<p>When all else failed we made our D make a good old-fashioned T-chart listing pros on one side and cons on the other. One chart for each school. Hopefully after doing that exercise, one school has either more pros or more cons than the other. Especially helpful if you don’t have any gut instinct as to which is the best choice for you.</p>
<p>NewYorkSon - it’s not necessarily true that he will know when he gets there. It’s more likely he’ll know it’ not right for him but not always that it is the best choice, if I’m making any sense. Both my daughters were able to narrow it down to two and then it was stressful beyond belief. For my MT daughter it was even worse because my husband was furious that she took Yale off the table so that weighed on her as well.</p>
<p>She is a very organized kid so she made lists of all sorts of things and gave them points based on importance. For example, surrounding neighborhood was not all that important to her but program was so on her scale of 1-6 neighborhood was a 3 but program was a 6 (kinda obvious, but you get my point). She did this with as many items as she could think of and then totaled the points. She graduated last June but I do find myself wondering from time to time what would have happened if she went to one of her other choices. ( Quick funny story - senior year my husband and I are walking on campus to see her in a show and he says out of nowhere, “Still think she should have gone to Yale.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! Fortunately it was just between the two of us, but I know my daughter knows he still thinks this.)</p>
<p>In the end, it probably doesn’t matter, chances are he’ll love wherever he chooses. Good luck! </p>
<p>We started that @vvnstar. I’m sure he will figure it out but honestly this process has been so intense from the 5 auditions well really only 4 live the NYU was the video one. I know I cant complain because people had so many more but it seems like every step of the way it has been something from weather issues one almost got cancelled as we were flying it. Then you wait for acceptances and now the deciding. I am so happy we have this opportunity please dont get me wrong but all we are doing is arguing. I have a school I think would be best for him. I am trying not to say anything because I dont want him coming back if he is unhappy and say see you told me to do this. I know it will all work out how it is suppose to but I honestly thought once acceptances came things would be easier but are actually harder. We are very fortunate he has been offered nice money from both so now its just make the decision already LOL</p>
<p>My D is having a hard time too. Of course she’s basically trying to decide should she stick with acting for now and maybe get a masters in writing later, or switch now to writing, or take a gap year, or go to one school with the idea of transferring in a year.
I told her what I think and am not bringing it up now unless she does. I’m giving her another week and then will press for an answer.
Rehearsals for a play here in a community theatre started today for her and she has been happily going to her normal dance classes. We had to buy her two solo dance recital costumes the other day. It’s hard to imagine her not doing this at all!</p>
<p>I know @dramamom0804 that must be very difficult. Hopefully she will come to you with her decision. Well wishes!!!</p>
<p>@amtc thanks for sharing the story. I think sometimes we always wonder what if. Congrats on your daughter graduating. Hope all is well for her!</p>
<p>dramamom0804, what sort of writing is she interested in? I’m sorry if you’ve posted that before. What I mean is, is it playwriting? Fiction? Poetry? I ask because this may help her in deciding what her next step ought to be. If she’s interested in playwriting, some acting programs also have playwriting opportunities, either as a double major or as a certificate or minor. But if she’s interested in, say, poetry, that would be more difficult and she might then want a liberal arts education or else just write her poetry while learning acting. I have my MFA in writing btw if you had any questions about that path.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, after all the heartbreak, D is also having a hard time. We are going to Molloy College on April 27… only a few days before the deadline. They gave her righteous bucks. BUT she’s also considering Wagner’s BA in Arts Admin…a combination between performance and the business of theater, which I happen to think is a very smart plan. They also gave her righteous bucks. If you had told me three months ago that it would come down to this, I wouldn’t have believed it,</p>
<p>What a roller coaster ride this has been!!!</p>
<p>LOL @ righteous bucks!</p>
<p>We have to laugh about something in this crazy process!</p>
<p>D says she is interested in all types of writing. She has written poetry, short stories and plays and of course tons of essays and papers. She took creative writing this year in school and the teacher told her to submit her poems to the Youth poet laureate contest in our county. This actually happened right as she was getting all the rejections from acting schools. He told her that her poems were better than last year’s winner. I was like “thanks a lot dude. real helpful here.” Is it awful of me to hope she doesn’t win? That seems like it will just cement the idea to change to writing and I really don’t think she should make a career decision based on one class and one winning competition, as compared to ten years worth of focus and training in acting.</p>
<p>Being a poet is actually a worse career path than an actor isn’t it?? @-) </p>
<p>There are lots of jobs for people who can write well. Poetry is a lot like advertising in its compression and brevity. </p>
<p>@dramamon0804 - your D appears to be a multi-talented young lady. Take a look at some of the biggest names in show business…they are multi-talented, too: Woody Allen, for example (OK, his personal life is a cesspool, but the man is a genius). He can act, direct, write, and he’s a musician to boot. Creative juices are going to flow wherever they want to go…so why not let D pursue both acting and writing? That’s what’s wrong with the BFA MT; it’s confining. The acting training was far from a waste…I bet it helped her writing enormously. Re: writing being a worse career path than acting…I use both skills every day: I’m a lawyer who tries cases (acting if ever I saw it) and does appellate work (writing, writing, and more writing).</p>
<p>And I work in PR so I write too. I’m fine with her doing both. What I am feeling from her now is that she is a little mad at acting, or something… I’m not sure. I’m feeling emotions, not hearing logical questions about what to do. Emotions are fine too, but they should be coupled with reason.</p>
<p>My D’s school while a BFA has some flexibility to explore other avenues. Two kids did quite well at the regional festival this January in playwriting. The girl that won is in contention to go to the Kennedy center with hers and the other was an honorable mention at the festival. As long as there is playwriting in the curriculum I am guessing she can find an outlet there. Also if she is able to get gen eds out of the way through AP tests or in the summer she will have time in her schedule to take the writing courses she wants.</p>
<p>Didn’t know where to post this so here it is: For those of you concerned about your child’s choices, the New England School of Communication (ever hear of it?) is making a movie of a J.K. Rowling short story. If you go on youtube you can see some background video and the trailer. Appears very professionally made with students as actors. You know these kids are going to draw some attention from this project.</p>
<p>Just for the record, I have no opinion of this school at all, it’s just not one that I’ve ever heard of nor seen referenced here.</p>
<p>@amtc, I’ve heard of NESCOM; it’s a small school in Bangor, Maine. Your post would probably go best in the Visual Arts and Communications threads rather than here, but it does bring up some thoughts relevant to considering MT colleges/programs. One of the (many) reasons my S was attracted to Ithaca College was the presence of their Roy H. Park School of Communications, widely regarded as one of the best in the country, and the degree of cross-pollination between IC’s Park School and the Department of Theatre Arts. Lots of opportunities for Ithaca MT and Acting students to be in student films, TV/radio shows, and other projects on campus! Funny story: at our first Ithaca tour last spring, our tour guide knew so much about the MT and Acting programs that we just assumed she was a Theatre Arts major, but when we asked, she said she was a Communications major in the Park School and that “a lot of my friends are actors”! </p>
<p>In terms of choosing between acting and writing…I’m not so sure she has to make a choice. As someone else posted, in some BFA programs, there are opportunities to create/write in terms of projects and courses, and in some cases, even minor or double major. I know AlwaysAMom’s daughter got a BFA in Acting but also is a playwright. I know others who do both. My own kid got a BFA in MT/Acting at Tisch, and while she did not study playwriting, she is a very strong writer. In her final semester, she did an independent project whereby she wrote/composed a new musical she also starred in. That musical led to a lot more once she graduated. Even though she is an actor/singer (has been in theater productions nonstop), she also has commissions to write musicals for some significant theaters and music for Disney, and has won many fellowships and awards in that field even though she didn’t even study it in college, but rather studied performance. Your D could do both too. </p>
<p>Just wondering is anyone having issues where their kids are all over the board. I am sorry but he is driving me crazy. I dont really know how to help him with this. It has to be his decision. </p>