My D was one who got in nowhere…love your safety <3
Thanks @Reckless ! She is very excited!!
You sound like me … it used to drive my husband up a frickin’ wall. It was the crazy game of good cop/bad cop … and I was always the bad cop. In times that weren’t filled with emotion, D and I used to talk about why I was so brutally honest - she knew it came from a place of love. She didn’t necessarily like it - but she understood it.
But now that’s she’s in a school she loves, I’m less of a Negative Nelly at times and more of a crazy stage parent telling her she’s the most talented person who ever set foot on this planet, and why wouldn’t she have a shot at that main stage role? :x
I think you’re doing the right thing. Hang in there!!
A grad of my D’s non-PA HS is a freshman at Muhlenberg and just performed the role of Herod in their production of Salome. She’s very talented and won a best actress award last year but is NOT a theater major there. They really mean it when they say anyone can audition…a great thing for the non-PA majors but maybe not such a great thing for the Theater majors.
@MomofMTBoy - people outside of this world just don’t get the competitive nature. What does your son say? Did he do any nation camps, workshops, or other programs? Has he had auditions yet? For some kids- especially ones that have been “superstars” in HS (more common for boys- though I have seen it happen with girls too) they don’t get it until they see the level of competition about there. I know a kid like that who kept their head in the sand all the way through auditions (had been the lead in everything ever) and ended up with very limited school choices.
Do you have safeties? As I have recounted earlier- we went a bit overboard there my D’s year- and did 3 safety schools (all LACs with quality theater programs) because I wanted to make SURE she felt she had choices at the end rather than “well, I guess this is it”…
I laugh when I hear people call Muhlenberg their " safety." It is not a super easy school to get into… I think the average grade point is 3.5 or 3.6? I have known several non-theatre people who did not get in there! And now if you have every single person applying for musical theater applying there, it certainly becomes much less of a safety!! If you have straight A’s or very good grades and great stats, I guess it is a safety. If you have pretty good grades, and slightly above average stats… It is a tossup
@musicmama123 - it is certainly true that you have to take academics in mind when you consider your safeties. And you need to consider $$ too. A safety is only safe if you are reasonably certain of acceptance, and know you will be able to go. My D was a high stats kid (she even threw in an Ivy as an academic reach) son that kept the doors open for a number of great BA programs, and she is an only child whose parents have been planning for this all her life… so that meant that we had options there too. As “back up plans” go- it was a good place to be.
I don’t consider Muhlenberg a safety. I mean yeah only audition for scholarships but it’s pricey and I know of kids who didn’t get enough money back from them so they didn’t attend. I think their stats were high enough for a lot of merit aid .
A safety is in the eye of the beholder… Muhlenberg met that criteria for us- it might not for everyone. D’s other 2 safeties were Kenyon and Denison in OH.
Btw- muhlenberg gave D one of her best merit aide packages - they have a program called Dana scholars my D was invited to apply for that added considerable merit aide- though it did mean yet another essay
I know yes muhlenberg is known to give a lot of merit aid I just think you have to have pretty high grades and sat scores. I don’t think my D would’ve gotten as much because her sat is just average. The school is quite lovely though. And the tech and set dept was phenomenal in terms of technology and stuff . by far the most impressive I’ve seen to date. Def spending money on theater there. I think it’s the biggest dept there or something? It seems like they told us that at open house.
My older D applied to Muhlenberg for dance and did the scholarship audition. I was very surprised when she got in. Her SAT score was a good 200 points below their average and she didn’t have even one AP class! She ended up getting $8K a year for talent but that was it. She ended up at Pace.
Moral of story- if you have strong stats- muhlenberg can be an option as an safety. 2 has had 2 friends to there- one of chose it rather than a BFA, both have been very happy (judging by social media posts and snippets of conversation when home etc).
I too was the bad cop…I prefer the term realist. While it is true that boys have an easier go, unless your son is a “unicorn” (tall, voice of an angel and great dancer to boot), and even if he is a unicorn who gets widely accepted – he will likely still get rejected. My D ended up attending a BFA I begged her to apply to despite her reservations as they take a bigger class – and she is blissfully happy go figure! This is an incredibly competitive process, it was eye opening for many so better to have a safety or two locked down to be safe.
Ok Ok i was wrong when I call Muhlenberg a safety school too early in the process! After going there and my D auditioning for the talent $$ we found it a wonderful place. We saw their big musical and thought the talent there was strong. She is looking for a larger school and she did get in early to Emerson but we are cont… the process because in the end it all boils down to money for us. We know our D will be happy at anyone of the 15 schools she applied to. We are praying for more than one acceptance but you just never know. This process is so hard she’s our oldest and I am so happy to have CC to check for moral support otherwise I would be crazy!!! Still waiting for U Mich prescreen and hoping its a yes!
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@MomofMTBoy I agree with @mtmamma2020, you are being a realist. My S calls me a dream killer (as a joke), but he has been very appreciative of my “leveling” what he hears. You will need to continue to be that voice of reason as they continue through their program.
While boys have had less competition (I personally don’t like the word easier because it devalues their talent and hard work), that seems to be changing quite a bit. Over the last 3 years I have seen several males end up with no acceptance as the the competition has increased. Even reading this board over the years I have read that boys don’t need to dance, they just need a semi decent voice, etc. I hope anyone reading this in future understands that is no longer accurate information. In my own child’s class, I’d say half the boys are true dancers and all except one had some dance training. Obviously a small sample size of one class, but I think this is or will be more the norm.
Hello. I am a parent of a class of 2019 MT BFA. I have been reading here for years but never commented. I have just about recovered from our audition year and am ready to lend a hand. This is a really tough process and the support offered here in invaluable. Today’s nugget is to consider finances when applying. I know so many kids who had to reject offers because they couldn’t afford it. The last thing an MT needs is huge loans. Can you really afford the $75k at CMU? Even with a $30k scholarship, you will still be left with a big bill. We know some schools have a small endowment and just can’t give much. Emerson comes to mind. Their packages are known to be small. I am really not trying to add to your stress, but it is worse to get a great acceptance and then have to tell your kid no.
My oldest D is a dance major at Pace. They are very generous with merit aid but still, who knows if she will ever make money as a dancer! It’s tough to justify paying high tuition for the arts programs. We did plan ahead though and her 529 covered it so she will have no debt. My D17 is looking at even more expensive schools so I think we will tell her we will pay what we paid for D21 and the rest is on her.
Pace is one of the most generous schools. I don’t know anyone who got offers less than 20K. For honors program students, it was a full tuition scholarship.
Some schools are now offering in state tuition for MT majors. Montclair is one. Less than $6k! But with that announcement, the applications went WAY up.