Thank you @annelisesmom! I will definitely be calling once I get home today.
I am thinking of all of you still in limbo today. Hang in there! Less than a week left before May 1st.
Thanks @Divamamacita this is literally torture!
Itâs terrible 
We are still visiting colleges this week, I canât believe we are down to the last few days and my son still isnât sure where he wants to go, ugh.
I donât care at this point, he has narrowed it down to 4 choices and they are all good. But heâs stressing himself out over this decision. At least itâll be over by Friday at 11:59pm!
My son has been accepted to 7 programs, but the only one he really wants to go to has waitlisted him. They and he seem to think that there is a strong chance that he will get in, but not a guarantee. If he doesnât get in, he most likely will take a gap year, work with his voice teacher, dance, audition, take acting classes and take classes in music composition as his other love is writing music and then reaudition next year. The only problem is that he is not ready to let the other schools go even though I couldnât get him to visit them. He says, he might change his mind at the last minute. Iâm not comfortable having him commit to a school he has not even visited. I know he is nervous about the possible gap year and doing things differently from his peers. I think a gap year could be an awesome opportunity. This is soooo stressful!
@martin247998 - not to add more stress or be a Debbie Downer , but just be mindful of gap years. They can be great, especially if you did not get good results when auditioning. But if your S got in 7 programs this year, he had a great audition season! Itâs important to note that when you re-audition next year (which most schools will make you do- most wonât just defer your acceptance to next year) --youâll be competing for spots in programs against next yearâs crop of auditionee which is sort of the great unknown. How will you stack up against this new class? Although many do better with auditions after taking a gap year, there are some who get in a program one year then are not accepted to that same program the following year. The schoolâs needs and the people they have to choose from to make up their class are different each year. So just be careful of the gap year option. It can be a worthwhile thing to do. But itâs best to feel as if you are starting from scratch and do not assume that all the options you have this year will be available next year. Hopefully you will come off the wait list at your #1 and you wonât have to worry about this at all. But if there any chance your S will decide he wants to go to school this year, it is probably best to go ahead and accept somewhere this week if there is a program he likes, and if you can stomach losing the deposit if S gets in his waitlisted program after May 1 or decides to take a gap year.
Yikes, @martin247998, we were in a similar boat 2 years ago and April was a rough month, but we did visit the other schools, including one she hadnât seen previously, and found one from her acceptances that fit her very well, to the point where she eventually said that if the WL school called, she would say no! She is very happy at her chosen school. The trouble is, you have no idea if your son would get in next year either, though he mightâŠitâs a gamble. I feel your pain. Gap years have the potential to be awesome but they also can be stressful. I took one when I was 18. It is hard when all your friends go off to school. Good luck to your son.
@calliene and @vvnstar Thanks for taking the time to post. He released all but 3 schools over the last few weeks. We are looking at both sides of the coin and consulting with an audition coach tomorrow to get her input. Hopefully, this will put his mind at ease and help him decide what is best for him.
I really hope he gets the call heâs hoping for @martin247998
My daughter did a gap and it was the right decision for her.
Martin247998, my d is also waitlisted at a different school. I was wondering how you know that your s has a strong chance of getting in to the school in which he is waitlisted. What was said to give him that impression? Any details would be appreciated.
I also did a gap year. Amazing time to train in dance and acting/voice lessons before the big auditions come again
When things looked hopeless for my D last year, even in her worst moments she never considered a gap year. She was afraid the year would turn into 2, then 3âŠwell, you get it. She also didnât want to be left behind when all her friends went off to school. She would have gone to a BA program and gotten a year of gen eds out of the way.
accepted at 7 schools and considering a gap year? why?
He really has his heart set on a particular school and location. He is waitlisted there and would prefer to take a year an reapply next year if he doesnât come off of the waitlist.
Also, the fear of him not going to school after the year is not a concern. He is the youngest of three brothers. His older brothers are highly successful college graduates who would never let him get away with not going to college. Also, he is very invested in the college experience even if it is delayed by a year. I donât see him not attending even after a year off as a concern.
While I think gap years are wonderful opportunities, the situation you describe, @martin247998, is somewhat unusual (to lead to a gap year) in that your son has gotten into many programs and HIS main justification for the gap year would be not getting into his first choice school and trying again next year. For one thing, there is NO guarantee that waiting after one year that your son would be admitted on the second round. He may be back where he began, or possibly worse, with less options. While I understand that students favor certain schools over others, and that makes sense and is only natural, it is not advisable in a competitive admissions process to have oneâs heart set on ONE dream school as it can be a set up for disappointment, and further, I really believe that a student can be happy at more than one school!
While I hope you understand I mean this in the nicest way, it is hard to imagine that your son doesnât like or want to attend any of the 7 options he has been admitted toâŠI say this for two reasons: 1) I donât believe in applying to any schools that one has no interest in attending and every school on the list should be one that student would attend if admitted, even if they prefer some schools more than others; (why did he apply to all these schools that donât really appeal to him?) and 2) your son hasnât visited any of these admitted schools to truly say with a very informed sense whether or not he likes the schools and I think if it were my kid, I would do all I could to visit some of these and put a deposit down on one school and not hold out for the wait list school. If the wait list school comes through after May 1, great, but if not, an option has been reservedâŠand if necessary, the visit can still happen. This is the conversation I would advise under your sonâs circumstances.
I agree. The talent pool changes every year for these BFA programs and honestly, perhaps what that particular school is looking for in that particular year. Far more so than in traditional programs.
I know that kids apply to schools for a wide variety of reasons. My own daughter had a school on her list that did not meet some of her criteria for schools, but is a respected BFA program and an easy distance for an early audition(and they are a school that notifies after fall auditions) but it does seem unusual to apply to so many schools that you may or may not really like, especially if you havenât visited them. I really hope things work out for your son, but I would agree with The idea that there are no guarantees things will come out better next year