Congrats to your D and you @3Blessings ! Thanks for sharing! It is comforting to know that you aren’t alone when the rejections start rolling in!
It’s funny that I’m writing this now because I’m actually about to attend my college orientation tomorrow! And boy what a wild ride.
Programs Applied to: Point Park (MT BFA), Baldwin Wallace (MT BFA), Northern Kentucky University (MT BFA), Western Michigan University (MT BFA, Acting BFA), Florida State (MT BFA), Florida Southern (MT BFA), University of Kentucky (Theatre BA, MT certificate), Western Illinois University (MT BFA), North Central College (MT BA), Molloy/CAP21 (Unified walk-in, MT BFA), Otterbein (MT BFA, Theatre BA), Dean College (Unified walk-in, MT BA), Case Western Reserve University (Theatre BA)
Prescreens: University of Michigan, Elon, Pace, Florida State (passed), Otterbein (failed, then passed…interesting but long and not totally relevant haha!)
Accepted to: University of Kentucky, Western Illinois, North Central College, Dean College, Otterbein Theatre BA
Rejected at: Point Park, Baldwin Wallace, Northern Kentucky, Western Michigan MT BFA, Florida State, Florida Southern, Molloy/CAP21, Otterbein MT BFA (yikes, that kinda hurts to type!)
Withdrew: Case Western Reserve University (not a BFA, and no musical theatre)
???: Western Michigan Acting BFA (I literally never got a confirmation on my acceptance status, and I called and emailed the acting department several times.)
Coach: Mary Joy Nelson (Lexington, KY)
Summer Programs: University of Kentucky Musical Theatre Voice Intensive, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Summer Institute (Choral and Musical Theatre)
Background:
I started theatre a little later than most–I grew up in rural central Kentucky, not exactly a theatre hub! After trying out community theatre and loving it, I started voice lessons in 8th grade. I knew it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I was all in. My sophomore year of high school, my family moved to Lexington, KY, one of Kentucky’s larger cities, and I was lucky enough to attend a school with a fantastic theatre and choral program.
I started planning for my college auditions around this time. My parents pretty much only helped with the logistics of physically going to the auditions–they are not theatre people at all! I started my search by looking at the actors I really looked up to (Barrett Wilbert Weed, Colton Ryan, etc.) and where they went to school. Over time my priorities changed radically. I originally wanted to double major in musical theatre and computer science (HA!) but I eventually came to the conclusion that if I was really going to make acting my lifelong career, it was all or nothing, and I ended up looking for BFA programs. What I really was looking for was a place that balanced affordability with quality training, while still being in an environment that I would enjoy–aka, a mid-to-large university in a metropolitan area.
I kept a spreadsheet with all of my research and information on it (color coded too!). My mom was a HUGE factor in my audition experience; without her there, I probably would’ve gone crazy. While super stressful, my audition season also ended up being a series of unforgettable adventures with my mom that I am so glad I got to have. We ended up being on-campus for nearly all of my auditions, and attended Chicago Unifieds where I did a handful of walk-ins (and got to see Hamilton for the first time!!)
Final Decision: Western Illinois University
Of all the schools I applied to, WIU was the best possible choice for me. The head of the department, Lysa Fox, is absolutely amazing to work with and is so passionate about her program. They are committed to growing their program and creating great art despite their relative lack of resources and isolated location. I was lucky enough to see their production of Pippin on my second visit, and the sheer quality of their work was just as good as a “dream school” like Baldwin Wallace. While I’m nervous about the location (I really didn’t want to go back to living in a small town…), I am so excited to become a part of their passionate, hardworking community. Plus, tuition is incredibly affordable–I was awarded enough scholarships to ensure that I won’t have crippling student debt after I graduate! Yay!
That being said, here’s why I decided against the other schools I was accepted to:
University of Kentucky: A small but growing program. The issue is that there is some animosity between the Opera department and the Theatre department, and their production schedule is quite lacking (they do only 3 shows a year, with only one being a full-scale musical). However, their vocal faculty are top-notch, and UK in general is a great school with lots of resources, so it’s a great choice for someone interested in double-majoring. It’s also located in Lexington, KY, so literally everyone I’ve ever gone to school with will be attending there in the fall. I needed to get out, man.
North Central College: A non audition program. Verrrry close to Chicago (we actually took the train in for fun on our second visit). The issue here is that it wasn’t as rigorous a program as I wanted, and the admissions office was really unable to connect me with any faculty, a four year plan, etc. so we left our second visit knowing virtually nothing new. After visiting WIU the next day, the choice was abundantly clear, haha!
Dean College: I walked into this one at Unifieds, and they gave me a generous scholarship and instant acceptance, which is the coolest thing that happened to me the whole audition season (except surprise Hamilton tickets the next day lol). However, they were just too small for me–with only 1,000 students, it was barely a step up from my high school, and I wanted a more enriching environment.
Otterbein: Otterbein is a fantastic program for MT, which is why I chose to turn down my acceptance for a theatre BA. I came in for an interview (coincidentally with one of my roommates from the Baldwin Wallace summer camp I attended–it was serendipity!) and the faculty were so fun to be around and talk to. However, the BA is pretty much limited to directing and design. As soon as I learned that 99% of the acting roles are reserved for BFAs, I knew that going there would be a wrong decision for me. But their scene shop also has an ACTUAL METALWORKING FORGE, so that’s pretty cool!
Hopefully this was enlightening for someone. It’s interesting to look back on it. I really wish I could do it all over again–my voice has changed significantly since the end of my audition season, and I would do a lot differently (aka don’t make your dream school your first audition–yikes.) But I’m very happy with my decision, and I hope more people will find out about WIU and their great program!
WTG @floodedlungs - thanks for the detailed information, I am sure it will help future applicants! Congratulations on WIU and I hope you have a wonderful freshman year.
@floodedlungs I am impressed with how much you accomplished on your own and so glad you had such a great experience with your Mom! You should be proud - sounds like you will have a wonderful 4 years at WIU!
@floodedlungs thanks for sharing & congrats!!
@floodedlungs Congratulations and thank you for sharing!!
Ok, I’m ready to share my D’s story in the next few days. Do I just post it here in the replies?
@4angels ~ I think that is the way to post on threads now. It is a reply to the topic.
Final Decision-
This is the first week life has seemed under control since we began this crazy journey. Ready to share my D’s experience in case it is helps anyone. My D was bitten by the theatre bug very early. In a family full of researchers, lawyers, and scientists- you can imagine how this news went over. Luckily (since I have honestly no clue what I’m doing) we were connected with Dave Clemmons and CAP during her junior year. She went to TPAP and loved it, and we came out of the gates running in the late summer last year. I will say first off that she applied to ENTIRELY TOO MANY schools. I know it’s not popular to be over confident, but we were confident she’d get something (she got 13). The best decision she made in the process, however, was hands-down CAP auditions in Atlanta. Go! If not, go to Moonifieds. I can’t say enough about the reassurance of enjoying Christmas dinner with offers already on the table. Now, going back to the things we did wrong:
- Filling out school applications first- she wasted tons of money on application fees that would have been waived after prescreens or CAP, and she used up all her great essay material on academic applications instead of prioritizing theatre department applications. Her grades are great and ACT high, so she was accepted into every school that makes separate decisions (unlike CCM, Syracuse, etc. that make their decision based on audition results.) If we did it over again, we would have submitted prescreens and theatre dept. apps first whenever possible. Now we know.
- Applying for schools with outrageous pricing was a waste of time, energy, and excitement. Know what you’re going to be willing to spend and don’t waste energy on something unfeasible. Many of these schools hit six figures per year- so even though the scholarship might be 50k/year, guess how much is left?! She became so frustrated when she had to turn down “dream schools” because we overestimated how much scholarship money would be available. Now this won’t affect everyone, but with our big family it was an inescapable factor and caused a lot of disappointment in the end.
- Unifieds were a huge waste of 3 days. After having such a fantastic experience at CAP, we should have taken the budget we had earmarked for Unifieds and used it to travel in person to schools where she was called back to or invited to based on prescreens. Again, don’t judge, (we were clueless going in) but she had 14 calls or callbacks at Unifieds and they were almost all extremely rushed and impersonal. Exception- the NYU and Syracuse auditions were great. What we found is that by waiting until Feb. it was completely impossible to visit all the schools where she was accepted in time for the decision deadline. We should have prioritized better and focused more.
Her auditions:
Bama, Birmingham, OU, OKCU, Illinois Wesleyan, Northern CO, Rider, Wright State, Ithaca, Viterbo,Texas Christian, Texas State, FSU, UCF, Coastal Carolina, Syracuse, NYU, Missouri State, Otterbein, Montclair State, CCM, Hartt, LIU, Northern Carolina, Webster, Pace, Millikin, Carnegie, Penn, Elon
Passed Prescreens and Callbacks if necc.- All, Ithaca, Penn State, PACE, Elon
Accepted to BFA: Rider, UNCO, Birmingham, Missouri State, BAMA, Viterbo,UCF, Illinois Wesleyan, NC, Oklahoma City University (BM Musical Theatre) Coastal Carolina, TCU, Millikin (BM)
waitlist- Syracuse, Otterbein,
Decision- Missouri State University (hands-down)
To recap, there were some really bad times at the end where we just couldn’t make the numbers work- specifically Rider, Oklahoma City, and Illinois Wesleyan. Thank God we had saved MSU to last, and it ended up making sense on every single level. We kind of feel like we’ve won the lottery. It’s perfect.
Feel free to message me. I have a gazillion notes. Also, sorry if this is too scattered or blunt. Overall it’s been a heck of a year (and we were also helping our oldest choose law schools, which ended up being so much easier)!
Holy Moly! You said 13 schools but meant 31! Wowza! So very happy your D found her perfect fit at MSU and I hope she has a great freshman year!!!
First off, congrats to you and your daughter. One question: Of the schools your daughter was accepted to, which one(s) have cost of enrollment of over $100K per year?
@MTDad2025 - I was thinking there was some “rounding” involved both on the total cost of attendance figures and the scholarships - No schools have a six-figure price tag and few will offer 50K in scholarships. The highest priced schools I know of hover in the high 70ks for tuition, room and board. If the OP lives very far away from the school(s) in question it’s possible travel expenses would add up and some schools don’t guarantee housing for all 4 years so you need to consider the price of local apartments, etc.
I am hoping someone can help me here since you all did this last year! I have my prescreens filmed - but I am worried that it is too soon and that I should do them again to get them a little stronger. However, I also know that I will always think that they aren’t quite perfect enough… it’s just how I am! How soon is too soon? And how much time and effort should I give to doing and redoing and redoing etc. etc. I just am afraid that they will never be good enough for what I want and I am stressing about something that I should just say is done and move on! Any advice ? How much time did you spend? I worked on all my material all spring and summer and filmed in the last two weeks so everything is done now!
I would suggest you have someone who will be honest with you listen/watch them for you. They will be able to provide truthful feedback.
99% of people don’t like to hear/watch themselves, so you will always be your worst critic.
@MTDad2025 I definitely rounded, and added in all fees, living expenses, etc. Rider, Oklahoma City (tons of extras and hidden fees and), Illinois Wesleyan were crazy high on paper. Oklahoma City BM had been a very specific dream, and she adored IWU and Rider- but even after very generous scholarships we were still looking at around $50k out of pocket each year. ROI just didn’t make sense in the end.
@CaMom13 you are correct. We added in flights, fees, etc. and I have a masters in rhetoric which makes me an exaggerator by nature. Ha! Most of her big scholarship offers were because of her academics being so high.
@4angels YEP so true. Some of these private mt “dream schools” when it’s all said and done are pricey even with scholarships. We too passed on those kind of schools once analyzed final dollars. Folks it’s bigger than the prescreens & auditions. Upon final decisions it’s super enlightening to analyze all financial costs once offers are made & scholarships dollars allotted. Have a balanced list for sure. Especially financially with all costs of going to a school considered.
@Kkrazie @4angels or others perhaps you could enlighten us on the other " hidden fees" beside maybe the obvious or individual type stuff like travel and incidentals. i have heard some schools have an additional charge for voice lessons weekly or the accompanist with those weekly lessons ,and i also heard that those fees vary widely, but really dont know much beside the obvious tuition, room and board…would be helpful for us in class of '24 to think about those items now? thanks in advance
@NYYFanNowMTdad I have never heard of charges for voice lessons? Please give more info
@Notmath1 - i vaguely recall at the montclair st arts day them saying they dont or charge very little but other " prestigious programs" do, but i havent seen them published anywhere . maybe its just hearsay, was hoping those who did all the calculations this year could shed some light on those plus others?? maybe i’m wrong altogether