<p>Happy for you and your D @DoReMiMom! I’m going to share your post with a local friend who is debating the BFA MT route right now. Her D is a junior. </p>
<p>Congrats on the final decision @DoReMiMom! I also second the suggestion of hiring Moo–my son feels like she made all the difference in his audition process.</p>
<p>Congratulations DoReMiMom and D - and thanks for sharing the insights of your journey.</p>
<p>mom4bwayboy - S</p>
<p>Applied - PPU, CCM, Shenandoah, BW, Michigan, Indiana, Wright State, CMU</p>
<p>Prescreens - IU, UMich: passed; Shenandoah audition at SETC Junior year - waived prescreen</p>
<p>Auditioned on campus - WSU 11/9; BW 11/16; CCM 1/25; UM 1/31; IU 2/1; Shenandoah 2/8; CMU 2/22</p>
<p>Withdrew - PPU (audition scheduled for March) after acceptances to programs we were more likely able to afford</p>
<p>Rejected - CCM, CMU, UM</p>
<p>Wait list - BW</p>
<p>Accepted - IU, Shenandoah, WSU</p>
<p>Final Decision - Wright State</p>
<p>Coaches:
Voice - Christopher Neely (4yrs)
Acting - Cheryl Couch & Gina Cerimele-Mechley (approx 2 yrs w/ea)
Piano/composition/theory - Scot Woolley (< 1 yr)</p>
<p>Other Programs:
Dance: started tap/ballet/MT at CCM Prep in 6th grade; Ballet Summer Intensives at Cinti Ballet/Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre summers after 9th, 10th and 12th gr (planned to do summer after 11th gr, but was recovering from shoulder surgery due to a performance injury). Yes, dance scholarships for male dancers really ARE available.</p>
<p>MT: Saturday classes and summer camps at CCM Prep starting in 6th gr.; Was accepted to intensives MPulse and BOCO summer after 11th gr, but declined due to cost - and ended up recovering from shoulder surgery that summer anyway. S feels that perhaps he MIGHT have had a better audition outcome if he had attended MPulse, but given the craziness of this journey, who’s to say. S also transferred to MT program in Arts H.S. in junior year, but feels he got very little additional training there (the academic “rigor” did, however, allow for plenty of time to sing, dance, act, play piano, FB, snap chat, watch cat videos,. . .).</p>
<p>Acting: Saturday classes and play/musical performances at private high school acting studio (CASA), junior and senior years</p>
<p>Violin/piano lessons & music theory: Various incarnations since elementary school</p>
<p>Academic: Private tutoring for PSAT, summer after 10th gr. into fall of 11th gr.</p>
<p>Weight lifting: started regular visits to the gym summer after 9th gr. Necessary for being able to lift those girls overhead, with added benefit of making you look good in tight/tiny clothing.</p>
<p>S knew from age 10/11 that MT was going to be his life. As a visual artist who owns original cast ALBUMS of Pippin, Fiddler on the Roof, Shenandoah and Jesus Christ Super Star (among others) and married to a musician, I had a TINY inkling of what it would take to get there. He could already sing/read music pretty well, and was the class clown in EVERY situation, but body awareness/movement was a real issue - hence immediate enrollment in dance. At some point (measured in years) this really paid off and he stopped moving/looking like an underfed giraffe on stage. Over time S came to love dance and pursued it as much as he could cram into his schedule. As he progressed we heard over and over again - “Oh, He’ll do great in MT. A boy who can dance will have offers coming out of his ears.” This MAY have been true even three years ago, but it’s not what we encountered during this audition season (although still probably true if he had chosen to pursue straight dance major).</p>
<p>S was perhaps a little cocky (maybe his mom was, too) going into the college app process. He only wanted to go for audition schools and was aiming for “the top”. He felt he had been in enough situations where his peers did not take rehearsing/practicing/performing seriously, and he hoped that in college he could be surrounded by classmates who were better than himself and he would be forced to play “catch-up”. I had to push him to apply to more than a few top schools and a “safety” - he absolutely refused to do more than 8. After all the work he has done, S thinks that perhaps being vocally stronger would have been his ticket into the “top"schools (but his voice is still changing, and his teacher assures him that in a few more years he’s going to be a bari-tenor to be reckoned with). Hard to say what would have helped get him into “top” programs - at auditions, at least on the surface, he blended into all the other clean-cut, 6’2”, athletic-looking, not-ethnically-ambiguous guys.</p>
<p>Sorry for all the boring details, but this has been an eight-year journey. Knowing what skills were going to be needed to be a triple (quadruple?) threat, we put lots of money and effort into advancing S’s skills (no, I am not a pushy stage mom, but to “outsiders” I may have looked like one and “managing” his schedule was a third part time “job” for me) and S loved every minute of it, thriving on all the hard work. We also knew that paying for most of the colleges was going to be out of reach w/o serious scholarship money (remember the comments about boys who can dance??) - especially since we had put so much money towards S’s pre-college development (he is third of three “artistic” brothers who were similarly supported). Having been through the “arts” college application twice before, and becoming a CC “lurker” I realized that National Merit might be S’s “golden ticket” - hence the private tutoring for PSAT (S’s GPA/class rank/ACT/SAT is very good, but not “good enough”).</p>
<p>S was rejected from “top” schools, but during this process also came to realize they may not have been the “right fit” anyway and his “safeties” moved up the ranks on his list. After auditioning on campus for all schools and sitting in on classes he could easily see himself being happy at all three of his acceptances (and still would like a chance at his wait list BW), especially since all three really emphasize acting - a crucial factor he did not fully start to appreciate until well into his junior year and even more so as he has matured (hard to believe I can think of S and “mature” at same time, but it has happened). The faculty at all three are caring and focused on developing the individual, well-rounded “Artist” and he was offered substantial merit/talent scholarships from all three. But oddly enough, his final choice turned out to be his “safest” of “safeties”, from his very first “practice” audition in November, the one closest to home (not NY where as a junior he thought he wanted to be) - and the one where he will go for “free” because of the PSAT test he took in October of his junior year. He is really looking forward to the fall at WSU and getting down to the “hard” work. His parents are looking forward to not writing large checks and being able to hop in the car to see our “star” any day of the week.</p>
<p>Thank You! to all you MT CCers who have shared your own stories, triumphs and stumbles. Your presence, advice and support have been invaluable in this whole process. Without you, we wouldn’t have had a clue of what we were up against. What am I going to do with all my free time once I can stop checking for semi-hourly updates on CC? And no longer have to plot and plan the next twenty-five steps of my S’s path to the Great White Way? </p>
<p>Congrats @mom4bwayboy!
Love the line about the underfed giraffe! LOL.</p>
<p>Beautiful and hilarious post, mom4bwayboy. Congratulations to you and your S!!</p>
<p>@Doremimom…your post is so honest and I have experienced some of the same with my daughter. I am curious though…why do you think people should use Moo and Broadway Dreams…because of connections? I wish you and your daughter all the best!!</p>
<p>MilMom - S</p>
<p>Applied - OCU, Ohio Northern, Penn State, Shenandoah, Pace, Rider, Point Park, Ball State, Texas State, Baldwin Wallace, Coastal Carolina, UT Austin</p>
<p>Pre-Screens - Passed@Moonifeds: Penn State,Texas State, UT Austin; did not pass Otterbein, OU
Passed video - Shenandoah, University of the Arts (couldn’t get audition slot @Unifieds)</p>
<p>Moonifieds - Ohio Northern, Rider, Point Park, Baldwin Wallace, Coastal Carolina, Pace</p>
<p>On campus auditions - OCU, Texas State, Shenandoah</p>
<p>Unifieds - Penn State, Ball State, Viterbo (walk-in), Drake (walk-in), Long Island (walk-in)</p>
<p>Academic acceptance to all schools (except for UT Austin-S missed the app deadline!) :(</p>
<p>Artisic rejections - Penn State, Pace, Texas State, Baldwin Wallace, Coastal Carolina</p>
<p>BA Theatre acceptances - Rider, Ball State</p>
<p>BFA Theatre acceptance - OCU</p>
<p>BFA MT acceptances - Ohio Northern, Shenandoah, Viterbo, Drake, Long Island</p>
<p>Final Decision - Shenandoah Conservatory </p>
<p>Summer Programs - Texas State Theatre Camp</p>
<p>Oops! I wasn’t finished. :D</p>
<p>Summer Programs - Texas State Theatre Camp, Texas Musical Theatre Workshop</p>
<p>Coach: Mary Anna Dennard (Moo)</p>
<p>Voice lessons for one year </p>
<p>Dance lessons for one year </p>
<p>Withdrew - Point Park (Waitlisted for MT BA)</p>
<p>My son attended two different high schools (Georgia, Texas) because my husband is in the military and we move often. I feel that he doesn’t have as much training and experience as most who apply to MT programs. I actually stopped reading CC last fall because reading about everyone’s training/experience intimidated me and I wanted–no, NEEDED–to stay positive. 
</p>
<p>We went through this CRAZY process with my daughter two years ago. She didn’t get into a MT program like she had hoped, but she is doing fantastic now. We did learn a few valuable lessons from her experience. We decided not to do so many on campus auditions (too expensive) and we decided to get help by hiring Moo. I feel that she made all the difference for our son! She also connected us with other professionals whose coaching was incredible. One of the best things about hiring Moo was being able to attend Moonifieds, her early auditions in November. We also decided to apply to as many programs as possible, although we did eliminate many because we knew we couldn’t afford them even if he was able to get in.</p>
<p>I also credit TX Musical Theatre Workshop for motivating my son to work hard and practice, practice, practice. He was truly inspired by the instructors and his fellow students there. After camp he spent countless hours working on his songs and monologues and practicing dance in our garage–he also started lifting weights. The only thing he could have done better was applications and essays–he needed a lot of “encouragement” to get those done! I felt he improved so much from that summer after his junior year to his last audition at Unifieds.</p>
<p>His dad and I are very happy about his decision–we know Shenandoah is an amazing school because our daughter has been there for the last two years as a music education major. He recently told me that he knew Shenandoah was the right school for him the day he auditioned. He even felt a little guilty about that because he went straight from that on-campus audition to Unifieds in Chicago.</p>
<p>I’ve really enjoyed following everyone’s stories. Like I said, I had to stop reading for awhile but I’m glad that I came back. Thanks to you all for sharing information and experiences!</p>
<p>Congrats MilMom and S! Shenandoah has a terrific program. If our situation had been just a little different our sons would be classmates.</p>
<p>Also, just wanted to add to S’s “story” - part of our/his strategy for being somewhat cost effective in audition travel - and ultimately in getting him to and from school over four years - was to keep the choices within driving distance of home. One of the best experiences he had was going to SETC in March of junior year. He was able to audition for 100(?) schools/summer programs at one shot and got terrific feedback on song/monologue (and a few “acceptances”). This gave him an idea of what he needed to do going forward into his senior year. That’s also where he met Jonathan and Matthew from Shenandoah, and was able to get an introduction to their teaching when he participated in their workshops. Many of the schools at SETC were outside S’s self-imposed “day’s drive” radius. Shenandoah was at the outer limit (and not in S’s original “list”), but I’m glad we “found” it. </p>
<p>@mom4bwayboy- Thanks! I loved reading your story–very smart of you to focus on those test scores. </p>
<p>@MilMom - if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this incredible journey, it’s that there is more than one way to get from point A to point B (or C, or F, or Q). And you never know what skill/experience picked up along the way will turn out to be valuable - whether you’ve been planning from the cradle, or just “discovered” your passion as an “aged” Senior in H.S. - or college for that matter. I’d like to believe that a closed door, just means there’s a better one opening down the way. Perhaps it’s even true. Good luck to all on the journey.</p>
<p>@mom4bwayboy I totally agree with you. I feel the same way. My son didnt get into his “dream” school and I truly believe one of these schools is a better fit anyways. Its funny how things work out like that. You think things will turn out in a certain path and then something you never expected comes through and ends up working out better. good luck to everyone in the final weeks of this. </p>
<p>My D’s dream school that we had visited a couple times prior moved down on the list the day she auditioned there for various reasons. Going through the process she realized she wanted something different from her program then that school had. She also came to a relaization what “fit” she was looking for during the process. She was fortunate to have some BFA and BA options to choose from. The visit as an accepted student was key for her. It allowed her to really see if she would fit. She has enjoyed her program since she started in the fall and while no program is perfect she feels she landed exactly where she was meant to be. This last few month she has reiterated to me that she knows she ended up in the right place. Know that once they pick they can then begin to enjoy the rest of their senior year and look forward to the new adventure ahead of them. Best of luck as you near the end of this part of the crazy journey</p>
<p>broadway95 - Thank you for your very timely post. The reassurance is much appreciated. Son will be joining the ranks of the Decided soon. So happy for all of you and your Ds and S who have made their final decisions.</p>
<p>I want to echo what @broadway95 says about the importance of “fit”. Our D had a half dozen BA & BFA choices, and we visited all of the campuses. Our final visit yesterday to Nebraska Wesleyan University sealed the deal. Everything about the school, the kids, the faculty, the location, the facilities, the program, etc. felt just right. It’s really a personal thing - none of the other schools had as complete a package as NWU. As a dad I could see her thriving at NWU, and she was all smiles as we filled out the deposit forms in admissions. </p>
<p>Congrats Cheesehead and D!! What a journey. We hadn’t heard from you in such a long time. I thought we’d lost you somewhere along the way. Glad your D found her “fit”.</p>
<p>Congrats @cheeseheadmike and D. I am so glad she found the fit for her. </p>
<p>Congrats DoReMiMom Great story. </p>
<p>NAtlantaStudio - D</p>
<p>Applied - (15) Western Carolina, Point Park, Unv of Alabama, Texas State, Rider, Otterbein, Northern Colorado, Ball State, Coastal Carolina, Wright State, Ohio Northern, Hartt, Montclaire, Webster, UCF</p>
<p>Prescreens - Texas State, Coastal Carolina, Otterbein, UCF (passed all)</p>
<p>Chicago Unifieds: Ball State, Coastal Carolina, Rider, Otterbein, Hartt, Montclaire, Webster, Ohio Northern</p>
<p>Auditioned on campus - Western Carolina, Unv of Alabama, Wright State, UCF</p>
<p>Rejected - Texas State, Northern Colorado, Webster, Rider</p>
<p>Wait list - UCF, Coastal Carolina (then was accepted off waitlist), Unv of Alabama (then accepted off WL)</p>
<p>Accepted - Western Carolina, Point Park, Unv of Alabama, Ball State, Wright State, Ohio Northern, Hartt, Montclair and Coastal Carolina</p>
<p>Withdrew: UCF while she was still on WL</p>
<p>Final Decision - Coastal Carolina</p>
<p>Coaches: (have to brag on this team: 18 seniors this year and ALL 18 had more than 2 acceptances, most had at least 4)
Voice - Denise V. Lortz (6 years)
Voice - Camiah Mingorance
Acting - Dianne Sleek (3 years)
Dance - 6 years Sharon Druzbanski (head instructor that mentored her and oversaw her dance training.
College Coach - Dave Clemmons
Rhythm Tap - Jen MacQueen</p>
<p>Dance: 6 years of ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, and rhythm tap.</p>
<p>Summer Programs: TPAP Company 1 7/2012 and TPAP Company 2 7/2013. I can’t say enough about this group of people and what they did for my D. This intensive came along at the right time and moved my daughter from a place of doubt and insecurity into a strong, confident performer. They helped her face her fears…teaching her to embrace the fear and work with it, harnessing it to her benefit. Kim Slade, Juliet Gray, Michael Maresca, Jonathon Bernstein, Susi Meisner, Neil Patrick Stewart and Dave Clemmons (and there were so many more than I can name) were game changers for my child. If you can ever get your student there I promise you will not regret it. It was worth EVERY PENNY!!!</p>
<p>Intensives: Every chance we got. D’s coaches would continually push her to get outside her box and work with new people. Tyler Hanes, Nikki Snelson, Jen MacQueen, Being from Atlanta she had several opportunities through BDF. Her first intensive was done with them when she was 12.</p>
<p>Community Theatre: CYT ATLANTA!!! If you need a great place for your child to get theatre in a safe environment, seek out a CYT (Christian Youth Theatre). They started in CA and have spread throughout the country. </p>
<p>School: 2 years at local high schools. Last 2 years were spent schooling at home and attending a daytime performing arts conservatory where she had music theory, vocal performance, piano, ear training, dance (ballet, tap & jazz), choreography, Meisner, Chubbuck, Adler, Viewpoints, scene study and audition techniques. The fall of the SR year is completely focused on putting their package together, pre-screens and how to interview… </p>
<p>It’s unbelievable that we have reached the decision point!!! I knew from a very early age this is what my D was going to do. For many years I actually ran from it, not wanting this “life” for my child. Finally about the time she turned 12 I gave in and started her out in classes at CYT Atlanta. It was there we found our coaches: Sharon, Denise, and Dianne. We started with them in 2008 not even knowing that there was a “college audition” process but over the next year I started watching and learning . Because of their knowledge I was able to make early decisions on training and we were able to watch each year the numbers of kids that were going through the process. Through their knowledge we found our way through the maze. One of the most important things that we did was create a list of schools that worked well for her and that she would really like attending. We chose not to audition at some of the “big name schools” because we knew that we could not afford them or in some cases we knew that they were not the right “fit” for her personality and learning style. Instead, the team helped us to find those that fit our budget and would be the type of schools we all felt would push D in the areas she needed the most work. </p>
<p>Academically, we did things a bit differently. D has only had 2 years of accredited school as we have home schooled all the other years. She chose in 9th and 10th grade to attend “regular” school and returned to home schooling her Junior year. I was worried that this combination would be difficult to get accepted into the universities and spent the first semester talking with all the admissions programs where I discovered many times the admissions programs look at the BFA applications a little different. If you have a kid you would consider “alternatively schooled” or worried about whether you have “enough” AP, Honors or “outside activities” feel free to PM me. I will give you our full story and what we did. I will say that D did not score high on her ACT or SAT but she had a 3.9 unweighted GPA;however, she did walk away with a few academic scholarships and several talent scholarships. </p>
<p>I want to say thank you for all the wonderful support I have gotten from this group. I hope to be able to pay that forward over the next few years!!! </p>