<p>So, you wait and wait...you re-play the audition in your head, you get excited and run out to the mailbox daily and then you get a letter saying no.</p>
<p>What happens now? (Besides re-auditioning and applying elsewhere I mean) Let's say that all you are offered anywhere is the BA.</p>
<p>You either </p>
<p>A) Suck it up and take the BA (perhaps at a place that lets you re-audition during your freshman year)
B) Have a safety school you love to fall back on, or
C) If you have enough money and patience, train a year and wait for auditions again next year.</p>
<p>Songsearcher: First, allow yourself the right to be sad. Its okay to feel upset, angry, cry, pound sand, question the idiocy of the stupid auditor who did not realize you were the greatest thing that ever walked into the room. If you don’t allow yourself to do this, you are missing out on an opportunity to grow as an artist and a person. If you are MT or an Actor, you need to take all of life’s BS and use it when you are on stage and in your life. Rejection is part of life. So, take the rejection as part of the things you learn from every day. But don’t just grow stronger from it… grow deeper.</p>
<p>Second: Reassess. There are many people on these pages who went to the BA. But while they were at the BA, they went right into reauditioning for their dream schools. But now they had perspective. They knew how to approach things. Maybe, looking back, they realized that something wasn’t quite right. Maybe they didn’t practice enough. Maybe they practiced too hard. Only you would know that for you. But they reassessed. They got help. They reauditioned. Some of the stories are quite magical… second time around, admissions to UNCSA and CMU. Wow. Others just to a good BFA. But it happens. Many, many times. </p>
<p>Third: Be realistic. If the BA is costly, maybe you are better off getting a job (are there any out there…) or doing your general ed at a community college and working the community theatre scene while you go through round two. It means living at home. It means watching all your friends head off into the sunset in the fall. Can you handle that? But in these days and times, you have to think about the monetary issue too.</p>
<p>Fourth: Remember, transferring is EXPENSIVE. In many cases, you have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. Any education you did at the BA is for nil. No credit, except maybe, possibly, the general ed. Is it worth that? Only you can decide.</p>
<p>Fifth: Figure out other choices… What about 2 year actor training programs as opposed to a four year degree? Does this appeal to you? There was a long discussion on this board about how most of the successful artists out there never got a degree. Do you really need or want to get one? Will your parents kill you/disown you if you don’t?</p>
<p>Finally: Please remember you are not the be all and end all of your college acceptances and rejections. Decision are made for a slew of reasons you can never possibly understand or know. The mere fact that you have undertaken and did this process is something that you should have immense pride in. I know all of us on this board who have seen someone go through this process or have been through this process are immensely proud of you regardless of the outcome. You should be too.</p>
<p>SongSearcher - Listen to the great advice from chrissyblu! She offers a wonderful perspective on this entire process.</p>
<p>I don’t know how many programs you applied to or where, but I hope you have some non-audition options to look at. And audition season isn’t over. There are still schools who will be auditioning through March if you are interested in continuing the audition process. And perhaps look at schools where you don’t audition to move into the BFA or the MT program until the end of your freshman year.</p>
<p>Are you willing to share what you want in a program? Not just that you want a BFA but more what you want your college experience to be. Again, there may be a “hidden gem” that would be a great fit for you that someone can point you towards if you tell us what you are looking for.</p>
<p>There are so many paths to take to get you where you want to go. chrissyblu mentioned 2 year training programs. Or maybe going to a BA program but adding in summer intensives along the way. </p>
<p>I hope you will keep faith in yourself and continue to follow your dreams.</p>
<p>I am so sorry about the news. I did want to share something I discovered today about a young woman who got her BA in music from a state school that is never discussed here, as far as I know. She went on to get an MA at NYU in Musical Theatre and is now about to open in DC at the Arena Stage (where Next to Normal ran before Broadway) as Clara in The Light in the Piazza. She was recently Luisa in The Fantasticks at the Snapple Theatre in NYC. She’s done quite a bit of TV also. So she is doing really well having begun with that BA. I hope things get happier for you soon.</p>
<p>I apologize if my either post was too direct. The previous posts have much more insight. I, too, am auditioning this year and am so over rejections, haha. 5 later and I feel I’ve gotten most of my crying out… Most. :)</p>
<p>Listen to the great advice above you. I wish you luck and just trust you will get in somewhere wonderful, where you are supposed to be.</p>
<p>When my son began this process over 4 years ago, he planned on going “back east” I had to inform him that there just wasn’t money to do that. He was very upset, I assured him there were good programs in our region of the country. He felt that he wouldn’t have a chance at a career if he couldn’t go back east. At this point he really hadn’t researched schools yet, just know a couple of names including one in our region. I asked him to go and get his Playbills from when he was in NY. We went through the bios in the back, he began to realize that it didn’t matter if you went to “a big name school” people came from all different schools with all different DEGREES. Many had degrees in completely other fields. If this is your “destiny” with hard work you can get there, regardless of school or type of degree. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Good advice and insights by all the other posters!</p>
<p>Here’s mine: I think this bears reflecting on the line uttered by Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music movie, “When the good Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.” The pain of rejection is perhaps too raw for you to see this right now but the truth is that you don’t know what the future will bring. Try to be open to and enjoy the opportunities that may present themselves to you. </p>
<p>As it has been previously stated, there are many paths to a career in the performing arts. And many people, my son included, prefer the BA to the BFA for a variety of reasons. It’s clear from your post that you believe the BA option (and perhaps even those performers who go that route?) to be second rate and that just simply is not the case.</p>
<p>Feel the pain, yes, then grow from it and “Choose to be Happy” (Grey Gardens). Best of luck to you! I feel certain that you have a fabulous future ahead of you! :)</p>
<p>To edit my prior post, it’s NOT clear from your post if you believe the BA option (and perhaps even those performers who go that route?) to be second rate but that just simply is not the case.</p>
<p>Upon reading this later, I realized that what I wrote is not what I meant. Oops!</p>
<p>I thought of another thing that may be of help. When said son was a senior in HS he was invited to go to a seminar put on by a local theater. The person who was speaking and working with the students was a Disney Broadway casting director. At the end of the day they invited the parents in to have a Q&A. There was a huge amount of talk about colleges. Most of the questions were about BFA programs. The Disney guy HIGHLY recommended BA programs. He said he felt it made for more well rounded actors.</p>
<p>Auditioning and getting rejected in never fun- but it is especially hard when your’e auditioning not just for a show-but for a place in a college where idealy you will spend 4 years of your life. I agree much ofthe advice above-there are so many paths to a life in the theater. Do your best in the auditions, believe in yourself and look at your options later this spring. A couple of years from now you most likely won’t even remember which colleges gave you rejections. I agree it’s not to late to find a non audition program where you can major in theater and audition for productions. A gap year is often recommended but of course you need to be able to live in an area where you can get good training</p>
<p>The essential question is: do you want to learn to sing, dance, and act, or do you just want to attend a BFA program?</p>
<p>There are many paths to the former.</p>
<p>DD’s “fallback” is a BA Drama non-audition program that she’ll supplement with voice lessons and dance. Having a BA is going to deepen her understanding of text and context, at perhaps some cost to the craft side of the equation. It’s all a trade-off.</p>
<p>D & I laughed when looking up the actor Pauly Perrette, who plays a forensic scientist on NCIS. She has her degree in…yes…forensic science. There are so many, many paths!</p>
<p>I just wanted to chime in to the post by explaining what happened to my daughter this past year. She lived MT all thru her school years,did all the summer big programs,auditioned at only BFA great colleges,got into 5 of them,picked her favorite, went last september and already is leaving the program after 1 semester. She did very well and loved the school but truely felt it was overkill and although never an academic student, felt she wanted to experience more in college life than just MT. No one was more shocked and heartbroken than me but as some time passed I realized she is right. This was a crazy priced school and the risk was just not worth it to her as we put it all on the line for her . So last year she was worried she wouldn’t make any bfa schools,now shes worried she wont make a ba school where academics are just as important as talent…Go figure!!! She hopes to major in music ed or theater ed and minor in performance.
So really try to look at every angle of the college programs and be careful what you wish for cause in my daughters case I feel she got too wrapped up in making the schools and hoping they picked her rather than her picking them.
Best of luck to you and dont worry, you’ll be fine in whatever you choose!!</p>
<p>I don’t understand your post, riaria. Are you saying that your daughter left the BFA because you couldn’t afford to keep her there, or because she became disillusioned with the program?</p>
<p>SongSearcher, I think many of us parents who post on this forum can share in your disappointment. We all know the low odds of being accepted and how hard it can be when you are not accepted in the program you dreamed of attending. This happened to my daughter two years ago. She was a very busy senior during audition season, was not well prepared for how competitive college auditions would be, did not attend a college summer program, did not receive coaching from anyone with first hand knowledge about college auditions, and did not stop her senior activities to make auditioning a priority. That being said, she got in one BFA program for acting, one BFA MT backup school she didn’t like, and was academically accepted in her top choice school but not in the MT program- a BA program on the “Big List”.<br>
She weighed her choices and chose to go to the BA school anyway and re-audition. The first week of school while her peers were enjoying freshman orientation, she was preparing and auditioning in the Music Department to be a Vocal Performance Major (BM) with a concentration in MT. She was one of three students accepted. She worked incredibly hard as a vocal music major, and has been cast in 3 student directed musicals, and as a lead in a main stage musical to be performed this month. She realized last semester that despite her strengths in Vocal Performance, Musical Theater was her only love. She was able to transfer into the BA program in the School of Theatre and Dance. After her transfer was official, this is what she said about her journey: “I am so happy here I can’t imagine myself anywhere else. And the fact that I had to work so hard for it makes it ever so sweet.”<br>
SongSearcher – Go back to some of the previous years and read the “rejection” and “commiseration” threads. You are not alone. There are stories of success of students like you who initially did not get programs but found a way to good MT training. There is a happy ending for everyone. You have to dig deep within yourself and evaluate how hard you are willing to work to find your way. Best wishes to you as you figure this out.</p>
<p>“the risk was just not worth it to her”.
What risk are you referring to for your daughter?</p>
<p>In my post above, I didn’t focus on the BA/BFA issue. I wanted to think about all the feelings and options. Some people are so focused on the BFA that the idea of a BA is really not an option. I respect that. Some of these people are my good friends and outside of CC we chat up a storm.</p>
<p>But my D turned down three audition BFA’s in favor of an audition BA that to a certain degree is run like a conservatory. I admit she is an actor and not an MT, so I don’t know if that makes all the difference. But when she made the decision to pursue her BA instead of her BFA ( a decision which is heavily blogged on these pages…) it was influenced by one of the students she met at the Accepted Students Event at UCLA. The then first year, now second year student had turned down CMU in favor of UCLA (yes, that is correct.) My D thought this insane and asked her how could you turn down CMU? The girl said “Because how can you be in a play by Chekhov if you don’t understand anything about the Russian Revolution?” The girl went on to say she would get an education at UCLA in the BA she felt she would not get in the BFA at CMU. She felt to be a well rounded actor, she needed that education. </p>
<p>This echoes the Disney guy and the experiences related above.</p>
<p>So perhaps one of the inquiries above needs to be whether the BA is so bad after all?</p>
<p>“I feel she got too wrapped up in making the schools and hoping they picked her rather than her picking them.” </p>
<p>I love that quote from riaria. </p>
<p>The trick is to evaluate colleges properly in the beginning, and not choose solely on reputation of the schools. Much easier said than done.</p>
<p>I agree so much with helping kids follow their best instincts, their understanding of their individual selves and needs. This is so hard at their age (at any age!). Another issue is the messages they get from the outside. My D has already been turned upside down by people who, when hearing she’s interested in theater, say “Oh, you should go to CA” or “Don’t go to X school; no one’s ever heard of it” and other simplistic, ignorant advice. It is very hard for these kids to say they know what they want when the people around them question it. Luckily she’s not hugely susceptible to other people’s opinions, but I know it’s very difficult to avoid. </p>
<p>Which applies to me, too: while we have good communication, I’m finding, of course, that I have to let her go with what she feels, and I want her to make her own way (even if it means an experience like some of the really rough ones some of the kids described her have had). But I do believe 1) that she will be better for living through her own decisions and their results, and making change when she has to, instead of being “protected” from hurt; and 2) that she fundamentally has the ability to know what’s right for her. She is a very observant person - which has its good and bad sides - and she’s giving everything a lot of thought. As a Jr., she’s doing a wonderful job of both building her theatre resume as best she can (not a ton of opportunities out here) and keeping up a well-rounded academic experience, being a person with “a life.” She also knows very well what her physical limits are. All of this self-awareness will continue to help her as she “picks” colleges, and will keep her from being thrown off track by people who will try to turn her head (even with positive intentions). </p>
<p>It is more helpful than I can say to hear of the experiences of people coming before her. She went to a theatre audition workshop yesterday and spent time with a college sophomore she knows, who passed on advice from a college senior they know. That combined with the excellent information she received from the professionals has given her a lot of encouragement and a lot to think about.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for sharing such personal stories, and best wishes to all of you.</p>