Us too, @owensfolks! It’s all good! Not part of that “cast” this year.
Sorry to hear @owensfolks Hang in there!
Megan have you talked to evcvmom on CC? She messaged me about Ohio Northern. Since we have toured etc.
I’m sorry @owensfolks I can only imagine the Big and Best surprise is coming soon <3
@Fergie978 you just brought up something very important. From my experience, I’ve noticed that some of these “elite” schools do not want kids too polished and they want them to have some imperfections…
Definitely NO agents or have been out in the business. They want their program to help groom the students. I just wanted to throw this out there for future parents who will be going through this process next year or after. Do not add your agents or equity card anything. Some may disagree but I’ve heard directly from several directors that it’s frowned upon. They also can tell if your kid has been in the business during the auditions the way that they answer questions. Almost rehearsed and too polished (not good from my standpoint) maybe someone can say that they have experienced something differently.
I deliberately did not go into interview questions with my S. Just suggested that he read up about their program and what parts were appealing that would make him want to go there. It looks like it worked at least for Rutgers. They asked that question… “what about our program” and my S. explained which parts really excited him. Barbara (mason gross) smiled and said “wow you really did your research” but it wasn’t rehearsed. it was more like a study guide that he used for each school. Pros and Cons.
*just as many have stated before, there are only so many blond, brunette, heavy, skinny, minority, hipster, clean-cut, tall, short kids that they can take. I really believe that they may look at what they want to do with the next group of people (even plays that they want to produce) and they come with their lists and look for those specific kids and then go home. it’s 25% of being that look, 50% of being Prepared and 25% of Luck.
The World already has a Meryl Streep, Ann Hathaway, Denzel Washington, Hugh Jackman. They are looking for that New Person(S) who has raw talent (or at least they can mold). Some of these programs are trying to get back on the map for producing a Lot of New Alumni and they are betting on your kid the way we are betting on their program 
@owensfolks. I am sorry to hear about Penn State. But your daughter has a great attitude and that means that she will survive in this business no matter what happens. Hang in there.
@actingdreams You know what, I’ve heard that before – some schools don’t want too much polish because they want to have the student be “their” product. I am so glad you mentioned it! I’ve been sitting here second guessing, thinking, “well, crud, maybe we missed the boat by not doing a bazillion summer intensives and hiring a coach.”
Also, your comment about being unscripted in the interviews reminded me, one auditor asked D how she found monologues. Lordy, how does one find teen girl age-appropriate monologues that aren’t just an angst-fest of teen love or else about sexual abuse (important topic, but D noted at DePaul callback almost every girl in her group had a monologue about it, and it got old) without paying someone else, like a coach, to figure it out? She read LOTS of plays, that’s how. Which I assume is something she’ll be doing quite a bit of in college.
@actingdreams, All good points! I think what has made this process actually fun for us is my D’s attitude. She looks at it like she is auditioning them as much as they are auditioning her…which is actually true! She talks with the current students and teachers, looks at the difficulty of the dance call (very important to her), and asks important questions. There was definitely one or two schools on her list that she didn’t think would be a good fit for her for certain reasons (they would be a fit for others, but they just weren’t her style). So, that is why she is always happy and never nervous in an audition. It’s all in the attitude! :)) :))
Yes @Fergie978 haha love that she checked out their dance moves (maybe they aren’t advanced enough for her! humph! ) … cute cute!
Sorry disregard last post I made to megan…lol that was a PM regarding gap years & transfer students!
@“Jamieand Winthrop” I don’t think you need a coach. My S. did 3 summer intensive because it was required by all kids at his school to do something, even if were 2 weeks. Honestly, had UIC and Cherubs not been near our house, he probably would’ve just done something local like block 37 downtown… The France thing came up last minute The Price is about the same as it is for any of the other intensives (maybe less) and it changed his life. That’s it.
He really didn’t have a Coach per se but 2 Saturdays for 1 hour, he worked with a Cherubs Teacher on his Shakespeare especially that midnights summer dream because there was no life to it and he didn’t have time to learn anything else ;/
Also, everyone has a different background. so your D’s is quite different than my kids. Don’t sweat it
About DePaul and the typical plays! My son had 2 of them. Can you believe that after my son did a pre-screen for DePaul, he was thinking that he could do another one at the live audition (they made a movie off of it) but when they asked him to show up with his pre-screened monologue he felt very underwhelmed. He had to re learn it 
They already have the list. Our kids just need to be themselves. Maybe they are what the program is looking for this year
No, nothing like that, @actingdreams !!!
@actingdreams - I believe there’s truth in the “less polished” philosophy. Obviously, I’m only basing this on our experience, but my S is not a polished actor/dancer/singer… We did use a coach, who implored him to tap into who HE is as a person and artist, and to not be afraid to be himself. Our results thus far have been interesting, mixed, and relatively positive. Some of the “top” (subjective, I know) programs are almost intrigued by my kid, his late comeuppance to world of theatre, and his “raw” (albeit natural) talent in 2 of the disciplines. My S has NOT gotten in everywhere, but he has more than 1 solid acceptance, and at this stage, we have 1 from what most consider to be a highly competitive school. I think institutions want to truly take part in molding young pre-professionals. Many programs seems interested in developing the undeveloped. Just my opinion. YMMV.
Yes @beachymom totally agree. I’d save some of the $$ and put it towards tuition let them be interesting and intriguing
@beachymom - that is certainly true for Molloy/ CAP 21. As I have said many times, they were crystal clear that they intended to teach dance their way. Boy did they… D suffered a lot, but now she can dance well. Ginger Rogers she will never be, but she can more than hold her own. She owes it all to CAP21.
@beachymom Any coach who says “don’t be afraid to be who YOU are” is a great coach in my opinion. I wish more of them would do that. These kids are so afraid of not pleasing and think that they need to be more than who they are. I hope your good coaching advice works out for your S. Sounds like he has some nibbles. Good luck to you
If you’ll notice, I said that with a winking smiley. I don’t know why everyone gets so defensive when this discussion comes up, which it does every year. No one is claiming that this isn’t a competitive process. It is, always has been and always will be. If you think this is difficult, just wait until your child graduates and has to face the attempt to book work. There are tens of thousands of actors in NYC alone, with more arriving every year.
The comment I made didn’t deny that the number of applications has risen. What I have heard from friends who are directors of four of the MT programs that are discussed here daily, is that while the number of apps has risen by a fairly large number, the number of competitive students has risen by a smaller percentage. Not that there aren’t more competitive students. That isn’t to say that there aren’t more talented students but rather that the number of apps doesn’t tell the whole story. The proliferation of prescreens and the use of coaches has boosted the number of apps to many schools.
As I said, your students shouldn’t be worrying about this. They should go into the process, and hopefully they have, with an appropriate list of schools, so that they can show what they can bring to any particular program. I hope they feel good about themselves when they finish their auditions. That’s important going forward, too, as once they do their best at an audition, then it’s out of their hands. A good attitude is essential in this business that will bring far more rejection than callbacks.
I was just googling to see if I could get information about when some of the BFA Programs my D auditioned for at Unifieds in Chicago might be contacting her and wow(!) look at all this information! I decided not to read CC early on because I was feeling crazed by everyone’s opinions and just wanted to keep my own counsel, but I really think its cool how some of you have been on this and at this all year and developed a real support group. The world needs this kind of compassion and connection. I hope our kids find the same kind of thing with each other wherever they land in the theater world.
I am kind of wishing for a replay of this year now that it is ending – not because it has been “fun” but because its been one of the most connecting experiences I have had with my D – not because I have always been helpful or known the right thing to say or do – but because we have just been together in this. I will truly miss her when she leaves home for college and the very fastpaced and stressful world of BFA land. I will truly miss seeing her perform (and rehearse) and having a front row seat for every backstage and onstage drama in her life. I am so privileged to be her mother and I know I will feel that way forever, even if we never see her name up in lights.
Best wishes to everyone here.
BTW. My D applied to 10 schools: 2 BA (1-total reach academically; 1-total safety academically); 4 Acting only BFAs (2 with prescreens; 2 by invitation after academic admit); and 4 Acting +MT programs (3 with prescreens and 1 with just artistic profile and invitation required). Balanced list academically for admits and for her abilities, I think. The funny thing is that now that she has gotten 2 BFA acceptances and 2 BFA rejections, the acceptances are BOTH from BFA acting programs that allow crossover with MT and the 2 BFA rejections are from straight BFA-Acting programs. Its “funny” to me (not ha ha, more ironic) because when i consider what is on her resume, it does skew heavily toward MT because there is lots of voice and dance on there – as much or more than acting. Acting was a relatively late interest (mostly starting Junior Year) and I think the straight BFA-Acting programs saw that; whereas, MT and dance training and choir stuff has been ongoing for a looooooong time. Just makes me think that the BFA Acting programs where they want “flexibility” as the CMU lady told someone on one of these posts (don’t know where or when or who, sorry) with MT may have seen my D as having more to offer than the BFA-Acting programs.
I know she is disappointed (very) that these two elite BFA Acting schools didn’t “want” her (Minnesota and DePaul), but I have this peaceful sense that the universe is directing her the way it always has and that she will find her way, even if we can’t see it. [Don’t want to post admits until all decisions are in].
@actingdreams My daughter was a “professional” kid, with an agent and regional and national tour credits. We know plenty of kids from who had Broadway credits and agents who auditioned for college. None of them that I know took their professional credits off their resumes for college auditions, and my D certainly did not. We didn’t include her agent because that wasn’t relevant. Might it have turned off some schools? I have no idea. But I do know that virtually every “professional” kid that we know who went through the college audition process got in somewhere. So I think that while some schools may not like it, others don’t seem to care. And my daughter’s attitude was hey, this is who I am. Those experiences are part of what makes me me. And if a school doesn’t like that, then that’s obviously not the place for me. She would up at a program oft mentioned on this board and is a very happy sophomore there now.
My S had an agent when he was going through the proceas. We went back and forth about whether to include her on his resume. He ended up putting it on his resume and I feel it did hurt (or at the very least, it didn’t help). The auditors used precious time asking whether he really wanted to go to college. He felt he had to spend too much time defending himself. Just one opinion.