impact on the class of 2025.
Consider also that if our kids are just a year apart, whether more are in the pool next year for college and training programs or not, 5 years from now theyâre all going to be competing for the same jobs. So, the class of 2024 and the class of 2025 arenât going to be too separate for very long anyway!
Even with increasing the numbers (and nearly every rejection letter we got this year said the program had âan unprecedented number of talented applicantsâ or âour largest pool of candidates in our historyâ or what have you, so the pool is already pretty stocked)), thereâs a place for your child if they want to train to work in this business. Head on over to the âno plan/gap yearâ thread for more discussion of the various options, poke around all of the threads and consult with a coach if you can to craft a school list that will maximize options at the end of the process, and control what you can control by choosing great material, preparing it well, keeping an audition schedule that works for your studentâs best ways of working, and take care of yourselves through the process. I still adhere to the philosophy that thereâs a place for every one of these hardworking students who want a place. That place might not be in the MT BFA program at Michigan or CCM or , or even in a BFA program at all, or even in college straight from high school â but thereâs a place, there are pathways, and no influx of increased applicants is going to change that. Best wishes to everyone, no one has it easy right now.
Itâs super hard to read the tea leaves in this climate. There may be a marginal effect with somewhat more kids doing gap years next year; but, conversely, there may also be more parents who become reticent to the idea of a BFA, steering their kids to BA programs instead as a hedge. Or people in the class of 2025 may be more inclined to wait a year themselves and audition in a gap year for the class of 2026, in hopes that their 529s bounce back. There are so many variables that can confound any predictions that it is likely not worth it to try to weight them and just go with what feels right for you.
@Sonnie323 - hereâs something to consider: I strongly suspect that MT programs are going to fill their ranks this year. If some students decide to take a gap year because they didnât get to visit various programs, then I am pretty sure there will be someone to take their place, and, as this cascades down the line, someone who was looking at a gap year due to lack of offers will get a spot.
Hence, the size of the applicant pool may very likely be the same as it would have been otherwise. Yes, the quality of next yearâs pool may be a little bit higher due to some well-qualified applicants taking a gap year. But if this were my student, I would not let this deter him or her. After all, if you donât get the results you desire next year, you can then consider a gap year or go to whatever plan B suits your student.
With a daughter who has been down the road of competitive auditions for her PA HS, BFA auditions, summer stock, and now the professional world, I would advise that the life of a professional actor is a long journey and there are many, many challenges along the way. Next yearâs BFA hopefuls will be facing just one in a long series of hurdles. From what I have observed, in the long run, talent ends up sort of taking a back seat to fortitude and determination for the majority of professional actors, 90 percent of whom are not employed on stage in any given month.
As I used to tell my d when she played competitive softball, there is only one absolute certainty in the game: if you donât swing, you cannot hit the ball.
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@EmsDad - wow great advice!
@Sonnie323 - I would advise to put together a comprehensive list of reach, just right and safeties - although safety is an oxymoron so to speak in this process. And I would add some BA programs - we had a lot depending on your sonâs academics (my dâs were pretty competitive) we applied to Northwestern, Vassar, Wesleyan, Skidmore and Boston College.
There really is never a perfect time and there are always gap kids - some extremely talented kids that my d knows had their gap year this year. One boy killed it this year he just committed to Texas State - his first audition was Indiana and he got an on the spot offer from them! I have my d encouraging him to share his story and insights because he is the poster child for a gap year. The prior year he had 0 BFA acceptances - it was heartbreaking - obviously extremely talented - he didnât become talented this year, so it happens - this year he made a ton of top programs including Texas State, Elon, and Point Park.
This is a crazy process but you have to be in it to win it - have a lot of balls in the air and one will land - I promise
Thank you, everyone! My son is staying positive about everything. The only thing he is truly concerned about is not being able to start dance lessons this spring, but he has continued to audition for regional projects, two days after the spring musical was canceled he went and tried out for a local theaterâs summer production, and got a part for this summer. Fingers crossed things are better by then. He was also going to attend another audition next weekend for a musical that will rehearse this summer with shows on weekends in the fall, but they have since had to reschedule due to the newest set of regulations. He is bound and determined to figure this all out. He is also working with his vocal coach to try and either skype or zoom vocal lessons starting sometime this week.
As far as schools, he has been focused on BFA in MT only, however winter I told him he really has to have some variety. I told him to review some BA programs as well as schools with both BFA and BA in MT and Acting, we talked about potential crossover and all that, to give him more options. We talked about putting in some non-auditon schools into the mix too. He is a great student and his teachers adore him, he has multiple teachers offering to write his recommendations. We recently worked with his guidance counselor and discussed his future plans and talked about our âfirstâ list of schools. It took more convincing to have a minimum of 15 schools than it did to have a variety of schools. LOL
We are a bit limited by geography, he wants to be no more than a day trip away, as he wants us to be able to see any shows or showcases that he is in and he wants to be able to come home easily for breaks. Fortunately, we are in the North East so that works great in our favor.
His list originally had very few âreach schoolsâ when we started the list, however, after this season of applications and auditions, I feel several of them are now reach schools due to this past yearâs volume. We have only visited one school so far, Dean College, BA MT but he truly enjoyed it. We were scheduled to see one of their shows in April, however, as we all know, that will not be happening. We were also scheduled to tour UHartt (reach school for audition not academics), and Western Connecticut University, along with seeing their show in April. Thankfully we will be able to do so easily when things get back to normal.
Iâm now worried more about Arts opportunities for the current generation (~13 to 43 year olds) rather than just a one to two year horizon. We have all had a healthy realism about career prospects for performers, but Iâm unsure to what degree support for the Arts as a whole will jump back to where they were prior to SARS-CoV-2. As @DivaStageMom highlighted in another discussion, will there be a modified normal? Will there be a shift to new channels?
There are both economic challenges (e.g., other industries prioritized, less discretionary income, etc.) and societal interaction (e.g., time spent in close proximity, use of public spaces) at play; itâs not one or the other but itâs the combination of both â economic and societal â thatâs the trouble. I hear governmental support for the Airlines and other industries but squat for performing arts.
I really hope this is short-lived but a recovery might take some time.
While I realize a college major does not wed a student to pursue that specific career path, somehow pursuing a musical theater degree seems âout of syncâ in a âpost-pandemic worldâ operating with a ânew normalâ?
I would appreciate hearing your more optimistic scenarios for making a living in the performing arts.
@Twelfthman Here is my more optimistic scenario: Humans have been dealing with pandemics for as long as we have existed. Bubonic Plague, Cholera, Small Pox, even horrible strains of the flu (like the one in 1968) that were far more deadly than Covid. Humans have a 100% success rate for getting through pandemics and getting back to life as normal. The main difference between then and now is that we have social media to communicate more information with each other, and far more advanced science to create the treatments and vaccines needed for these illnesses when they occur. I have faith in our scientists and in the human race and I am confident we will return to normal long before our kids graduate college.
Weâve never needed art more than we need it now. The dust will settle on the current situation and things will, for sure, be different than they were when this all started a few weeks ago ⊠but people will still make art, and weâll find ways to distribute and consume it. Our kids will be on the leading edge of all of it.
@Twelfthman - I do believe that art will survive and actually in greater demand - whatâs everyone doing during this shut-downâŠthey are watching streaming services like Netflix - so art lives on. The distribution of art may change - creative people find creative solutions and they already are.
I do worry about live theater - itâs so expensive and so much risk to investors. If people get used to theater delivered differently investors may find it to be more profitable to distribute theater through a streaming service - or something like that.
So the skill set may change a little like when movies went from silent films to talkies - the movie business didnât die - it flourished - it exploded - but the skill set needed by actors changed. Just something to think about - as I said I manage risk for a living I am always looking for the paradigm shift and the fat tail risk - so this is what I see - it may or may not happen. But an acting for the camera class doesnât hurt either wayâŠ