Thespians and College Acceptances?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Although I know this was brought up somewhere, it seems that the the topic needs to be clarified.</p>

<p>I came across a post where someone said that students were getting acceptances to colleges they auditioned for at the International Thespian Society Conference in Nebraska. I thought this was not allowed and that colleges were only able to indicate an interest in a student encouraging them to audition during the "regular" audition season.</p>

<p>-If they are getting acceptances, then aren't the stats concerning number of kids auditioning/acceptances at these colleges off because they are invisible in this count? (Or do they get rolled into the count with kids auditioning during "regular" auditions?) -Not to mention reducing the number of students a school is looking for when fall rolls around- an already tight situation.</p>

<p>-If they are not really getting acceptances from their auditions at Thespian's their face is still getting seen- how much does this weigh favorably during the audition process? Are there any stats on kids getting acceptances based on interest indicated at Thespian's? </p>

<p>Many schools don't have ANY drama programs, or opportunities to attend this kind of conference. Or awareness that they EVEN EXIST!</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any help!</p>

2

<p>I don't have the answers to your questions about the Thespian Conference and any offers of admission. I'd love to hear from those who might know. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Many schools don't have ANY drama programs, or opportunities to attend this kind of conference. Or awareness that they EVEN EXIST!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I can relate. Our school has no drama program. We have no state thespian events, awards and other stuff I read that others have in their neck of the woods and we surely don't participate in any national events or even know they exist. The good news is that kids from places like ours DO get into BFA in MT programs. My kid is from a rural public high school. We know many kids in our state who now attend BFA in MT programs, top ones in fact. I sure have been more informed by reading CC and through kids my kid knows from other states who have all sorts of things we don't have here.....thespian events, awards kinda like HS Tony awards, Cappies, theater conferences, college programs visiting these events, and so on. I also had never heard of the NFAA Arts Awards until I read of it some years ago on CC and so my D entered that and won an award in MT. I noticed that there were no other Arts Awards won in any category by anyone in our entire state that year. Likely nobody knew about it! They don't read CC, LOL. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you can be successful in BFA admissions and not come from a school or place that participates in any of these things. My kid was successful in BFA admissions and so were lots of kids I know who didn't have some of the opportunities I have read about here on CC and around the country. We also have no performing arts high schools in our state.</p>

3

<p>My D's school did not participate in Thespians either; however, for those of you who have younger students, it may well be worth you actively lobbying for your school to join this organization.</p>

<p>For more information:
Educational</a> Theatre Association</p>

4

<p>FWIW, my D attends a very good public arts high school and they don't participate in the ITS at all. Not sure why, but they don't. (My guess is that it's because the program is very process-oriented and much less "performance/let's do a show" oriented.) Even so (get ready for a brag here!) each year's senior actor training program class ends up sending kids to all the "best" BFA programs out there. So even without this kind of experience and exposure, the kids do well in the college placement process.</p>

5

<p>Well since no one seems to have gone or auditioned i will chime in!</p>

<p>I went to the International thespian festival for two years in a row, my second year i auditioned for colleges, i did not get an acceptance from any school based off of that audition. Although the only school i went on to audition for was Depaul i did not get in. i have also never heard of anyone getting in as a result of those auditions. </p>

<p>p.s You should all push your teachers to attend ITF its one of the best theatre experiences of my life (high school wise)</p>

6

<p>Hi MTfamily,
My D has been to one of the Nebraska conferences, and although she didn't participate in the college audtions, she had friends who did. Our <em>understanding</em> of how that works is that you audition for the schools and if they are interested, you get a "call back" for an interview where they tell you about their school's program. I do not know of any case where a student was truly admitted to a program from the thespain conference.
What I'm saying is....I guess I don't really know! :)</p>

<p>I also agree with Sooz, I don't think the kids coming from Thespians as a whole have any advantage over kids who have no high school theatre. It's all about the individual!!</p>

7

<p>It's certainly encouraging to hear that some kids who don't have access to conferences, competitions, specialized schools, etc. indeed manage to get into the most competitive MT programs. I wonder though, as the numbers of kids auditioning continue to grow and the competition becomes more and more difficult, whether things like regional competitions, awards, on-site visits from colleges, etc. are not becoming more critical to how schools make the final decisions about which of the many talented kids to pick. I'd think that this could be particularly likely for the 5 to 10 "top" MT programs. It might not be the awards, activities, or programs per se that are necessarily valuable, but instead might be the benefit that the kids get from the experiences themselves - going through numerous auditions, making connections, etc. Still, it's hard to imagine that the resume doesn't come into play when schools have to pick among dozens of equally talented students.</p>

<p>Based on our own limited experience this year, I'd suggest that kids and parents consider all these factors - not just the perceived talent level of your kid - when preparing the list of schools to apply to and audition for. We were naive in not being aware of how likely it is that kids could be just as talented as ours, but also have benefited from being exposed to so many other activities beyond just high school, community theatre and summer programs.</p>

<p>Here's an example that might help other parents out there like me who don't have any background in or much knowledge of the theatre world. Thinking back, I now realize that there are an amazing number of similarities between MT and sports, in terms of trying to pursue them at a college or professional level: In contrast to our involvement in MT, our family lived and breathed baseball from the time my son was 5 years old. The youth baseball world (same for soccer, tennis - you name it) is full of private camps, individual instruction, regional and national traveling teams, awards, recognitions, etc. As part of this process, your kid gets exposed to others on regional, national and even international levels. He quickly learns how he stacks up and, perhaps equally importantly, learns to push his game to a higher level. The kids end up getting training from increasingly experienced, skilled and well-connected instructors. The higher the level, the more brutally honest these instructors are, and the ballplayers and parents get increasingly realistic assessments of the chances of moving on to the next level. </p>

<p>In my son's case, he played on a top national traveling team, got a few looks from scouts, and is now playing baseball in college, but by his junior year in high school, we knew very well that his chances at playing at a top D-I school or being drafted were minimal, to the point where pursuing that blindly would have been an obvious mistake. Of course, it's true that there are some players whose talents and/or potential are apparent even without all of this extra training and evaluation, but the majority of the kids going on to play baseball in college and the pros have gone through the process my son has. </p>

<p>In hindsight, I can contrast his experience with my daughter's MT path. It would be as if my son had been limited to just playing on the local recreational and high school ball teams, receiving no instruction beyond what the high-school math teacher/baseball coach could provide. My D's situation wasn't that limited - she attended summer camps and has had some excellent outside instruction - but it's comparable. We knew early on that it didn't make sense for my son to expect to be drafted by the Yankees or try to walk on at U. of Texas, but we didn't have the same basis for knowledge regarding my D's MT chances. She loaded up on auditions at the most highly-competitive schools, but fortunately she also had several good but less competitive BFAs and some BAs on her list, so things look like they'll work out OK. But in hindsight we'd have been better off leaving some of the "top" schools off the list and instead including additional schools that don't have the same name recognition but that still have strong and valuable programs. </p>

<p>This is not meant to discourage anyone from reaching for the stars, but instead is just a caution to recognize some realities.</p>

8

<p>Thanks everyone for your input. Although I lurked for about a year, it took me a couple of months after registering to actually post anything! (I am VERY technology-challenged!)</p>

<p>I had always tucked Thespian's at the back of my mental file since it never seemed to be a deciding factor one way or another in auditions. It just shocked me to have someone say that kids were actually getting acceptances off of their auditions there. </p>

<p>My daughter is lucky that she has always had a realistic view of the statistics. We have been involved in the college search since her sophomore year and know people who are in/graduated from, MT programs. She is doing everything she can to be as prepared as possible, taking advantage of resources available outside of her H.S. </p>

<p>CC has been so valuable and I recommed it to anyone who makes noises about going into MT. (Sorry, this sounds like a Hallmark commercial!)</p>

9

<p>My S did auditions at his STATE thespian conference, where there were quite a few state and out-of-state schools. Each student was given an audition number, and then the schools posted the numbers of the students they wanted to see for callbacks. We went and talked to the schools that gave him a callback. For Webster, he was actually taken into another room for his acting audition, then told we would need to send in a CD for his vocal audition. We had not even applied for the school yet, but we did later that week and sent in his CD. That was the only audition he had with Webster, and it was in early February right before all the unifieds, so they may think of it as a unified.</p>

<p>I can't say enough about all the good opportunities my S has had because he is a member of ITS. He auditioned for the international cast of Hairspray last year at the state conference, and received a callback for internationals (which he elected not to do for other reasons). He's also had the opportunity to audition for, and participate in, the elaborate opening number our state does each year. And he has presented an individual event solo for the past 2 years, getting superior ratings. This year he was also lucky enough to be selected for one of the state scholarship awards.</p>

<p>These experiences we feel better prepared him for college auditions, because auditioning became very comfortable for him. Going into every college audition, I would tell him not to be nervous and he'd look at me, shrug and say "It's just another performance."</p>

10

<p>My son auditioned last summer at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, NE. He did, indeed, get letters of acceptance from a few smaller colleges directly from this audition. The letters were clear that he did not need to audition again. He was required to send in a regular college application if he planned to attend those colleges. He received scholarship offers from at least two of the colleges - in the $2,000 to $5,000 range. There were other colleges that sent him letters saying they were interested, but that they required a regular audition before acceptance. It is possible to get into a college from the Thespian Festival summer audition.</p>

11

<p>That's great, CosmoMom! I had no idea...and I stand corrected. Was he in the International HS cast of TMM, by any chance? He and my D might be friends!</p>

12

<p>Our experience is similar to Cosmo. My D auditioned at her State Thespian conference. She has received offers of full tuition plus room and board. But these were not colleges listed above. They were mostly smaller or local programs.</p>

13

<p>Yes, son was in the Intl cast of TMM - back row of the ensemble. What an experience!! He was the typical kid who was the star in high school and when he got to the Millie auditions, he got blown away by what the competition was on a national level. I think terrified was more the word. After he got in he took advanced tap lessons for a year just to try to keep up with the rest of the cast when rehearsals started. This was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, because by the end of 10th grade he knew what the level of competition was going to be on a national level when he started auditioning for colleges. He switched voice teachers, hired a second vocal coach, got an acting coach, etc. etc. - almost bankrupted the CosmoMom family in the process!! Then at the end of 11th grade he auditioned for colleges at the festival and was able to get a feel for what schools he might have a chance at based on the callbacks at the festival. This was invaluable feedback and I highly recommend doing this.</p>

14

<p>I just wanted to add to our experience at State Thespian auditions. Yes after her audition her name appeared on "call back" sheets where they were inviting her to come to their table or contact them. The colleges are not permitted to contact the students directly at the conference. But we had some colleges that did not post her name on the sheets - they just started emailing and snail mailing with offers the week after conference. Some of these people don't give up. One college has called SIX times and been told by either myself or my D that she is going to IU. At first they offered a scholarship, then a full scholarship, then a full scholarship plus room/board. I'm waiting for a letter saying they'll pay HER $5000 to go there next!!</p>

15

<p>Interesting thread.</p>

<p>When my S began to visit schools in his Jr. year, we learned about the thespian conference in Nebraska from some STUDENTS on the campusus. Our school does not participate (it is a traditional college prep high school with few students interested in performance). The students said that colleges were there and that offers of admission were made. I do not remember whether it was at this conference or another conference that an offer was made to and accepted by a student we talked to at one of the schools. It would be helpful if doctorjohn or one of the other colleg reps would find this post and chime in.</p>

<p>I do remember thinking that my S might be at a disadvantage by not having this sort of opportunity.</p>

16

<p>As always, I have learned a lot from CC and from communicating with people from all over. Again, we were like MTFamily in that we didn't know that all these things even exist....be it the Thespian Festival and many other things I have read on CC....North Texas Theater conference (I forget the name), state thespian conference awards, Cappies, NFAA, and so on and so forth. Someone has contacted me privately to say that their child was accepted at the conference in Nebraska at one of the well known MT programs at the top of this forum, for acting, and so I guess it does happen. Sometimes I do wonder how my child got into BFA programs without any of these things but you know, it is more common than not that you can go to any school in this land if you work hard, train, become informed about the colleges and the admissions process, etc.</p>

17

<p>I would love to hear what somebody like DoctorJohn has to say about this practice.</p>

<p>From what I understand, there are policies in place where college recruiters are not allowed to contact athletes before a certain date in the summer. (I have a child in a HIGHLY commpetitive sport and have seen the athletes on the team go through this, even though I am not clear on the actual rules.)</p>

<p>It might be time for some formal "rules or practices" such as this to be put in place for college programs that require an audition. I have no problem with college recruiters noting a student they are interested in, and sending info about their program. After all, athletes get tracked through four yrs. of H.S.! However no acceptances should be offered until everyone is allowed to join the audition process, otherwise why all the angst of getting apps. in and trying to get audition dates in the fall? How much more discouraging can we possible make this process?</p>

18

<p>mtfamily....that's a good point. In sports, you can be recruited but you would not get an formal offer of admission prior to ED in senior year. It sounds like some college offers went out at this thespian conference (or others) before the audition season began and perhaps they could just recruit at those like with sports but not make formal offers of admissions. </p>

<p>That said, I truly do not think all BFA programs attend these conferences nor employ this practice. I know I have read on here about some event in North Texas where some colleges attend and extend offers. But many colleges are not involved in this. My D's BFA program (NYU/Tisch) is not. </p>

<p>Also, I don't think this practice takes up many slots. Nobody I know were at any of these events or got into a BFA program in this way. And I know a lot of kids in BFA programs (top ones) and they all got in the regular way. So, keep it in perspective.</p>

19

<p>Be careful what you wish for - you'll end up with MT scouts showing up at all your kids' high school performances with keys to Escalades in their pockets.</p>

20

<p>Hi CosmoMom, I tried sending you private message, but there's no link. I don't want to give names here in public, but my D played Cora in TMM! I'm sure they are friends. She was one of two girls from Birmingham,AL...if that helps. Where are you from, maybe we met?</p>