My D and I are attending Accepted Students Day at the University of Miami this Sunday. Is anyone else going?
@MTMOM17 my D will be flying down next Tuesday and spending the day visiting on campus all day Wednesday! She has a performance this Saturday, otherwise we would have flown her down for Accepted Students Day Sunday. Let’s stay in touch! Congrats to your daughter!
That’s awesome @mtmom222! We are going to Shadow a current MT student the following week!
My son declined his Pace MT acceptance today. Thought anyone looking for the waitlist to start moving or is an alternate would be interested.
Is there a Facebook group for us CCers and the class of 2022? Would love to join!!
@cluelessandtired please call and check on the status of your child’s application. We almost missed our one and only acceptance because we didn’t know that her transcript got lost in transit.
@HopeinMT I highly recommend making a Facebook group but I would just wait until everyone’s decisions have been made. Class of 2021 didn’t make ours until September but I think Summer would be a good time to do it.
Since I’m new and just arriving to this thread, I’ve been thinking of the things I would have posted and reached out to you guys for a long they way…
There was the first heartbreak. It came in December when we were at CCM for her audition. I should mention that D is a Caucasian, blonde haired, blue eyed Soprano, which I am now convinced it the LEAST desirable type in all of MT, partly to the sheer number of them auditioning and partly because they just aren’t needed as much as they used to be in Golden Age MT. So we had dance audition early in the morning, and then D didn’t have her actual audition unti after 4 pm. So I pick her up from the dance audition and ask how it went and she said “I don’t want to talk about it here, I’m going to cry.” So we get in the car and the floodgates open. I thought that she must have had a lousy dance call or something but she was crying because she “loved the school so much and she knew the odds were against her.” Her actual audition lasted less than 5 min. Asked her one question in her interview. They kept the kid in front of her for 15! So we knew… Sure enough, the following Friday the rejection came. I saw it first and cried. I was afraid to tell her. But she was expecting it and really handled it much better than I thought.
Then there was a terrible day at Chicago Unifieds. It was Tuesday and she had 4 big name schools scheduled. The first one, they barely looked up at her when she was singing! One lady was on her phone the whole time! She was really disappointed. Next school wasn’t as rude at at least looked at her but asked her one question in her interview “Where are you from?” She told me, “They just don’t want to see another blonde soprano, mom”. Third school she described as “neutral” neither here nor there… She was discouraged. No one appeared interested. Fourth school was total disaster. She had the dance call first. I did not have a good impression of them from the get go. Lady checking kids in never looked up from her computer when checking in all these nervous, excited, hopeful kids. I nick named her cold fish. They had an earlier dance call going on when we arrived and while we were waiting, the dance instructor opened the door and yelled at cold fish about her system of organization and demanded that she do a better job next time. When the door closed, she flipped him off. D went in. I tired to engage cold fish in conversation. I always do this because i’m Trying to get a feel for what type of people work and teach for these schools. She didn’t bite. D comes out after 40 min red in the face and obviously flustered. She said “Let’s go, we are going back to the hotel” and I’m like what they heck happened? Her singing part of the audition was scheduled for the next day, but we were supposed to go to an info session for one of the other schools.
As soon as we got out the door she started bawling. The guy had singled her and also some other students out I think to try to intimidate. He screamed at her, pointed out her flaws in technique to the whole room and ultimately told her she was “not cut out for Musical Theater” I was furious. Shaking mad. And he got to her… She told me maybe she should just quit now because no one else that day was interested in her either.
I spend about an hour trying to put my daughter back together. And regrouping how we were going to handle the rest of unifieds. (She had a very sucesssful next day, and I’ll tell you about it in my next post.) It was about 5 pm and I left her in the hotel to clean herself up while I walked back to the PH to sign her up for some walk ins the next day. You guys, I was so grieved! So angry… I called my husband and cried, I called my best friend and cried. I would have posted on that very night and I know you guys would have encouraged me, probably even met me for a glass of wine (or three)
The most recent heartbreak was a rejection at Western Michigan. We really wanted that one. D had a great audition and interview there and felt really good about her chances. It’s a family school and we applied for their legacy scholarship! D just told me a few days ago that one hurt even more than CCM.
So these are the times I would have definitely posted, and of course the entire month of March stalking the mailman, college portals and unfollowing schools on social media when they rejected her!
Glad I found this bunch of crazies!
@onewaytobroadway I would have joined you for that wine. One of your scenarios, the one where she said she needed to leave quickly because she was going to cry, sounds like our exact scenario. Putting her back together to move forward sounds familiar too. Do these auditioners understand that these kids have trained for years to study and read body language and nuances? A glance, a gesture. Some of the schools do seem to get it and are respectful but others seemed simply cruel. The one that you described of the dance audition sounds awful. Completely awful. The conversations continue with my D as we contemplate how to move forward.
Thank you for sharing, @onewaytobroadway . We are crazies, indeed. But good-crazy 
My D had a similar dance call experience at Chicago Unifieds with one of “The Bigs” during her first audition season. Guess what “Big” didn’t make her list of schools this year.
@onewaytobroadway thank you so much for sharing your story and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of it! your story is why they call this process brutal! The fact that your D keeps moving forward though means she has what it takes! Best of luck to her!
@theaterlove3 , exactly! I called her voice teacher that night ( who consequently runs a conservatory prep program here in Chicago, so he knows these schools) His opinion was that this particular school was subscribing to a very old school and out dated practice of “fleshing out the weak”. Cruel and inhumane. There is no reason to crush a 17 year olds dreams.
@owensfolks , I’ll give you a sneak peak before my next post about the successful next day: she did not finish the audition with that school. We went back and forth because there is that side of “ don’t let them intimidate you and hold your head high” but in the end, they had shown us enough of who they were that we were no longer interested. I have seen your name here and have been able to gather that your daughter took a gap year and is now having a very successful audition season? I would love to hear more of your story. Is there a way I can just search you on CC to read the back story?
@onewaytobroadway I don’t blame you for not completing the audition - my daughter had a bad experience at a top college so we left and never considered them again. My D loves MT because of the family you build doing a show - supportive, fun, and learning from those more experienced. That cut-throat environment would destroy her college experience. She knows it’s competitive but that isn’t what the next 4 years are about. It’s probably not by chance that she got into the 2 schools known for their friendly and family feel programs.
@onewaytobroadway and I wish we could have told your poor daughter not to fall in love with CCM! They have an audition level MT program for high schoolers (only 16 in the group this year) and only one boy has gotten into CCM from that class in 4 years. My D is one of the rejected kids and she was crushed (even though I didn’t think it was the best program for her).
@onewaytobroadway , that is just horrible. I am so sorry. I know it’s a tough business, but I’m one who just doesn’t feel that that kind of behavior is necessary…especially towards kids. I may be in the minority, but I think you and your D did the right thing by walking away and not finishing the rest of that audition the next day…because there is no way I would want my D to be treated like that by someone we were paying to train her, so I wouldn’t want her to attend there.
At a summer program my D attended at a university that’s often discussed here on CC and is pinned to the top of this board, the director (who is also head of MT there) advised my D and the group of students he was working with at the time that it’s very important to pay attention to how you are treated by the faculty at schools you’re considering. He actually told them that they have the right to be treated kindly and well – with respect and dignity – and that we all have a choice of how we allow people to treat us, and that they should avoid schools where faculty treats them badly. Again, I know that’s not the approach some schools use…but this school shot WAY up on my list of where I dream of my D attending when he said that.
My feeling is, she gets enough “real world” experience for now every day at her PA school, where there is so much talent that you’re lucky just to be cast in the ensemble. Like many of our kids I’m sure, as a mom and just a human being I am awed every day by how gracefully my D handles rejection, criticism, comparison (by teachers and kids), and competition, and by how she has the strength to keep going and keep believing in herself despite all these things and despite the long odds of having a successful career in this business. We just got back from a spring break trip to NYC where we saw 9 shows, and I was just in awe of how much talent there is and how daunting it must be to keep putting yourself out there and face rejection when you’re baring your soul every time you audition. I know I couldn’t do it…and I have so much admiration and respect for our MT kids who do this every day because it is their passion.
I can’t wait to read your next post…I am holding good thoughts that there is a happy ending to your D’s story!
@onewaytobroadway I believe this will take you to last year’s “Final Decision” post for my D. Page 10, post 148. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20587651/#Comment_20587651
For her-Best. Decision. Ever. I am very much looking forward to posting a FINAL final decision, in about 2 weeks!
@onewaytobroadway The beginning of your story just made me want to cry. Or go all Mama Bear on some people. How dare they!?! There is no good reason to be cruel or inconsiderate to applicants. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. I know that popular thinking in the older generations is that kids these days think they’re entitled to have anything they want, and it sounds like those ill advised auditors think it’s their job to take kids down a notch or two. First of all, I don’t believe the average kid feels any more or less entitled than the average kid in any other generation. They just want and expect different things than other generations because times are different. They have their weaknesses. Our generation has its own weaknesses. And kids who are serious about MT and have made it this far? Well, I think most of them have taken enough hard knocks to know they’re entitled to nothing and more often than not won’t even get as good as they deserve.
Blessings to you. I’m anxiously waiting for the rest of your story.
@owensfolks … Wow… I appreciate the gap year info!
Please waitlists start moving! Understand the comparatives and financial aid, but when you know, release and bring another joy. We released one that we knew wasn’t the one, and it was great to see someone else grab it! #waitingishard
@onewaytobroadway can’t wait to hear the rest of your story! I’m so sorry that happened.