Welcome! We love OCU! It is a fabulous school and has extremely nice faculty and students. My kid has done a few summer programs there and has several friends that are students and graduates of the program. I’ll think good thoughts for your daughter to hear good news from them soon 
Congratulations @MTer1997! I really do think these people want to see personality / character, and it sounds like you handled a difficult situation with grace and humor. I think that says a lot! One of my D’s most successful auditions involved her being caught off guard by a question, making a joke, and laughing at herself in a very genuine way. I think the people in the audition room liked seeing that glimpse into her real personality and not the girl in “audition mode”.
My D has narrowed her choices down to 3 schools, and we’re making plans to visit the 2 further away from our home state in the next couple weeks, so that she can spend time on campus, attend classes, ask questions…they are 3 VERY different schools! One huge school in an urban setting (acting based with MT elements), one upper tier conservatory in a mid- size city (MT), and one smaller liberal arts school in a small town (MT). All fantastic opportunities, but now just really want her to come out of the visits feeling like she knows where she belongs for the next 4 years. So many people advise you to narrow your search before you start the process by the type of campus you want, but her schools ran the gamet just by nature of casting that wide net to make sure she got into a performing arts program. BTW, she has notified the schools that are no longer options that she will not be attending.
Well it looks like we are running into an unpleasant situation in our house. After months of waiting and hoping, we actually got three offers (out of 15). We are grateful. Why is that unpleasant, you ask? Of our three offers, D had discarded one. She didn’t “feel” it. Ok, no problem. Now down to two. One is a top 5 program on almost anyone’s list and D in in love with it. The whole “dream school” thing. The other option she likes a lot but the program is not as prestigious (it is a young program). Now the problem and why I am feeling like an awful parent. The young program is offering lots of money - great right? Well not so much. Our D wants to go to the dream school but they are not offering much money at all. There is a very large cost difference. And to be blunt and honest, we cant afford the dream school without a lot more help and D can go to the 2nd choice and it would be very affordable for us. We have told D that she needs to pick school #2 because of finances but she wants to take out student loans to fund the difference. We have said it is a really bad idea to graduate with a BFA as an actress with six figure debt. D feels like we are betraying her. Now I feel awful. I feel like I shouldn’t have let her audition at the more expensive “premier” programs because now she has her heart set. On the other hand, when the subject always came up we made it clear that to go to those programs she would have to get a lot of scholarship money to make it work, that our family couldn’t afford it. That is why we applied to several schools (including a state school) that we knew we could afford if she got it. Her second option has great faculty (even my D admits that) and I think she would get great training. I’ve tried to tell her that if she gets great training it shouldn’t matter so much and it will be up to her hard work and talent after she graduates. But she is still upset!
So now its very unpleasant at our house and I don’t know what to do. And here I thought the biggest problem would be getting an acceptance. This is just awful!
Thanks CC, for letting me vent my frustration!
I fully understand and empathize with you, @MTParents2015.
The financial part was torture for us, too. It’s obscene what middle-class families are supposed to be able to pay.
@MTParents2015 I will preface this answer by saying I am not an MT parent, I just find your process fascinating. there is a limit to Federal student loans, 5500 freshman year, and rising in 1000 increments there after. So she would need your help, ala Parent Plus loan, to take on that kind of debt. I hope you find a happy place with your child.
You have my empathy @MTParents2015! That can’t be pleasant for any of you. I’m very afraid of this very thing happening. It just makes my heart melt to think about it. {hugs}
Ugh @MTParents2015 I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!
There were some 2018 parents last year that faced this very same issue. I am hoping they will have some very wise and empathetic words to share. So so sorry… :-<
As far as Webster goes, in years past the portal has come out with decisions prior to April 1st. I know I have been checking religiously…!
D has a similar situation with a dream school, and we want more than anything to make it work for her, but short term happiness in college is not worth the long term effects that student loans can have on a young adult- especially without any guaranteed income. We are currently having D apply for outside scholarships and aid. Perhaps that could help?
Several of D’s friends are in the same situation, including D’s best friend. She got into an amazing state school that I is one of the top acting programs on anyone’s list, and because state school, much more affordable than the other schools she’s interested in that are in urban areas. She spends a lot of time with our family and we have a great relationship, I know how dire her financial situation is, and I am frustrated because I really don’t think she is being realistic about how financially devastating it would be to come out of school with huge student loans, not to mention difference in cost of living, travel… She doesn’t want to go to school in the same area where she has grown up, wants a big urban city. I kind of want to shake some sense into her! ~X(
I’m going through the same thing with my daughter! It’s so hard to see her disappointed, but I think she’s out of touch with financial reality! On another note, is there anyone out there who has not heard back from Hartt?
@Mysongbird - silence from Hartt here
@MTParents2015 My S has 4 acceptances and one of them offered him so much money, it became difficult for me to even LOOK at the others anymore. And he (not bound by the laws of finance and reality) wants to continue to compare and consider those on his waitlist too. The next closest one is $40k higher (4 yrs x $10k) and the highest is $100k more.
So I’m in the similar boat, graduate with no debt, or bury him (and me) in loans?
I don’t like taking ‘his choice’ away, So I offered him to use the money we saved, and attend graduate school.
Knowing that an advanced degree would be far more valuable throughout his entire life.
@MTParents2015 – take it from a Class of 2018 parent, there is no right answer here. When I applied to college a million years ago, my parents said no to my dream school for the same reason. I ran away from home (for three hours) and swore I would hate them forever. I turned out OK, I think, but my career path would have been very different had I gone to Dream School. You’d probably be calling me Madam Secretary today. My neighbor’s child (not theater) was accepted at That School In Big Urban Area That We Shall Not Name (for fear of opening up a can of worms again) that is on some lists the most expensive school in the US, but is notorious for giving very little money. And she was accepted at a state school. Her parents put their foot down and said no to Expensive School in Big Urban Area and made her go to the state school. I heard the poor kid’s sobs from across the street that day. Two years later, she’s happy as a clam, will graduate debt-free, and has set her sights on vet school. She got over her mad, and your D will, too. This is a very personal decision, and I wish you luck.
@MTParents2015 My D has 6 acceptances. She took the top 3 on her list and assessed everything-Pros and Cons. Financial stability after college was one of them. She took the school that was less money, that gave her a scholarship, which was a little closer to home so the travel expenses are a bit less, the program and it’s benefits long term and the overall fit for her. Once she did this, it was an easy choice. She actually decided to go with the school that was best all around for HER. (DePaul for BFA in Costume Design) She’s thrilled, and she won’t be in debt after college. She knows that she may be a starving artist for a while and doesn’t want to worry about student loans. Good luck choosing! It isn’t easy for sure.
@MTParents2015 I’m a 2018 parent and my daughter decided to attend the school that will have her graduate with NO debt at all. The money we are saving will afford her the ability to start her career in NYC without having to worry about finances because the money we are banking will be put toward that very difficult transition. She also is able to take extra acting classes in NYC with money we are saving. No director cares where you went to school.
We were in that financial spot last year but fortunately we were able to compromise. I removed the highest, he removed the lowest and we ended up in the middle. I am taking out plus loans to cover the difference. Disappointing them is never easy but in a process such as this I found it EXTRA hard. Best of luck!
Thank you all for your replies! Its nice to have support and see that others are in the same boat. I hope it will all work out as it seems to have for many that have gone before. Good luck to everyone!