<p>Bumping this up</p>
<p>Schools/ programs accepted to:
LAMDA, RADA, UNCSA, RCS, Royal Welsh
Rejected:
Juilliard, Guildhall</p>
<p>Attending: LAMDA</p>
<p>As you can see, my son put all his eggs in one basket - top conservatories, mostly UK, not that many - which I would not advise to anyone! Definitely caused me many sleepless nights going in.</p>
<p>He had already taken his gap year, so I was also tossing and turning about what if he was rejected from all these schools?</p>
<p>He is a somewhat unusual example so I’m not sure how helpful this will be to others. I think the biggest thing that will be helpful is to say that I got SO much flack for ‘letting’ him take this path earlier on.</p>
<p>He started homeschooling in 9th grade, which almost no one does around here. We have excellent public schools, which is probably part of the reason. He started acting in professional regionals at 12 and didn’t really look back. He was cast fairly continuously in professional regional and semi-professional (paid in a stipend with one or two equity members but not an equity theatre), from then on to just a few months ago. .</p>
<p>When he was in 9th grade we reached a fork in the road, and at first i just enrolled him in high school. His middle school had been loving and understanding and when he missed a few months here or there for rehearsals, they allowed him to make up the work. Not so high school (understandably). So when he was cast in a show in the beginning of 9th grade, we started off trying to work something out with the high school, but that soon proved impossible. So he reached a choice: a) decline the professional theatre roles (semi pro would be usually ok since they tend to rehearse nights and weekends; professional regional theatre has a rehearsal schedule that goes for about 4-6 weeks 8-12 hours/day 6 days/week, and then has 8 shows/week for 2-3 months ). He could also audition for film which is also more doable in high school or b) homeschool and plunge into professional theatre.</p>
<p>He chose b because he was just so happy when he was doing theatre and not happy when he wasn’t. It was quite clear to me. I should say we had also just gone through a divorce so I’m guessing the theatre and the loving community he experienced allowed him to take him outside himself and also stream his emotions, both which were probably healing to him. </p>
<p>As I say, we got a lot of flack for doing this, from outspoken relatives and friends, all who said I was “allowing him to be a high school drop out.” My ex-MIL <em>still</em> says to his face he was a ‘high school drop out’ and <em>still</em> makes digs about his ‘odd’ path. My son is also a very ‘self-directed’ learner as it’s put, and read and explored stuff he felt he needed to learn (this is basic ‘unschooling’ I guess). I am also a high school teacher, certified in AP English & Math too, as well as having taught college; his dad is a PhD in science. So we had the ability to teach him many subjects and he did well on his SAT (2120). </p>
<p>He did also have several apprentices and internships with professional theatres, so that he was able to learn quite a bit, such as combat, text analysis, improv, casting, office work. He went to a local professional theatre’s summer day camp for many years, which he and his sister absolutely loved, very reasonably priced. They learned Shakespeare with professional directors, and it was very formative. If anyone lives near a professional theatre, I would urge you to explore their classes. He also took a few classes there. </p>
<p>He also went to RCS last summer for 4 weeks and took two adult classes, one in Stansilavski and one in Shakespeare/Greeks. He paid half with his own money. (We don’t have much money.)This was both to grow and learn, and also as a ‘dry run’ to see if his plan to go to a UK school was doable. By then this was what he wanted – to continue his learning at a ‘pure’ conservatory’. He loved RCS and so his plan was a ‘go.’</p>
<p>We hired a coach a bit late, in November… She was wonderful and helped a great deal, especially in helping him find monologues, especially contemporary which he was not used to. (In auditions he either did sides or Shakespeare monologues for his Shakespeare shows). She also gave him more confidence.He did find the college audition process to be more stressful than ‘regular’ audition because the stakes were so high.</p>
<p>His first two NYC auditions were Juilliard and Guildhall, and both were rejections, so he had a rocky start, but then it went well. </p>
<p>My unsolicited advice would therefore be to go with your child’s direction and to support him or her. Ignore people who seek to bring you down even if they’re well meaning. As I’ve said, his situation was unusual (I think) but I do think I’d stick with the general advice: You are the parent and know your child best. Support him/her in their path, whatever that is, as long as it’s reasonable and true to them. </p>
<p>Connections, thank-you for sharing your information. You have no idea how well timed and helpful this was for me! It sounds like our children have had some similar experiences. I hope it turns out as well for my daughter as it did for your son. I hope he has a smooth transition into school and thanks again for sharing.</p>
<p>Thanks, connections! I had been wondering how it all played out for your son. When does he leave (or has he already?) Looking forward to updates about the program there! So exciting for him. Mine is all settled in at USC and happy as a clam, it seems! Ahhhhhhh…what a wonderful ending we have all had. And “CHEERS” to new beginnings!</p>
<p>I love hearing all these happy endings and, yes, new beginnings! LAMDA doesn’t start until Sept 22. My older D is at Northwestern, so I have them both for several more weeks yet! </p>
<p>Schools/ programs accepted to: NYU Tisch, Syracuse, Northwestern (among others, but these were the serious contenders) </p>
<p>Performing arts high school: Yes</p>
<p>Audition coach/length of time: No coaching- this is something I would do differently if doing again.</p>
<p>Special training: Voice - 5 years, Dance - 5 or 6 years. Summer acting programs, 5 years including a stint at NYU summer program summer between junior/senior year, and the acting classes at PA school, which were very rigorous. </p>
<p>First try</p>
<p>Anything you did to prepare that you think made a difference: The PA school was a huge thing- and it gave her a good glimpse of what a BFA program will be like. It gave her opportunities to work with a wide variety of directors, work tech/crew/management (required) and go from being a good sized youth theater fish to a bigger pond (school was a magnet program drawing from a large area). She had to balance “academic” classes (she was able to take full slates of honors/ap etc) with theater things- her day was essentially split in 1/2 that way. She was a part of 9 shows last year, juggling and scheduling were huge, and I think they will serve her well. Obviously this is not a option for everyone- it’s what your part of the world has available. </p>
<p>The other thing that she did I would STRONGLY recommend is the college program in the summer. It solidified passion, helped her feel confident, and when it came time to audition, they knew her for more than 5 min. I really wish she had done one in between sophomore and junior year. Both CMU and Boston have programs that could have worked- she was waitlisted at both those schools, and I wonder if they had known her a little better… (though as I understand it, CMU precollege is not necessarily the same faculty as the actual CMU program) </p>
<p>As I said above, if I were to go through again, I would have hired a coach. The teachers at PA school were fabulous working with the kids on developing their auditions etc, but I wonder if a coach would have had a better handle on exactly what types of monologues etc… college auditors want to see.</p>
<p>This is from a 2013 parent. </p>
<p>Schools/programs accepted to: UNCSA, NYU Tisch, Hartt, U of Arts (and lots of rejections …)</p>
<p>Performing arts highs school: No </p>
<p>Audition coach: About nine months. Was a huge help. I’m pretty confident in saying she probably would not be at UNCSA if she did not have the audition coaching help. </p>
<p>Other training: many years private voice and dance; CMU summer, 2 years Frenchwoods, and Stella Adler conservatory. I think CMU summer and Stella Adler in particularly really helped her with her readiness. I don’t think its a surprise that kids from the top performing arts high schools do very well in this process given their exposure to an environment similar to what they’ll experience in college. </p>
<p>First Try. </p>
<p>Other info: My daughter has known she’s wanted to do this since 2nd grade. While we live reasonably close to NY (about 60 miles), we live in an area that is somewhat bereft of local opportunities. She did a bit of a community theater program that was pretty well done before it folded. High school was a nightmare. She did have a manager in NY and got some professional work until she got too tall. There is no market for a 16 year old that plays 16-18 because they can hire 18+ year olds for those roles. Still, it was a helpful experience to go through the professional auditioning process. </p>
<p>Schools/programs accepted to - BFA programs: SUNY Purchase, U of Arts, & Santa Fe.
BA programs: Hofstra, Tulane and Univ Minn. </p>
<p>First try… almost had to go a second round, but she got off the Purchase wait list in July. </p>
<p>Performing arts highs school: Yes, but the program was not what it once was, so unsure it made a huge difference over a regular high school. It honestly was a much better technical theatre program than acting/MT.
I honestly think our many years of homeschooling prepared her more. Lots of time to read, study and experience community theatre & film. </p>
<p>Audition coach: Yes, for about eight months (1-2x per week). Again, unsure she saw the right coach. Let’s just say it was a mixed bag, and her best 3 auditions all happened when she went off ‘script’. She also saw a vocal coach, for about 3 months, which I feel was much more of a plus.</p>
<p>My daughter also knew this is what she wanted from as early as I can remember. </p>
<p>Wow! I started this thread last spring, and I’m so pleased to see so many thorough and helpful responses. Thank you everyone!</p>