<p>Congrats Dramamom!!! I’m so glad that it all worked out for the both of you!! Time to celebrate!1 :))</p>
<p>congrats to your daughter Dramamom! </p>
<p>Dramamom…sooo excited for you! AND daughter! Such a sweet ending!!! And Bardsmom…will you be sharing soon…every time I see you have posted something my heart leaps!</p>
<p>puma69 - wish I could post something, but I think it’ll be a while yet. Feel like I’m living in limbo land. </p>
<p>Can we start a limbo land support group? :(</p>
<p>Journey for my Son
Applied to:
NO AUDITION: American University, Harvard, Yale, Wesleyan, Sarah Lawrence
AUDITIONED AT UNIFIEDS: USC, UCLA, CAlArts, Boston U, NYU Tisch, SUNY Purchase, Carnegie Mellon
Auditions in NYC: Juilliard</p>
<p>Accepted to: USC BFA, NYU Tisch, CalArts, Sarah Lawrence, Wesleyan
Wait listed: Boston U, American University
Rejected from: SUNY Purchase, Carnegie Mellon, Juilliard, Yale, Harvard, UCLA</p>
<p>Coach: HS Drama Teacher (5 sessions), performing arts school drama teacher (1 session)</p>
<p>High school: private college preparatory school (very rigorous)</p>
<p>Summer Programs: Neighborhood Playhouse (summer prior to senior year), US Performing Arts College Audition Workshop (Georgetown U.), US Performing Arts Acting for the Camera Workshop (Stanford U).</p>
<p>Financial Aid: National Merit Finalist ($1,000 per year)</p>
<p>Final decision: USC BFA Acting program, Presidential Scholarship (50% tuition, 4 years)</p>
<p>Applied to: University of the Arts, Muhlenberg College, Carnegie-Mellon University, Fordham University, New York University, SUNY Purchase, Rutgers, Boston University, Ithaca College, Syracuse University, DePaul University, Juilliard, Northern Illinois University, North Carolina School of the Arts</p>
<p>Prescreens: Ithaca </p>
<p>Accepted to: University of the Arts BFA, Muhlenberg College BA, Northern Illinois University BFA</p>
<p>Rejected from: Carnegie-Mellon University, Rutgers, Boston University, Ithaca College, Syracuse University, DePaul University, Juilliard, North Carolina School of the Arts</p>
<p>Withdrew app before auditioning from: Fordham University, New York University
Not really sure what happened as a result because their communication stinks: SUNY Purchase (We never received a response!!)</p>
<p>Wait-listed at: none</p>
<p>Final Decision: University of the Arts, BFA Acting</p>
<p>Coach: We used the acting teacher my D has worked with for 4 yrs </p>
<p>Summer Programs: Local music theatre programs since 4th grade. Attended Teen Shakespeare Conservatory in NYC before 9th, 10th and 11th grades. This is a rigorous three and a half week program that uses only Shakespeare and focuses on introducing the kids to a variety of techniques.</p>
<p>Other training/experience: Dance several hours a week since 4th grade. Private voice lessons since 6th grade. Acting classes and workshops with a variety of teachers in NYC throughout high school in addition to the summer programs, including a week with Loyd Williamson, founder of the Williamson movement technique. Also, approximately 15 community theatre productions.</p>
<p>In hindsight: Well, where do I start?? My D has been extremely focused on acting for nearly ten years, and particularly so in the past five years. As I’m sure your kids did as well, she gave up many other things in order to prioritize good training. She was in environments where she was the only teenager in a cast of adults, in some very serious dramatic plays. She never once said she didn’t want to be there, or complain about the 1 hr and 20 minute drive for a 2 hr rehearsal, for example. We talked about the lifestyle an actor has; the ups and downs and unpredictable natureof the life. As an outstanding student, she could have picked ANY other major and swept up a stack of college acceptances ten feet high. But no; she was adamant about what she wanted, a conservatory BFA education!! She would only apply to one non-audition school and two schools that were not “true conservatories” in her mind, and for those I even had to agree to drop the apps if she got an early acceptance she liked. (Which she did)</p>
<p>Fast forward to about three weeks ago, after a slew of rejections and D tearfully announces she is not sure she wants to act anymore. Maybe she wants to be a writer she sobs?</p>
<p>WHAT?! WHAT?! This was all I could think for hours, although there were numerous curse words added to the thoughts. This girl who never showed an inkling of not wanting to do this… who had all the right answers to our questions… who mesmerizes us while on stage…who glows when she comes out of acting class…. Doesn’t want to do it anymore?</p>
<p>No, I’m not buying it I kept thinking. I am just not buying what you’re selling. You forget dear D, I have been beside you for this entire journey and I know dedication, perseverance, enthusiasm and passion when I see it. It so saddened me to think this brutal audition process was robbing her of what she loves….but all we could do was wait.</p>
<p>Sometime yesterday the D came back, out of the dark cloud she’d been under. “I’m going to U Arts,” she announced. “For acting and a minor in writing!” And she smiled, and went off to rehearsal, where she belongs.</p>
<p>I am not naïve enough to think this is all over. She may have another crisis of confidence and she may eventually choose another path. And it will be OK. I was very surprised though, how much I grieved thinking that she might leave acting. The first day she said she didn’t want to act anymore I was on the verge of tears all day. I was holding it together by a thread. I am not an actor but I love theatre and I love having her involved in it. I would caution other parents to be aware of their own personal ties to it. I questioned myself many times over the past three weeks – “Did I push her into this?” No, I didn’t, but I would really miss it if she gives it up. I find it all fascinating.</p>
<p>Finally, in hindsight, if your child tells you they only want a BFA and show every sign of being committed to it, as my D did, have them read my post here, and then make them choose ONE school they would be happy with if they suddenly decided to leave acting. If they were not allowed to act, what would they do? If they can’t decide, you know them best. Decide for them. I could have said my D might like a highly intellectual small school with great English/writing opportunities. Apply to one non-acting type of school, and keep the app open until the money is paid on the acting school on April 30th!! If my D had not come around, she was left with a BA school which is good for acting but not ideal for her otherwise.</p>
<p>Today I went back to Philadelphia and was thrilled to buy a stack of U Arts t-shirts and bumper stickers. This is probably meant to be I thought; how nice it will be to drive 45 minutes to see her shows and I bet she and her hungry acting friends will be more than glad to see a dramamom coming with some home-baked casseroles and cookies! </p>
<p>Many thanks CC friends for your support! </p>
<p>Happy to sign this,
Still a dramamom!</p>
<p>Such an amazing, heartfelt post, dramamom! Bravo! I’ll be sure to let you know if I’m ever in the neighborhood…I love casseroles and cookies!..and ,of course, donuts. ;
</p>
<p>So happy for you and your daughter- and how great that you will be nearby.</p>
<p>Dramamom0804…I am crying reading this. I am so happy for you both and I wish your daughter so much success! Ahh and you are SO lucky to have her close! </p>
<p>Dramamom, a lovely, heartfelt post. Your D’s (and your) journey has kept me on the edge of my seat. Enjoy!!</p>
<p>My D (almostgracekelly) is totally overwhelmed with school and whatnot at this point, so I’ll go ahead and add my two cents and she can supplement or correct my interpretation as she feels necessary. 
</p>
<p>Audition schools applied to: University of the Arts (walk-in at Unifieds), Montclair State University (walk-in at Unifieds), NYU-Tisch, SUNY Purchase, Point Park University, Rutgers MG, DePaul University (auditioned on campus), University of Arizona (auditioned on campus), Pace, SMU, UCLA (BA) (auditioned on campus), Pepperdine (BA) (auditioned on campus), AMDA, Roosevelt CCPA (walk-in), Atlantic Acting School (walk-in)</p>
<p>Nonaudition: St. Edwards (BA to BFA), Hofstra (BA to BFA), St. John’s (BS in Film), Rutgers (criminology/psychology major)</p>
<p>Prescreens: Pace (passed)</p>
<p>Accepted to: University of the Arts BFA, Montclair (BFA), Point Park (BA to BFA), University of Arizona (BFA), AMDA (totally weird - she never even finished her application!), Atlantic (she was essentially accepted on the spot without an application) and her non-audition schools</p>
<p>Rejected, I mean redirected, from: SMU, Rutgers MG, DePaul University, SUNY Purchase, Pace, UCLA, Pepperdine (but was admitted to acting conservatory - grades not where they needed to be) </p>
<p>Wait-listed at: NYU Tisch and Roosevelt CCPA</p>
<p>Final Decision: University of the Arts, BFA Acting</p>
<p>Coach: None. We had no idea what we were getting into. My D had her first theater experience as a freshman in high school cast in small parts in Annie. She goes to a large public high school (actually larger than UArts! LOL) with an underfunded theater department, not a performing arts high school. Since that time, she has been the lead in every musical and play and directed a one-act play last semester as well as on comedy team for all four years and scoring high at Thespian competitions (and on Thespian Council). Besides casting her in favorable roles, her drama teacher is completely ineffective and gave her absolutely no guidance or coaching. </p>
<p>Summer Programs: Again, we were clueless and I guess my research was horrible. We live in the west so she attended US Performing Arts camps at UCLA - one week each for Acting and Musical Theater the summer before her junior year and a college audition bootcamp for a week during the summer before her senior year. She also attended the 3-week musical theater intensive at U of Texas through Texas Musical Theater Workshop last summer. Of course, it was well after that camp that she decided to foregoing the MT path (I think it was actually during the application process that she made her decision) and pursue straight acting. She must have had an inkling earlier on as she choose to focus on straight acting preparation at her UCLA college audition bootcamp. Besides that, she has basically just immersed herself in reading plays, watching musicals, and reading acting books. </p>
<p>Other training/experience: She was a synchronized swimmer before she decided to pursue theater and actually had to give it up because the demands of the sport were too much with theater rehearsals. She only started private voice lessons with a brilliant coach last fall and only 1/2 hour every other week because, as a single mom, that’s all I can afford. She has never done any community theater or anything outside of high school. She also played the flute for several years and plays the piano.</p>
<p>In hindsight: Geesh, this one is actually overwhelming. I so wish we had found this site years ago, when she first got the acting bug. My D is such a newcomer to this world and it is so intimidating to read about the experience and training of everyone else’s wonderful kids. I feel extremely lucky that she even got into one program let alone having a few choices. I know these programs are not as prestigious as most of the ones discussed on here but we’re happy. </p>
<p>I also think I would have scheduled her auditions differently somehow. We visited Chicago and DePaul during her spring break her junior year and she fell in LOVE with the school. That school was her number one choice going into audition season. We did not know about Roosevelt CCPA until audition season or we would have also toured that campus while we were there. When we traveled to Chicago for Unifieds, she got VERY sick (she was in bed when not auditioning) and unfortunately had some of her top choice auditions there - including DePaul (along with SMU and Purchase). Needless to say, rejections from all three. The only bright spot from that trip was her Atlantic walk-in audition. It was her first foray into a walk-in situation and they loved her, sick and all. They still are trying to persuade me that the 2.5 year conservatory at Atlantic is her path.</p>
<p>Anyway, our trip to LA Unifieds was obviously much more successful and thank god we got hip to the walk-in opportunities as those auditions ended up being the bulk of her acceptances. </p>
<p>My tip would be to do your research early and do not dismiss the opportunities Unifieds provide, especially walk-ins, if available and you are interested in the school/program.<br>
The rest I will leave to those much more knowledgeable about this process (including appropriate training) than I. </p>
<p>We just spent last week back east visiting her 3 accepted schools hoping the answer as to which school to choose would become clear. In all honesty, it really was between Montclair and UArts because of the BA-BFA thing at PPU (but she had to be sure - hence the visit). Such completely different settings but both great programs for different reasons. In the end, UArts and Philly really resonated with my D and after sleeping on it after we dragged our utterly exhausted minds and tushes back west, she awoke to a rejection (finally!) from Pace (but with huge academic money - go figure!) and a certainty that UArts was where she is supposed to be come August. </p>
<p>I’ll have to wait until move-in in August to stock-up on my UArts t-shirts and bumper stickers like dramamom0804 (although D did wear the sweatshirt they gave her when we were there home on the airplane - I guess I should’ve known then!). I’m going to be across the country from my only baby so I’ll have to rely on dramamom0804 to send me show reviews and such until I can make it out there. </p>
<p>I can’t thank the parents and students of this forum enough for the wonderful guidance and support during this grueling process. I really don’t think I could’ve gotten to where we are now without you.<br>
Many, many thanks!!!</p>
<p>annelisesmom, congrats on the decision! Don’t be too hard on yourself. How could you have known? You’ve done a phenomenal job supporting your D. She got some great acceptances even without heavy duty prep! And once they go into the program, they are more or less on level playing fields once more. UArts has some awesome opportunities, particularly if you stay in Philly–it has strong ties to the Philly theatre scene. </p>
<p>So happy it turned out so well for you and your D. You’ll have to come back and tell us how she’s getting on.</p>
<p>So happy for you, dramamom! Enjoy the rest of the senior spring of your D! And congratulations on the decision, annelisesmom! </p>
<p>Don’t worry @annelisesmom, I think you can shop in the U Arts store online!
And I can definitely keep you posted on show reviews. :-)</p>
<p>I’ve spent most of my time in the MT wing thinking my daughter would end up in MT (hence my handle!) but she has made her final decision to attend a BFA Acting program, so I hope you don’t mind a sort-of stranger coming over to report results. I cross-posted this there as well. </p>
<p>Applied to: Emerson, Boston Conservatory, Ithaca, Syracuse, Pace, NYU-Tisch, Penn State, Carnegie Mellon, Baldwin Wallace, University of Michigan, Roosevelt CCPA, UC-Irvine</p>
<p>Prescreens: Passed Ithaca, Pace, and Penn State. Did not pass University of Michigan.</p>
<p>Accepted to: Ithaca, Pace, Tisch (New Studio on Broadway), Roosevelt CCPA, all for BFA MT. Accepted BFA Acting to Carnegie Mellon. Accepted BA Drama to UC-Irvine (safety school–audition for BFA after first year, I think)</p>
<p>Rejected from: Emerson, BoCo, Syracuse, Penn State, BW</p>
<p>Wait-listed at: None</p>
<p>Final Decision: Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>Coach: None</p>
<p>Summer Programs: Syracuse Pre-college MT Intensive after junior year.</p>
<p>Training: Voice 4 years, Dance 3 years, Acting 8 years in community theatre and 4 years of theatre class in high school.</p>
<p>High School: Public</p>
<p>Looking back, the best thing that happened in this entire process was D’s pre-screen rejection in November from University of Michigan. It was the only time D shed a tear throughout the entire audition process, and everything got real from that point on in a good way. That rejection motivated her, and even though she had been working hard all along, it spurred her to work even harder in the six weeks leading up to Chicago Unifieds. Maybe in some way she wanted to prove to herself that U of M had made a mistake.</p>
<p>When we did school visits in the year leading up to auditions, I remember sitting in the auditorium lobby at Carnegie Mellon with my husband and daughter, and daughter remembers thinking how melancholy it was to be there because she loved the program so much and knew it would be virtually impossible to get into. But she also remembered what our tour guide said. He told himself that CMU most likely accepted an average of one student per audition day throughout the year. And he decided that he was going to be that one student on his day. D never forgot what he said. She went into her audition believing that they might accept one student that day…and it was going to be her.</p>
<p>The other day she had a chance to tell that CMU tour guide that she remembered what he’d said.</p>
<p>That she was accepted for Acting instead of MT was not as big a deal for her as I had worried it might be. She wasn’t surprised by that, but she needed to process it. Ultimately it didn’t take long. She’s always said she is an actor first. Many of CMU’s actors can also sing/dance, and the school and surrounding community provides ample opportunity for actors to take these classes/lessons. D even has the chance to reaudition for MT in the fall if she wants to, but I honestly don’t know if she’ll do that. She’s thrilled with the situation as it is. Getting into the other schools for MT was enough acknowledgment of her ability. She knows she can sing, and she’ll keep working at it. Her personal philosophy (like CMU’s) is that it’s the acting that is of utmost importance. And since she’s also interested in TV/film, CMU is a perfect fit.</p>
<p>An accepted student visit over the weekend solidified her feelings – she had the best day ever, and the existing students welcomed her into the family–what a lovely group of students! She made her final decision that night.</p>
<p>When I look at my daughter’s list above, and all of your lists on this thread and in these forums, I can only shake my head in wonder at what crazy results everybody has had. It’s like we wrote the names of the schools on bits of paper and threw them into the air. The ones that landed name-side up were acceptances. No one was greedy. We all hoped and begged for one yes–only one!–knowing that not everyone would get it. Nobody knew if that yes would come to his mailbox, and that was a sobering truth that none of us will ever forget. There really was no possible way to predict how it all would play out. How exciting and horrible this process is! So much stress, and so much joy, and so much sorrow. I have felt for all of your journeys and have cheered and cried with you. I am thrilled for my daughter’s yeses, yet know that luck is a factor. Finding the school you love that also loves you is something that no one has a formula for.</p>
<p>For those of you facing the need to find other paths to fulfill the dream, I hope the sting of rejection becomes the conduit to your success. Press on! I can’t wait to hear the story of your inspiring journeys.</p>
<p>Loved your write-up when it was in MT, love it even more over here. She’ll get great training there. What a way to start your career. Congratulations.</p>
<p>@AsstToThe MT - All I can say is WOW. Many, many congrats to you and D!</p>
<p>Awesome decision! Congratulations!</p>