A New [Petrified] Face

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
1

<p>Yo & Hello ~</p>

<p>The Name is Courtney, I’m a MT hopeful from Southeast Michigan. The School I will hopefully be attending is Millikin University, and honestly, I’ve never been more petrified in my ENTIRE life, after scores and scores of shows, I’ve finally met the real thing that can make me a baby — this audition. I would love any advice anyone can offer, and maybe an insight into the audition process, as well as feedback on a piece or two ( if you’re interested) </p>

<p>I’d love to be able to talk off some fear I’ve been having, or atleast feel slightly more comfortable.</p>

<p>Honestly, I shouldn’t even be afraid, I mean – if I don’t make the BFA, I can be a theatre BA, no shame, right?
Ugh…</p>

<p>Regards ~
Courtney</p>

2

<p>Courtney,</p>

<p>It’s normal to be a little nervous at this time. Educating yourself on the process will help and being completely prepared will help enormously! Start doing searches on this site and most all of your questions will be answered. If you still have specific questions please ask, there are many on this board who would love to help. Good Luck.</p>

3

<p>Awww, thank you, I was hoping I could get an insight into the day of the MT audition, specfically for Millikin.</p>

<p>If anyone knows, I’d sure appreciate it .</p>

4

<p>Courtney, in case you haven’t seen it yet, at the top of the main page for the MT forum is a list of school sub-forums which includes Millikin. You could probably get some detailed info about the audition by posting your question there or there may even be some existing discussion about auditions. Everyone is nervous and at times apprehensive about their school auditions. It’s natural to feel that way. Try to have confidence in your training and experience. You’ve been in scores of shows; try to view your audition as just another opportunity to do what you love - perform!</p>

5

<p>Courtney – I hope you are auditioning for more than one school, and especially that Millikin is not your first audition. You will feel more comfortable once you have a few auditions under your belt. Meanwhile, continue working on your audition material, even if you feel you already know it very well. Yes, you will be nervous – but if you are 100% secure about your performance, it will help ease those jitters. Practice your monologues/songs at every possible opportunity so that you can deliver them well under any circumstances.</p>

6

<p>Oh, thanks everyone!</p>

<p>Unfortunately, my parents will not allow me to audition for any other schools, they really don’t understand what sort of pressure that puts on me , but they don’t know anything about Musical Theatre, so it’s almost understandable.</p>

<p>They expect me to do well as always =, and be a theatre BA, and transfer in, take the same classes, if all sin’t peachy keen.
I mean, they wouldn’t even pay my application fee to WMU.</p>

7

<p>Courtney…When I read your first post, I feared you were only applying to one school. </p>

<p>Even if you are the most talented girl in the USA in MT, it doesn’t mean you will get in. The acceptance rate into BFA in MT Programs is low at all programs. While Millikin is not the MOST selective MT program out there, it still has a low admit rate, which makes it very chancy odds for ANYONE (this has nothing to do with YOUR talent, as I don’t know you). The odds being that more will be turned away than admitted, it seems not only a TOO chancy strategy to only apply to one program, but I honestly find that this strategy can work AGAINST your goals. I mean there is a chance you won’t get in. That is just the reality of the situation. Yes, you can attend as a BA student but the odds to transfer into the BFA are even LOWER as a transfer, than as a freshman candidate. If you want to major in MT, it makes sense to apply to more than one school. Because with the way you have it set up now, you either are gonna get to study MT or not do it. It is like one end of the spectrum to another. And it doesn’t have to be that way. </p>

<p>I realize that your parents are the ones dictating this but I urge you to have them read this thread, let alone the MT Forum to educate them what you are dealing with, and if possible, get your guidance counselor to also explain it to your parents. </p>

<p>In my opinion, if there is any possible way, fund the app fee to another school on your own. If you don’t get into Millikin’s program, and you do get in elsewhere, the option will be there to discuss with your parents at THAT time. Otherwise, you have closed out all other options from the get go. It can’t HURT to open up options. </p>

<p>I am a parent of a MT performer. While I think she had the background and talent to get into a BFA in MT, I knew realistically how tough the odds were. There is no way I’d let her apply to just one program. In fact, she didn’t get into the first two programs she auditioned for and got into the remaining five and priority waitlisted at the sixth. Had she only applied to the first two, she would not have gone to college for a BFA in MT (she was academically admitted to Emerson as one of the BFA’s she did not get into) and she would not be where she is today as a professional actor in NYC, I don’t think. While there are many routes to that goal, it would be a shame to close off all the options from the start, if college is part of what you are hoping to do. </p>

<p>Honestly, all should not be riding on one school. Not only due to the odds, but like you say, that just creates more pressure. </p>

<p>In any case, practice your auditions for anyone who will watch. Go into the audition room and treat it as any other performance you’ve done. Believe in yourself. And if you don’t get in, do not assume you don’t have the requisite talent. The upshot at one BFA program doesn’t tell the story. I know kids who went to the tippy top BFA in MT programs in the country, who also had some rejections. None of them applied to just ONE school however, thankfully.</p>

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<p>Courtney, it might also help if you have your parents talk to someone who has been through this process. I would certainly be willing to discuss it with them; if they have any questions, they are welcome to PM me, and I am sure there are others on this board who would do the same. It is a big mistake to only audition for one school, and as you said, it just makes the pressure worse for you knowing that you only have one chance at admission.</p>

9

<p>It’s a really great idea to have at least one non-audition school where you can study theatre. I know for my d it was such a relief to go into auditon season with one acceptance to a college where she could study what she loved.-no matter what the outcome of her auditions would be. You might want to check into what different state schools in your state offer and see if there is a non auditon safety</p>

10

<p>Courtney - Is there any reason you are particularly interested in Millikin? Not saying it isn’t a great school - my D has a friend there who LOVES it - but just wondering if there is something about that school that you really love so that the very knowledgeable people on this board might be able to suggest non audition schools with similar features. There are schools with no application fees if you apply online so those might still be options for you.</p>

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<p>I also think the suggestion of a non-audition school to add is a good idea. It is true that if you don’t get into Millikin for the BFA, that you could attend the school anyway. But in my view, if you are going to do a BA, it would be better to do one at a school that doesn’t also have a BFA (generally speaking…there are some exceptions) so that the theater program you are in is the main program and not the second tier program at that school and where the production opportunities and classes in the department are fully open to you. Even if you wish to transfer to a BFA eventually, you could still do so. It need not be within Millikin that you do that.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for all the comments. I’m almost overwhelmed, the amount of care in this quaint little online community baffles me! Wayne State University is my non-audition school, they don’t have a musical theatre, but a solid theatre BA and BFA.</p>

<p>Millikin caught my attention because, it’s a small college, and beautiful, I come from a small arts high school, and I despise large schools, since I went to a large middle school. So, small schools are a definate for me. There’s tons of top notch theatre programs within my own state, but — like I said, they are within my own state, I really need to get away from my family, and get a chance to be independent, at WMU, they’d be 2 hours away — which is still a little close, and it’s a HUGE school, with an ugly campus, and most students from the state of Michigan, Wayne State is — in detroit, enough said, a half-hour away , I simply couldn’t handle it.</p>

<p>To continue, When I visited Millikin, I felt at home, the show was great, the staff were nicer then any other staff members I came across at other colleges I’ve toured and Workshopped with, and I simply felt more comfortable. The college itself offers everything else I wanted in a school,[Model UN, no MFA’s, non-cell-like dorms, BEAUTIFUL campus] and it’s a neat 6-7 hours away, giving me enough room for my space, without my parents having a heartattack.</p>

<p>I do wish I was able to audition for other programs, especially the close ones like Oakland University, and possible get to look at WMU again. I’d love to hear about more “non-audition” schools, if anyone could help me, it would be greatly appreciated</p>

<p><3</p>

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<p>A school that you may want to look at is Muhlenberg, a small liberal arts college in Allentown , Pennsylvania. It falls in the range of selective schools, though not as selective as schools like Northwestern, and if you have the academic credentials for admission, in many ways could be the perfect “stealth” MT school for you. Muhlenberg has a real dichotomy in its “personality”. It has long been very well regarded academically and has many very fine liberal arts departments. At the same time, its performing arts programs in theatre, dance and music are excellent and attract many very talented students who could be in a BFA program but want the broader liberal arts education that is offered. While there is not a major per se in MT, many students create a MT curriculum for themselves by majoring in theater performance and taking dance and voice (whether as part of a double major, minors or just taking the classes). It is also very possible to have a double major in a traditional academic field and in theater. The school has a great theater facility and stages at least one musical a year as well as dramas. It also runs a summerstock stage with a couple of musicals each summer. Admission to the school (and to the theater major) does not require an audition but you can do an optional audition to get talent scholarship money in addition to generous academic scholarships that are available. The atmosphere is also a very warm and welcoming one.</p>

<p>Others on this Board can give you other suggestions. There is also a thread devoted to discussing BA programs; if you do a search on the MT forum for “BA Programs” or such similar terms, it should pop up.</p>

14

<p>DeSales University, also in PA, is a non-audition BA MT program. Christopher Newport, in VA, is another. University of New Hampshire is another non-auditoned BA MT program, but is a bigger school. Check out the Big List towards the top of the forum non-auditioned schools have a ~ next to the name.</p>

<p>If you are going to add a school to your list you will want to do it quickly. Many application dates that have not passed are soon.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

15

<p>Since you are looking in Illinois, you may want to look at North Central College in Naperville. They have a non-audition BA in Music Theatre, a lovely campus, no MAs, excellent financial aid and a music theatre scholarship competition. It was one of my S’s safeties and he got an academic, theatre and music scholarship which added up to a lot of money! The people there are attentive and caring and we were impressed with the theatre students we met at the scholarship competition.</p>

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<p>I know my daughter auditioned for DeSales- although I’m not sure if the audition was for acceptance or scholorship. DeSales has a great program- the quality of their productions is very high.<br>
It also seems that many colleges have a non audition BA in theatre ( not musical theatre)</p>

17

<p>I auditioned for Desales too thinking it was only for the scholarship, but it turns out that you need to audition for the program. When I got my letter of acceptance to the school it said that I needed it complete an audition for it if I hadn’t already auditioned on the scholarship day. I was led to believe that they were a non audition school until I got that letter. My admissions counselor was nice enough to call me and tell me I was accepted into the MT program=) but I’m still not 100% sure as to how many students they take and whatnot.</p>

<p>I was really impressed with DeSales when I went to the audition and got to see the scenes that students presented. I saw Anne of Green Gables that night as well and I was really impressed with everything I saw that day with the theater department.</p>

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<p>Good to know… the way the website reads it sounds like it is a scholarship audition. This is probably something that should be updated on the Big List as well. THANKS!</p>

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<p>No problem! I thought the same thing and had it on my list of schools as one of my non-audition schools.</p>

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<p>I sent my information in, So, I’ll take a little look-see.
:)</p>