Theater/acting rejections

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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<p>Just wanted to put this out there for anyone who’s feeling nervous about auditions and acceptances. The goal of this is a) to share my weird story and b) to show how ridiculous the admission process can be.</p>

<p>Since I was six years old I’ve known that I wanted to be an actor in New York City, and so for my whole life NYU Tisch was the dream. As the time to start applying loomed nearer, I made sure to apply to 12 schools, 8 of which were auditioned, to have a large safety net for NYU, because I was entirely unsure that I would get in. </p>

<p>Seriously my resume consists of ONLY high school productions and summer classes/productions, nothing really professional. All I had going for me was intense interest and willingness to learn. </p>

<p>Basically, in an effort to not make this post too long I will cut to the chase. I auditioned for University of Michigan, Pace, UCLA, Chapman, Emerson, Fordham, and Central School for Speech and Drama, and of course NYU Tisch. I was immediately rejected from Central since I was not called back that day. </p>

<p>Even though I got into Pace and Fordham as schools, I did not get into either drama department. </p>

<p>I got SEVEN REJECTION letters in a row, over the course of about three to four weeks. Its safe to say that this was a dark period. I know that an actor has to be prepared for rejection, but usually they don’t get seven rejections at once, and this isn’t just a play, this is four years of my life. </p>

<p>Needless to say, I was a mess, crying to my theater teacher that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this, because obviously no one thought I was good enough. He said I was being ridiculous and he knew I could do it.</p>

<p>ANYWAY, the point is that, about two hours before the opening night of my final musical at my school, I got my acceptance email from NYU TISCH!!! I died of happiness, collapsing on the library floor in a fit of unbridled glee. There was soooo muchhh tension building up to this I thought I might explode. Anyway, I am going to NYU in the Experimental Theater Wing next fall and I could not be more excited! So if you’re getting rejections next year, do not worry, because it could be that you will ONLY get in to the best place for you!</p>

<p>xoxo,
Lila</p>

<p>PS: If anyone wants the break down of my audition at Tisch, let me know, because it was pretty saucy :)</p>

142

<p>lilaelias</p>

<p>i know this post was awhile back, but your story has left me hopeful. today i’ve gotten 3 rejections which sucks. I got into the same two schools. I’m waiting on my top choice: tisch as well. thanks for posting :)</p>

143

<p>This process has been full of ups and downs. (More downs that ups for most). The bruising the kids take is incredible. The fact that they don’t throw in the towel is incredible. But remember, you are all just starting out. You have so much to learn and are just getting started. Some kids are more trained than others and have much more experience , even though colleges claim they do not care about that I personally find that hard to believe. But that’s ok. There are many places out there to get amazing training. The audition process involves so many variables, hitting it off with the auditioners, being “on” that day, being first to audition or last, seeing x versus y… And so many more. My H called one excellent school my S got into and inquired about artistic scholarships for acting (as some schools give). He was told very nicely, that they only give after freshman year, after all, she said, we only see the kids for 15 minutes at an audition how do we really know what they can do.(Translation…gotta make sure we got it right). It’s a fifteen minute crapshoot. Most if the kids are great and could do well anywhere. But space is limited and choices have to be made. There is a school out there for everyone and as many, if not more,professional actors come from schools that we don’t readily think of when we think of acting and don’t major in acting at all. So chin up folks! Have confidence in yourselves!!! (I’ve repeated this little speech at home on a day over the last three weeks). Oh and watch a movie called “That guy who was in that thing” (or something like that). Hysterical and a real dose of reality!!!</p>

144

<p>I saw this somewhere yesterday (may have been on CC) and how appropriate:</p>

<p>“The only thing guaranteed when you get into a top school is a tuition bill.”</p>

145

<p>Our process really started with a rejection. My son was completely sold on Northwestern, an academic powerhouse with a good theater program, a place with a lot of family connections (my cousin Chuck once led the Big Ten in tackles there, my brother attended there, etc…) and he had been going to football games there on his grandpa’s birthday every year since he was about four. He had really pretty good grades and scores and fantastic extracurriculars and essay and recommendations…but the numbers weren’t high enough. He got shot down on December 15, and that’s when we really started looking at audition-in programs. (Very late, I know.) </p>

<p>He had a pretty good run at NYC Unifieds…long, receptive, two-room audition at CMU, couple of others told him he had huge potential, summarily ditched at DePaul. I worried going in that he didn’t have any business there, but it, in the process, it became pretty clear that he did. It was great for him as an actor and as a person, and I’m glad he had that experience. </p>

<p>So, right now we’ve got one acceptance at SCAD, a non-audition performance acceptance at Columbia (which we can’t and won’t pay for) and an acceptance into a theater education program at Pitt, a waitlist at Washington in St. Louis (apparently, they waitlist about 1000 people so we’re not holding our breath). We’re still waiting for Syracuse and CCPA, plus BA programs at Vassar and Davidson. It’s been interesting, to say the least, also heartbreaking and, for a time, the fear that he would not get in anywhere completely supplanted the fear that he would leave and I would never see him again. (Which is what I was obsessing about before all this happened.) </p>

<p>There are a lot of things we might have done differently if we’d known more about the process going in – more schools, more auditions, more training in singing and dance. (He’s got a fantastic, almost completely untrained voice…be interesting to see what he could do with some lessons.) But I’m glad it’s happened – and I’ll be even more glad when it’s over.</p>

146

<p>I know this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but do you guys think the BFA theatre program is better at BU or USC? Not that I’m hoping anything for SC but I got accepted in BU and was wondering. Thanks a lot</p>

147

<p>^^Really there is NO ANSWER to this question. The only reasonable question is: which program is better for YOU? If you were accepted to BU, then presumably you investigated the program, have seen (or will see) the campus, have met faculty and students, and understand what makes it distinctive. I would guess that the two schools are quite different in terms of overall atmosphere and school culture. Lots of information and posts about both on the forum. Congrats on BU and enjoy your research! :)</p>

148

<p>Jkellynh17 – the long two room CMU audition should be enough for your son to know he has something as CMU doesn’t take that much time unless they have a serious interest. Good luck on the remaining programs. We really liked Syracuse and are still waiting as well. </p>

<p>momotoki – no one but you can answer that question. Both are very respected programs. You need to figure out which fits the best for you.</p>

149

<p>Thank you. That’s sort of what we’re telling ourselves. It’s hard because process is really subjective. I mean, you know from your stats whether you have what it takes to get into MIT or Harvard, but with theater, there are so many variables. I’m getting mentally comfortable with the idea of SCAD, but I do hope for at least one more “yes”.</p>

150

<p>^ thanks so much guys. I guess you’re right, it’s probably down to what training and curriculum approaches fit me.</p>

151

<p>Muttle1, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry your son has had disappointments, but that is quite an accomplishment to get into Northwestern! It sounds like he had his heart set on one of the BFAs he didn’t get into, but I have done a lot of research, and I can tell you that Northwestern is very well respected. He’s clearly a great student. Did he apply to NYU? Because he will could have a good shot there. They seem to like " smart" actors.</p>

152

<p>Here’s the rundown for my S:</p>

<p>My son only decided to pursue a BFA in Acting last summer, so we were totally clueless about this process until the beginning of the year. I learned pretty much everything on this board! (Thanks everyone!) When I first started reading, I was overwhelmed and completely intimidated. My son had only really been doing theatre since his sophomore year, and while I thought he was good, I had no idea if he could possibly compete for these highly coveted program spots. We set out a WIDE net, planning to apply to 15-17 schools. In the end, he only ended up applying AND auditioning for seven schools. Some schools he applied, but decided not to audition for, he auditioned for a school at Unifieds as a walk on and decided not to apply, etc. This is where we are:</p>

<p>CCM - Rejected
Coastal Carolina - Accepted to School and BFA Acting
Long Island University - Accepted to School and BFA Acting
Marymount Manhattan - Accepted to school, rejected for BFA Acting
Montclair State - Accepted to school, still waiting to hear on BFA Acting
Northern Illinois - Accepted to School and BFA Acting
Rider University - Accepted to school and BFA Acting
U of MINN/Guthrie - Waitlisted for school, did not audition</p>

<p>In the end, there are definitely some things we would have done differently, but we’re thrilled with the results. The process was incredibly stressful, and I’m glad it’s (almost) over. :)</p>

153

<p>My daughter is tech, so we may have applied to more than necessary. However, she also has some learning difficulties which made me worry about academic acceptances.<br>
Here is where we are:</p>

<p>Columbus State University: withdrew (just decided it wasn’t for her even if it’s in state)
Purchase: withdrew application
University of Central Florida: withdrew application</p>

<p>Wright State: accepted Design and Production
Brenau University/Gainesville Theatre Alliance: accepted (audition for scholarship)
Coastal Carolina: accepted BFA Design and Production
Evansville: accepted but decided to withdraw
Point Park: accepted BFA Design and Production
Shenandoah: accepted BFA Design and Production
Otterbein: accepted BFA Design and Production
Webster: waiting…</p>

<p>Virginia Commonwealth: rejected
UNCSA: rejected
DePaul: rejected (did this one as test optional school…rejected by Theatre School)
CMU: rejected (did this as ED school)</p>

154

<p>My son got a rejection letter from Mason Gross and his website status changed to admission denied or something like that.</p>

155

<p>Denied from my “dream school” UMich (the only one that really stung), BFA Acting at Ithaca (in my audition room they saw my writing experience and suggested i interview, took their advice & got accepted to theatre studies), and as of today CMU (but reading about the 2-room thing is pretty nice thing to hear that I didn’t know about-- I performed 3 monologues and a song in the first room in addition to a singing and a monologue in the second room). Got into one of my top schools BU , in addition to two other audition programs (Penn State & Marymount BFA), some non audition programs (OSU, IU) and still waiting on Syracuse and NYU (but after the BU acceptance NYU is out of the question.) This has been quite the journey…</p>

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<p>Whatsgood0 - curious about your statement that getting into BU means NYU is out of the question. Why is that?</p>

157

<p>To be honest, I wasn’t going to apply to NYU to begin with (sent in my app at 9:30 pm on 1/1) and while I like a lot of things about their program, I just never fell in love with the school for its price tag. I’ve also grown up in NYC and always wanted to go away for school, which plays a big role in why it was never a top-3 school for me. I straight up fell in love with BU’s program when I toured its school of theatre and again at unifieds (out of all my schools easily my favorite theatre curriculum), and upon visiting Boston seemed like a fab place to spend four years.</p>

158

<p>Hi guys!
I applied as an acting/theatre major to 17 schools, auditioned for 6.</p>

<p>Emerson: BFA Acting, auditioned and ACCEPTED
LMU: Theatre, Auditioned and ACCEPTED
Syracuse: BFA Acting, Auditoned and REJECTED
UCLA: Theatre, Auditioned and REJECTED
Sarah Lawrence: No audition and accepted
Eugene Lang: No audition and accepted</p>

<p>I’m still waiting to hear back from NYU and USC, my audition schools and some others. Being rejected really stung but it goes to show that maybe some places are meant for people. So many talented actors get rejected every year and I’m trying my best to not take it personally.</p>