Final Acting Decisions Background - Class of 2024

APerez
Thu, 21 May 2020 14:11:11 +0000

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to everyone at CC who took the time to help us. Had we known about this forum at the beginning of our journey, we could have saved or son a lot of heartache. Thankfully, we discovered CC right on time and learned so much from all the stories, posts and messages. This allowed us to guide our son through the final leg of this process. Without MANY of you that helped, this would not have been possible. A special shout-out to
@tsamuique for caring-your effort made all the difference. We hope to pay it forward one day. Thank you from the bottom of my family’s heart.

Programs Applied to: NYU (BFA Acting ), Pace ( BFA Acting, BFA MT ), Julliard (BFA Acting), Syracuse University (BFA Acting), Rutgers University(BFA Acting), Carnegie Mellon University (BFA Acting), DePaul University (BFA Acting), Northwestern University(BA), University Of Miami (BFA MT), UCF (BFA Acting), FSU (BFA MT)

Prescreens: Passed All except (UCF, FSU, Northwestern has no prescreens).

Summer programs: Applied to Carnegie Mellon and DePaul was accepted into both and decided on DePaul (family in the area).

Accepted to: NONE

Wait-listed: NYU, University of Miami.
Coach: Voice Coach, Acting Coach.

The scramble:( NOW WHAT after going 0-11): Skidmore College (BS in Theater) Purchase College (BA Theatre and Performance) Sunny Oswego(BA Acting/Directing) Drew University (BA Theatre & Dance). New World School of the Arts College (Theater BFA Acting)

Accepted to: ALL

Background:
Our Son started acting in the summer of 5th grade because we just wanted to keep him busy. Subsequently, he joined his school’s thespian troupe in 6th grade and never looked back. He performed in his first musical in 7th grade and was hooked. He attends an all boy preparatory school in South Florida that has two full productions per year with a live orchestra. The productions are extremely competitive for both male and female roles and are open to students from other local schools.

Since the 5th grade, he’s performed in about twenty large- and small-scale productions. His sophomore year he was casted as Gomez from The Addams Family, in a local theatre production in Coral Gables, FL. Afterwards, he was then casted in the school’s MT production as Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

We really thought it was too much with the rigorous schoolwork and rehearsals, but he pulled it off. Then came the awards seven Florida Regional and State Critics Choice Awards. As parents, we were new to this world and had no clue about this path. But when we saw his passion and how he would just bring these characters to life we knew it was his gift.

The Journey: We traveled to New York for his first round of auditions, NYU, Pace, Julliard, Syracuse and Carnegie Mellon. It was an eye-opening experience, but he felt he did his best work. On this first round he received two denials (Pace BFA Acting and Julliard). I always questioned his monologues and why one had some curse words, but what do I know. We then traveled to Chicago where he auditioned for DePaul (BFA Acting) and Rutgers (BFA Acting). He had completed a three-week summer program at DePaul and felt extremely comfortable there. They knew his work ethic, talent and he received so much positive feedback that summer from the professors and staff. Once we returned to Miami he auditioned for University of Miami. We never thought he would receive a rejection from DePaul. That denial letter was the worst of all!

The Scramble: Things happen for a reason and thankfully, many schools had extended their application process due to the COVID-19 nightmare. The CC forum, and people who took the time to help, provided information on quality BA theatre programs that were still accepting applications. Within two weeks of receiving these options, our son had applied to four additional programs suggested by CC forum. One day he received a call from the Senior Associate Director of Admissions from Drew University, and she proceeds to tell him the theater professor was extremely impressed with his resume and personal statement; they were going to make him an offer! A week later they offered him three scholarships and he spoke to the acting professor. The more he researched the program, the more it made sense to him, that he can, not only continue to perform, but also learn all aspects of theatre and look past the fact it was not a BFA. He then realized they had a Shakespeare Theatre on campus, and he loves to perform in Shakespeare roles. During our London family vacation, we watched a performance at The Globe Theatre. After that London trip, he said one day he would be performing on that stage.

The truth is, we have always taught our children to have a plan A & B in life. I honestly think those little voices were telling him you need a backup plan just in case. He came to us and said Drew University has shown me the love, it’s 50 minutes from NY, it’s a very well-regarded acting program with many connections and internships. It just fell on our laps and he was happy and ready to commit.

Then the twist-University of Miami accepted him to the BFA Musical/Theatre program off the waitlist. Yes you heard right, just when he was happy with this BA program that gave him a well-rounded education in theater and performance, and when all the heartbreak and rejections were behind him, he now had another major decision to make. Our son struggled for some days knowing that University of Miami gave him extraordinarily little time to accept the offer. He reflected on the time he spent in those audition rooms and how hard he worked. He reflected on the BFA dream, and how a BA can also help him dig deep as an actor and further develop his skills. The truth is-this profession is extremely competitive and there are no guarantees with a BA or BFA. We all sat down and had some real discussions as a family. Our daughter, which is a prosecutor, also sat with him and objectively proceeded to help him make a list of pros and cons of a BA and BFA education. In the end, we wanted HIM to make an educated decision that was best for HIS future. After much thought, our son came to us with our society’s new normal, his sister on zoom, and made the decision that was best for his overall growth in Theater.

There is an old quote “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail.”-Henry Ford

Final Decision: Drew University BA Theatre and Dance

We hope one day when another parent reads this, they understand this is a highly competitive process. Do not try to apply common sense to the process and please do not try to figure it out, or it will drive you insane. In the end- you need to apply to as many programs as possible. Even though your child may, be extremely talented and check off all the proverbial boxes, that gets diluted on a national scale. Apply everywhere you can and never give up!