Class of 2019 (the journey begins) - Sharing,Venting, Etc

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
3581

(From above)

Also- please please please, be kind to everyone. I think this is something that is forgotten far too often in our business. Be nice to each other. Be nice to yourself. Learn the names of the prop guy, the fly guy, your dresser. Always say "thank you". People will remember you if you're kind. They'll also remember you if you are unkind!

SO VERY TRUE. In our house, the mantra is “It’s nice to be nice.” I will ALWAYS cast someone who is somewhat less talented but great to work with over someone who is obviously talented but difficult and a pain in the a**. My wife is the same way. It makes a huge difference. You have to spend time with these individuals and you want to do that with people who are cooperative, talented, creative, and respectful. There are times when individuals get by me and I cast them only to find out later that it was a mistake in terms of their personality. As my wife says “You can’t audition for crazy.” They can get by you.

In fact, just yesterday I was at rehearsal and the production manager came to me with a resume of someone who had not only listed me on their resume but brought my name up in their interview. This is a very talented individual but they were unreliable and not pleasant to work with. I could not give them a recommendation to be hired. It is a small theatrical world. Everyone is connected in some way or another and those who are rough to work with eventually hit the end of their road.

IT’S NICE TO BE NICE!

3582

Husband and daughter just called driving home from Hartt… loved it! Phew! It is so nice to hear happiness in my daughter’s voice! Thank you @gingersnap97 for the info! Will definitely check it out! Daughter met a lovely MT student who got great work through strawhat; the theater liked her so much they asked her back for a second summer! She offered to host my daughter for a shadow day. Very impressed with the personal attention given students.

3583

We have not heard from either Hartt or Point Park. Is this normal?

3584

Not sure how true this is but heard today (from a voice teacher at respected University that you have all heard of ) said there are only 80 programs left that don’t take finances into consideration (your ability to pay majority of tuition) when applying for an artistic major. I was surprised to hear this. I always thought the financial people made offers after they were given list and was not aware decision makers were privy to fafsa info. Any thoughts?

3585

@MomCares, thank you so much for the link to the interview with Maddy Trumble! My daughter and I met her 6 years ago when we visited U of Mich, and she was a student there! I can’t remember how I connected with her - I think CC (!) and she met us, spent the day with us and gave us a fabulous tour, ate meals and shepherded us to a rehearsal of Evita. Neither my daughter or I have ever forgotten her, and she has become that invisible ‘guiding star’ for my daughter, who even listed Maddy for an assignment this year as one of 3 people my daughter could see herself as accepting similar roles as in the future. Maddy was exactly where you all are and my now graduating MT daughter is, once, too. Nice, then, nice now, and in a spot all our kids can aspire to!

3586

@13bingo1 I am surprised by this news. I wonder if the schools that take financials into consideration for making an acceptance do this for all of the majors at their school or did you get the impression the are doing this for artistic majors only? Also I wonder who is on this list of 80 schools ?

3587

Full article link follows …

3 You may be rejected or wait-listed at a college simply because you are not wealthy.

Every year, a substantial number of private colleges reject or wait-list a certain proportion of applicants not because of grades or test scores or because they would not be a “good fit,” but, rather, simply because their families aren’t rich enough to pay full freight. These schools, in other words, are “need aware” when admitting a share of their students.

This may seem unjust. But colleges say they have no other choice because they have only a limited amount of money to spend on financial aid. “While financial aid is one of the top three expenditures at Oberlin, the amount of funds available is still finite, and we do have to take that into account in the admissions process,” says Elizabeth Houston, who works in the admissions office at Oberlin College.

“If, for instance, we admitted a class comprised entirely of students who could make no financial contribution to their education, we simply couldn’t afford it,” explains Houston in a blog post on the college’s website. “That’s an extreme case, but even taking into account the natural mix of income levels a college might see in their applicant pool, there are still very few institutions that are wealthy enough to afford to be completely need-blind and still meet 100 percent of demonstrated need.”

According to colleges, this typically doesn’t affect low-income students who are at the top of their class. Finances are only taken into account with more marginal students, they say.

Still, in a survey conducted by Inside Higher Ed in 2011, 19 percent of admissions directors at private liberal arts colleges reported that they admit full-pay students with lower grades and test scores than other applicants. These colleges are, in other words, providing affirmative action for the wealthy, despite all of the extraordinary advantages that these students have over their less-fortunate peers.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/28/colleges-use-fafsa-information-reject-students-and-potentially-lower-financial-aid

3588

3-4 more weeks of waiting… Not sure how to handle it anymore

3589

2 redirects to the BA performance from the BFA MT after artistic rejection (as if…), 2 acceptances, 2 waitlists, 8 rejections and ONE SCHOOL STILL HAS NOT DECIDED. ugh

3590

The number is substantially less than 80 if you narrow it to MT programs. Northwestern University has need-blind admissions (i.e. admissions decisions are made without access to any financial information). We have evidence of this, as we know non-URM students on full scholarships.

I don’t know this firsthand, but I’d guess that even need-blind schools have some “Development” admits – people admitted with the expectation that extremely wealthy parents can make building-sized donations. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Polk_Rich_Applicants.htm

Not sure if this is still the practice in this specific school (article is old), but here’s an example…

I have no idea how, or if, this would impact Artistic admissions.

3591

Whew acceptance totals. As far as audition schools, not counting prescreens I have 6 rejections and 2 acceptances. But I also have 6 non-audition acceptances (audition later for one), one wait list (would audition as a freshman), and one rejection. Technically I’m still waiting to hear from one program, but I’m basically counting it as a rejection since those accepted have already been notified. And 3 artistic rejection schools accepted me academically, so 3 redirections. I feel good about my options but I’m ready for this to be over!

3592

^^You done good, @MTVT2015!

3593

@MomCares‌ My S was admitted academically to Michigan; rejected artistically. I was surprised when one of the U of M Admissions directors reviewed my Linkedin profile. It raised my suspicions a bit (primarily regarding financial aid).

3594

Of course many schools are such difficult artistic admits, and talent is so extremely subjective, that I think it would be extremely difficult to ever know the final reasons for one person being admitted over another. I do agree, though, that it would be surprisingly easy for a department to determine a family’s probable finances without ever seeing their FAFSA, and I do know there can be pressure on specific departments to cultivate a strong donor base, as well as to stretch limited scholarship budgets. And from what I have seen there is no shortage of talent.

3595

im sure Madonnas daughter is talented And all… but that admit was most definitely a smart business decision on behalf of UMich… A definite cultivation of a strong donor base! Can’t blame 'em…

3596

To be very clear, none of my comments are directed at any specific school as I suspect the same might easily be true for most programs (including D’s).

3597

@artskids…if you don’t mind, I am curious about your mention that your son got into U of Michigan academically but not artistically. I have never known of a BFA in MT applicant who was admitted separately to the university without the BFA acceptance. The only way I thought that was possible is if a student applied to UMichigan for another area besides MT…for example, to LSA as well as the Music school. However, if applying to UMichigan just for the BFA in MT, I don’t know how one would receive an academic acceptance to U of Michigan (whereas I realize at SOME schools this is possible if there is a bifurcated process of a separate admissions to the BFA and to the school itself such as at Baldwin Wallace or Elon). My kid didn’t get into the BFA in MT at Michigan but I feel very confident had she applied to UMichigan for liberal arts, she would have been admitted academically but there was no academic acceptance for BFA in MT applicants who don’t get into the BFA. If you could clarify how it worked with your son, I’d love learning more. Thanks.

3598

Son informed a couple more schools that he’s not attending their programs. A surprisingly heart wrenching process. It’s exciting that he’s getting closer to a final decision…but letting the the others go is much more emotional and painful than you’d expect. There is something so FINAL when you turn down a program…like you are cutting out a little piece of your heart…

3599

@soozievt… I’m not sure about the admittance but my D was rejected during pre-screens at U of Michigan for BFA MT and just got academically wait-listed on Friday. We were shocked because we thought it was over - the same as you. With a 31 ACT and a 4.3 GPA with AP and IB classes I was again shocked that she was not accepted but wait-listed academically. She got into Miami of Florida academically - redirected into theater studies - and her letter and scholarship offer said she was 1 of 2000 of 32600 applicants. How can U of M be more selective than that? It’s ok because we have one at Ohio State and he was not thrilled with the idea of his little sis being with “the enemy”, hahaha.

3600

@16bars I agree that it is surprisingly difficult letting schools go, but so important for those still in limbo! We just spent the last couple days at an accepted students weekend and there were a couple waitlisted kids who I know would give anything for a spot to open up. They held back more than the other kids, and it was a little heartbreaking.