@MTMOM17 I sent you a message back but not sure if you have received! Let me know! Otherwise, visit and shadowing freshman MT student for the day was awesome for my D! She loves the Univ. of Miami!
Yay, @mtmom222 my D LOVED Miami, too!!! I’m going to check my messages now!
How does everyone deal with the fact that most people don’t appreciate an MT acceptance? I’m just frustrated because friends and neighbors think my D is crazy not to go to a high level local academic school over her MT choice. I’d love to have a good, short way to explain it to them. But then again, why do I care what they think?
@anotherBwaymom … I don’t know if anyone who doesn’t have current MT BFA admissions knowledge could ever wrap their head around how competitive it is. When my D was auditioning 3 years ago, all of her community theatre adult friends put their two cents in … telling her she should go to Indiana University for MT (or Ball State … we live in Indiana) … LIKE IT WAS HER DECISION! Drove me batty. Most of them have degrees from those two schools (or Millikin) and couldn’t grasp how nuts it had become.
@anotherBwaymom -not only do our kids need thick skins on this journey: We parents do too! I have been just short of called an idiot for not “making” (as if) my D go to UNC Chapel Hill for Media & Journalism; or Syracuse (she was WL, but withdrew) for Broadcast Journalism, last year. We are generally a pragmatic bunch: But we believe in our kid. And we not only support, but celebrate her dreams. Our parents (my husband and I) were kids of post depression, WWII kids. There was little room for following one’s dreams. I get it-but I /we are determined to allow our kids (but MT gal, especially) to shoot for the moon. What’s the worst that can happen?! She’ll find a fulfilling and happy life as a choreographer and dance teacher at her childhood studio? Do community theatre at night/on weekends? Sounds pretty cool to me. Tell those friends and neighbors that you love and believe in your D more than you love convention/safety. WE…now more so than ever, need artists and dreamers.
@owensfolks where is the “love” button on this site?
Well said @owensfolks!!! I completely agree!!!
@owensfolks my skin is getting thicker and thicker. Luckily, my D is oblivious and has a one track mind toward her goals!!! I love knowing other parents here who understand though! Thanks for your reply!
@KaMaMom yes, no one gets it!!!
I totally hear you. Baldwin Wallace gets no street cred unless your an MT parent or kid! Why do we care?! Do people know our kids are getting into schools with less then 20 percent acceptance rate?
Financial aid ques, are you all speaking to them or email? The school my daughter got into only allows email communication. You can call but it’s random people answering the phone.
@anotherBwaymom … it’s so frustrating right???
One of my responses is “Do you currently use your undergraduate degree, isn’t it great our daughter is able to study what she loves while getting a college education?”
The response to “What is her back up plan?” Us: I’m just blunt on this one - and say there is “None, Her degree is BM in Musical Theatre. If she is really hurting for money - what sales team wouldn’t hire her? She will be able to read through whatever material given and have it memorized immediately, she will give a memorable presentation because she is creative.
To the “Oh New York, is so scary” Us “ Each college has it’s safety issues. If she were to be on a traditional campus, we’d be concerned about house parties.”
At the end of the day- it’s not their kid and honestly you do not owe anyone an explanation to why your child is studying MT. Why people think they know better for your child is so rude.
I have just said to family- “Well, it is what it is, and this is the final decision, she’s not getting an education degree, or marketing, or business- she is studying theatre.” and we just move along the coversation.
It’s annoying.
Congrats to your kiddo for getting into college and for studying something that interests them! Congrats to YOU for surviving the craziness of college auditions!!! After move in day this fall you will have a great sigh of relief! Congrats once again!
@txmtmom2022 We started with admissions counselor assigned to D who shared how best to proceed with financial aid appeals. Every institution is different, so it helped to have an inside track.
We’re deciding between Hartt and Point Park. I’d love to hear more about Hartt’s program. Can you pm me? Thank you!
@owensfolks I’m right there with you! When my father in law was here for Thanksgiving he was very critical of the amount of money we were spending on application fees for colleges that no one ever heard of and for a degree that would never generate much income. My friend who is high school teacher told me I’m nuts not to send her to James Madison even though she was only admitted academically. I struggle myself with sending her to the school that has the 75% acceptance rate over the one with the 11% acceptance rate, even though the school at the latter one has a virtually unknown program and the former is nationally recognized. I think people mean well but they just don’t get it.
I know only a handful of people who are actually working in the field where they earned their degree. I think a degree is valuable no matter what it’s called, and college should be an enriching experience, not a grueling and miserable one where you are just making your way through material that you don’t care about in order to get a degree in a field you don’t want to work in. Everyone deserves a fair shot at their dreams at least once. If it doesn’t work out, there is still time to choose another path.
@owensfolks @collegemom2000 - I can relate! I’m a lawyer and an Ivy Leaguer. D’s dad is a lawyer and a Skidmore grad. D is no slouch in the brains department. Tons of supposedly well-meaning people questioned our sanity in “letting” her major in MT. Then they heard D sing. That shut them up, for good.
@collegemom2000 Love your last paragraph.
I have found myself in front of others with the “oh really, I wouldn’t never pay for my kid to go into a BFA in theater” response. It honestly made me feel bad, knowing how passionate my S is and that this is the one thing that motivates him to be excellent (and he is). I just think to myself…how dare people judge. Theater gave him a home in HS and kept him off the streets and striving for good grades. It gave him a family in school and It made him happy!!! I will forever be grateful for theater and what it did for him. No one knows his story, or what it takes to do what he does. I will forever support his decision in going for dreams and aiming high! I wish I was that brave when I was his age.
@anotherBwaymom I get similar inquiries: Does he have a back up plan? Is he minoring in anything? Isn’t that a lot of money to invest in an acting degree? How is he going to support himself?
Here are my responses:
No, he does not have a back-up plan. He believes having a back-up plan is giving up before he even starts. He is a risk taker and it’s those people who are usually the most successful and the happiest.
No, he is not minoring in anything. He will not have enough time — then go into backup plan answer.
No, it is not a lot of money to spend. I’m very proud of him getting into a top program, not to mention getting a degree from a fabulous university. What’s the worst that can happen? He decides later he wants to change paths and he goes back to school to get a Masters degree just like 75% of all college graduates do today — many in a different field.
He will support himself just like you and I do. Many people outside the acting community define success as being the next Tom Hanks or Meryl Streep. Truth is there are many actors with successful careers making salaries similar to the kids getting more traditional degrees like teaching, marketing & communication, graphic design and more. It is unconventional and definitely not for everyone, but as long as he works hard and lives within his means he’ll be fine.
I could go on and on seeing I repeatedly answer these questions — especially when I’m with my mother!
@birdygirl - my S will be pursuing a BFA in acting. To the “backup plan” question - he quotes a successful theater guy… something about…those who have a backup plan are planning to fail. :4-@
We know our kids who want to work in theater will, most likely, always be seeking their next gig.
It’s not a path with built-in security and benefits (that seems so comforting to friends and extended family). But it is their choice.
It’s hard to imagine somebody enjoying a great live theater experience and walking out of the theater thinking - why did those people ever go into theater? Actors, theater people, musicians & artists provide a great service to society! We all need what they produce! Bravo to these kids and all the supportive parents who are nurturing them along!
I must confess, I’m a little worried about the nay-sayers now becoming the I told you so’s - since D is about to graduate and is looking for her first gig!