MomCares

@mvic2312 -

It's always a relief when folks who audition for so few schools still end up in the happy place... congratulations!

broadwaydiva12

@dramaqueenmoma- Make sure to let all the schools your daughter didn't choose to she will be attending Penn State because all those schools have waitlisters they will notify. Your daughter must be very talented to get into all those great programs!!! Congrats! My D got rejected everywhere bUT is waitlisted at Roosevelt which is her DREAM SCHOOL. So hopefully there will be a spot for her! Best wishes to you and your daughter!!!

mvic2312

Thank you MomCares! I definetly feel blessed to say the least

musicaliowan

Applied: University of Alabama, James Madison University (University of Iowa, University of Kansas academic only)
Accepted: All
Rejected: None
Decision: James Madison University

I must be insane for applying to only two schools for MT. At least it worked out! While deciding where to apply, I explored every possible program imaginable. But what it came down to was whether or not I could potentially double major, because that was my parents requirement if I was going to pursue a performing arts degree. This eliminated some of my favored programs (Elon, Ithaca, Penn State, etc.), and even though some BFA's (Michigan, NYU, BA at Northwestern) you can double major, they were waaaaay too expensive. I eventually chose James Madison because of how they conducted the audition and my certainty of the training. My audition was by far the best audition experience I've ever had, their facilities are absolutely beautiful, and they seemed very professional. I am happy with my choice, as I see that I will get a lot of essential training (as I am from Iowa they're aren't very many things to do beyond school and community theatre) but I will still become a knowledgeable actor. It was a nice journey coming to this decision!

santafedad

Male (Baritone)
Prescreen – Oklahoma (rejected)
Campus auditions (all acceptances) - Wichita State; OCU; Memphis; Northern Colorado
Unified Auditions - Point Park (Yes); CCM (No); Utah (rejected academically)
Final Choice: University of Memphis

My son’s voice teacher told us that of her 8 seniors, his college process was the smoothest (thanks to cc). But that was also because his academics were pretty average – as are our finances. So there were no academic reach schools and on the two trips that required a plane ticket, I waited until we had academic acceptances in hand before scheduling auditions. This is where the dual-track admissions process really helped us
Also, thanks to cc, I knew that conservatory programs as Hartt, BoCo and CMU were going to be out-of-reach financially even with a top scholarship. All this considered, he still had some fine choices.

OCU was initially our top choice due to its world-class voice training – and we liked the fact that MT and classical voice (opera) were integrated with the same faculty. But when we really compared the degree requirements (BA Music vs. BFA MT), we didn’t see my son in that program (4 semesters of music theory). He really wanted a BFA with strong dance.
He loved Wichita State (the perfect size for a college) and that program and Utah have about the strongest dance curriculum one can imagine (27 hours). Like OCU, it also offered students classical training alongside MT. But the cost for OOS students was not competitive and the scholarship offer was only for one year. So that left 3 schools, all good BFA options – PP, NoCo, and Memphis. The cost of living in downtown Pittsburgh with sports teams and $4 lattes really made me nervous. And the fact that my son preferred a campus with rec sports and Ultimate Frisbee, made it easier to set aside Point Park.

So it came down to 2 really, really good programs – one more established and one up and coming. I actually preferred No. Colorado: closer to home, familiar, long-time friends in nearby Boulder, summer performance work. He loved the campus and the idea of snowboard trips to Vail, Aspen. And when he met a few other kids on the campus tour, I thought it was done.

As it turns out, Memphis really wanted my son. Don’t underestimate the power of Southern Hospitality and in the age of instant communication how a hand-written note from the department head can leave an impression on an 18-year-old. But even before all that, I think, he had decided he wanted a new experience in a different part of the country – an intact college campus with the advantages of a diverse metropolitan area.

Nccpdad

Twin son #1
Applied: Ithaca, Point Park, CCM, Florida State, BOCO, Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace, CMU, Oklahoma City University, Indiana Jacobs (voice), Northwestern (voice)
Accepted: Florida State BM MT, Oklahoma City BM MT and BM voice, Northwestern BM voice, Indiana University Jacobs voice
Rejected: Ithaca, Point Park, CCM, BOCO, BW, CMU, Michigan
Decision: Florida State BM MT

He selected FSU because it a more intimate program which offers conservatory style training within a larger University. FSU has an excellent track record for producing graduates who are working professionals. Classical vocal training, coupled with exceptional acting and dance training; can't go wrong! Added plus, he received a great scholarship offer! The head of the department could not have been more supportive!

DramaMamaZ

DramaMamaZ's son (chrisz94)

Applied: Hofstra Univ, James Madison Univ, Christopher Newport Univ, Rowan Univ, Rider Univ, Wagner College, Muhlenberg College, Montclair State Univ
Accepted: Hofstra Univ-BA Drama, James Madison Univ-BA MT, Christopher Newport Univ-BA MT, Rowan Univ-BA Theater, Rider Univ-BFA MT, Wagner College-BA MT, Muhlenberg College-BA MT, Montclair State Univ-BFA MT
Rejected: Montclair State-BFA MT (accepted academically)
Decision: Wagner College

Son ultimately wanted a BA program over a BFA with an intensive MT concentration. Only 3 programs fit the criteria ~ JMU, Muhlenberg, & Wagner. Wagner's proximity to Manhattan, their experiental lib arts education, Honors College offer, networking/internship opportunities so near to Broadway, and an audition selective program were all factors in his final decision. They also gave him the highest scholarship offer of all his acceptances. He can also double major or minor within the BA program, with careful scheduling (he's considering Arts Administration; Wagner has a well-established program).

It's been a long road, but he's very happy he's decided on Wagner.

DramaMamaZ

DramaMamaZ's son (chrisz94)

Tried to edit the above post to remove Montclair St from "Accepted" (typo), but thread would not allow me to. Also added further comments (couldn't delete the post, either)

Applied: Hofstra Univ, James Madison Univ, Christopher Newport Univ, Rowan Univ, Rider Univ, Wagner College, Muhlenberg College, Montclair State Univ
Accepted: Hofstra Univ-BA Drama, James Madison Univ-BA MT, Christopher Newport Univ-BA MT, Rowan Univ-BA Theater, Rider Univ-BFA MT, Wagner College-BA MT, Muhlenberg College-BA MT
Rejected: Montclair State-BFA MT (accepted academically)
Decision: Wagner College

Son ultimately chose a BA program with an intensive MT concentration over a BFA . Only 3 programs on his list fit the criteria ~ JMU, Muhlenberg, & Wagner. Wagner's proximity to Manhattan, their experiental lib arts education, Honors College offer, networking/internship opportunities so near to Broadway, and an audition selective program were all factors in his final decision. They also gave him the highest scholarship offer of all his acceptances. He can also double major or minor within the BA program, with careful scheduling (he's interested in Arts Administration as well; Wagner has a well-established program). Also, through the audition process, he felt that the faculty/adjudicators at JMU, Muhlenberg, & Wagner all took the time to get to know him better as a person, and he left feeling very positive about his experience at each of these schools. Rider was also among his top choices (the faculty there were excellent);he'd made several visits there besides his audition, but the change in the program to a BFA was a big personal drawback for son.

It's been a long road, and he's very happy he's decided on Wagner.

MTTwinsinCA

Finally finished notifying schools my S#1 & S#2 won't be attending, so ready to post to this background thread. It's a lengthy post, but wanted to share some lessons gleaned from our “long and winding road” process of college auditions:

Son #1

Prescreen Applicant: Texas State, Michigan (Invited to both for on-campus callbacks)

Applied to (16): Texas State, Michigan, Rider, Hartt, Pace, Point Park, U. Arts, Carnegie Mellon, CCM, Emerson, NYU Tisch, USC, Muhlenberg*, Eugene Lang*, Cal State Northridge*, Drew*

Accepted to: Rider BFA MT, Hartt BFA MT, Pace BFA MT, Pt. Park BFA Acting, U. Arts BFA MT, Emerson BFA MT, NYU Tisch NSB MT BFA, USC BA Acting, Eugene Lang*, CSUN*, Drew*, Muhlenberg*,

Rejected from: Texas State, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, CCM

Waitlisted at: N/A

Final Decision: Pace BFA MT

* Non-audition “safety” schools

Son #2

Prescreen Applicant: Texas State, Michigan (Invited to Michigan for on-campus callback)

Applied to (16): Emerson, Michigan, Hartt, Rider, Pace, Point Park, U. Arts, Carnegie Mellon, The Boston Conservatory, CCM, USC, NYU Tisch, Eugene Lang*, CSUN*, Drew*, Muhlenberg*

Accepted to: NYU Tisch NSB MT BFA, Hartt BFA MT, U. Arts BFA MT, Rider BFA MT, Emerson BA Acting, USC BA Acting, Eugene Lang*, CSUN*, Drew*, Muhlenberg*

Rejected from: Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, CCM, Pace, BoCo

Waitlisted at: Point Park U BFA MT

Final Decision: Rider BFA MT

* Non-audition “safety” schools

Background:

Met with college audition coach early in the process to ascertain the likelihood of success for identical twins auditioning for MT at the same schools. Agreed that odds were already stacked against most kids, and that being ID twins would only add to the difficulty in gaining acceptance—especially at schools where “type” plays into admission decisions. (Wanted to make SURE boys understood the odds they faced.)

Our fears were confirmed early on when S1 & S2 participated in several master classes with experts including college reps who reiterated the need for the boys to differentiate themselves. Since we weren’t going to force the boys to split up their lists of dream schools, we focused instead on clearly defining who each boy was and selected appropriate headshots, monologues and song repertoire.

**Stroke of luck #1: We had visited both Rider and Hartt the prior spring and knew they would be on the boys’ list of schools where they’d audition. Both schools had auditions in early December. We made a special East Coast trip from CA to do these auditions the same weekend. Not only did this secure two key acceptances early in the process (one of which is S#2’s final choice!), but it spread the boys’ auditions out over several months. [As it turns out, S#2 was sick for part of Unifieds, so, thankfully, he got a couple top schools done early.] Interestingly, both boys were accepted at both these schools – something I’m not sure would have happened later in the audition season when auditors had seen hundreds of students.**

Lesson: If finances allow, get a couple schools done early in the season – it’s a good hedge against illness later on and may help boost your confidence to get a few auditions under your belt.

Early in the game, there were tough times at the house when S#1 was invited to audition at Texas State and S2 wasn’t. S1 fell in love with the program and was heartbroken to be rejected the next day. (But at least Tx State didn’t drag it out!)

Boys did Michigan audition on-campus, then Carnegie, U. Arts and Point Park at Chicago Unifieds. The rest of their auditions were completed in Los Angeles. The schedule was brutal and as mentioned, poor S2 succumbed to a horrible cold by the final stretch. It affected his auditions for BoCo and NYU, but the auditors were nice enough to request online video submissions of his songs. Ultimately S#2 was admitted to NYU for Tisch NSB MT, so the video submission didn’t hurt his chances.

**Stroke of luck #2: Thankfully we had the boys’ songs on video. Because of the prescreen requirements for Tx. State and Michigan, we had good recordings of 16- and 32-bar cuts. S2 was able to reuse these videos when he was sick at LA Unifieds. He was able to email them to the auditors on the spot.**

Lesson: Get your audition pieces on video – you never know when they’ll come in handy!

All along, there was debate about whether my boys would go to college together or apart. Honestly, I think the competitive nature of this audition season sealed the deal. By the end of the road, they were sick of auditioning against each other – not in a mean way, though. They are both such kind and supportive people they would NEVER say that, but it was terribly emotional if one son got into a MT program and the other didn’t. (And yes, this happened to each S at different MT programs/campuses; no rhyme or reason.) They know they’ll be auditioning together or against each other professionally FOREVER so this is their chance for four years to really differentiate each other and to widen their individual networks.

In the end, just as the universe is set up for such things, the boys naturally fell into where they were meant to be. S#1, who loved Amy Rogers the first minute he met her and who has a heart and a voice for “new” rock musicals, will end up at Pace in the BFA MT program. S#2, who was the one to first discover Rider when he went on his school’s East Coast College tour during sophomore year, will be part of the new BFA MT program at Rider’s Westminster College of the Arts. A well-rounded singer-actor-dancer, he looks forward to really ramping up his dance as a student of Robin Lewis.

While mom and dad worry about them separating not only from us, but from each other, they’ll no doubt flourish, each in his own special place and only 60 miles from each other.

Both boys received merit scholarships – something of utmost importance to us, since we discussed with them, quite candidly up front, that we did not want them to attend schools that would require them to take on student loans. (Both mom and dad speak from experience, since we had our own student loans to pay off for many years.) Since we don’t qualify for need-based aid but live in an expensive city, we established their budget early on – defining how much we expected them to pay out of their college savings accounts and how much additionally we could pay each year. Thankfully their generous scholarships will make this possible without them incurring debt.

**Stroke of luck #3: Over the years I would cajole my boys about taking AP Calc AB when they really wanted to go to “singing-acting-dancing college,” but in the end, their diligent and rigorous academics were what brought in the merit scholarships and ultimately allowed them to go to these BFA programs.**

LESSON: Yes, grades, test scores and academic rigor are important when it comes to raking in the merit scholarships.

A final note about Rider: This is a new BFA program and one that we’ve been watching for a few years now. We are lucky to have a high school drama director who is connected to several of the teaching professionals at Rider. It is funny how you get “signs” about certain life decisions, but I’ll say that all signs have been pointing one or both of my boys toward Rider for the past three years. The addition of Robin Lewis to the faculty this past year helped really make the case for this program. We’re thrilled that S#2 has chosen to be a part of this burgeoning new BFA that we’re sure will be THE hot new program to watch.

**Stroke of luck #4: While we let the boys apply to and audition for several schools that would have been “financial reaches” for our family, it was interesting to see the luster fade on some of the “big ticket” schools as the season dragged on. I don’t know if our constant hammering home about “seeing beyond the brand name” got through to them, or if they just chose to look deeper and really make the connections to the people and places where they had the best FIT, but they ultimately made savvy choices that won’t break the bank for our family. And they were still able to say they “got in” to some of the big name schools.

To those coming up into senior year: This is an emotional, stressful process. If you are lucky to have parents to support and help you through it, work together and try to keep your sanity. And if you’re doing it on your own, read these boards and try to glean as much as you can from everyone’s experience here.

Parents: In some ways, it is worse than you can imagine, and in more ways, it will bring you closer to your children than ever. Try to enjoy the ride – it is a time you will never forget!

To all of you: remember that this is your passion. At the end of the day, you have to LOVE it. Even if the worst possible scenario plays out and you don’t get in anywhere, no one can take your dream away.

Throughout this process, I reminded my kids that at the schools where perhaps 12 kids were accepted, there would be something like 782 super-talented kids getting “bad” news – most of whom had the leads in their school and community musicals, some of whom had already worked professionally, and many of whom also had amazing grades and test scores. There is SO MUCH talent out there you cannot even believe it. And this major is more popular than ever. So have a balanced group of schools on your list including non-audition safeties! And just know that in the end, everything is going to be OK! Break a leg!

singerchick

Applied:Carnegie-Mellon University, New York University- The Tisch School, Emerson College, Ithaca College, University of Cincinnati College Conservatory, Elon University, Syracuse University, Wagner College, The University of Hartford- the Hartt School, Baldwin-Wallace College,Western Connecticut State University

Accepted: Ithaca (academically), Uhartford (academically), Wagner( academically), Bwallace (academically), Western Connecticut State University

Waitlisted: NYU Tisch, Elon (academically)

Final Decision: Western Connecticut State University

I don't know if anybody else found themselves in the same boat as me, but I was truly heartbroken by my many rejections. I have taken voice lessons for 9 years, have been in 19 shows, have taken many dance classes, have been the lead in 6 shows, have a manager and agent, and have been told by many industry professionals that I have HUGE talent. My voice has always been my greatest asset. I trained hard for my auditions and even got private dance classes and a monologue coach. Everyone thought I would have many schools to choose from after my auditions- yet I have only been accepted to one program that no one on here even knows about. Yet western is an audition musical theater program and it is new and I do like it alot. I have come to terms with the outcome of my auditions and even though I am hurt I believe in myself. Alot of my friends with the same amount of talent and grades got into great programs, and I just don't understand. I think my list was not very smart looking back at it. Can someone share insight into what might have been the problem in my case? Thank you!

MomCares

@singerchick -

Since it seems that you are female, and your list included only auditioned programs, I'd say you are fortunate to have even one acceptance! Every year we seem to know at least one very talented MT kid who decides not to heed the advice to include a couple great non-auditioned safeties and ends the audition season with no school at all!

Every year on cc we also hear from a few girls with multiple great acceptances, but please understand that they are major exceptions! Even girls we know who have gotten into top programs have also received stinging rejections, and these are girls who have it all -- AMAZING talent, MANY years of top-notch training in all 3 areas, GORGEOUS appearance (perfect height, weight PLUS stunning features), resumes packed with impressive credits AND many influential professional contacts.

It's probably good to do a brief scan of things you might learn from this experience (did you follow school instructions and informal advice about audition material, did you dress appropriately for auditions, did you seem overconfident, did you do your research about each program, etc.) but beyond that know that MANY people are ruled out of these small programs simply by type or other factors beyond your control.

It's a tough business out there for female MT performers, so it's great that you are dusting yourself off after a rough audition season and getting ready to give yourself completely to the great program you're in. If you retain that attitude after every future rejection and commit yourself to continuing to learn and grow you will be successful in all areas of your life!

Congratulations on making it through the rite of passage that is MT audition season!!

tracyvp

Singerchick, you could beat yourself up all day long about what you might have done differently, but in the end it doesn't matter. Sure, as Momcares said, you probably "should" have included a couple of non-auditioned schools on your list and perhaps should have included a couple more of the schools that appeal to a more regional pool than a national pool. You included most of the "powerhouse" schools, at which entrance for even the most talented, as you seem to be, is almost by lottery.

But the fact is, you do have a school to attend next year that offers the training you want, and the best thing you can do right now is let yourself get very excited about the prospect. Don't sap your energy and enthusiasm by worrying about what might have been. Look forward to having an amazing year of learning and growing and fulfilling all the potential you have.

Best wishes for a truly wonderful year, and congratulations on having a place to go!

singerchick

@MomCares-
Thank you so much!!! I know it really does suck being a girl in musical theater... the odds are never in your favor. Maybe I'll try transferring next year, its just the whole process was so extremely stressful! Do you think that where you go to school truly increases your chances of getting work?
(sorry everyone that I am taking up space on this thread talking about this!)

MomCares

@Singerchick -- Hahahaha... maybe you have hit upon the new MT female slogan "May the odds be Never in your favor" ;-D

When you look at Playbills, you will find successful performers coming from every background you can possibly imagine... you can do great things wherever you come from!!

singerchick

Hahaha why is it that Hunger Games can be related to everything?? Love those books!! Thank you so much to both of you, you really made me feel alot better!