Congrats on everyone’s decisions! Love hearing your stories!
Congratulations @gatorbridget! My D has a friend at Otterbein and he loves it there. He came from a warm climate too and is thriving!
@gatorbridget Woohoo!!! Congratulations on finding the perfect fit! So happy for you & your S!
@gatorbridget Congratulations…we know two amazing girls going there next year for MT! It will be a great class!
@gatorbridget Congrats to you and your S! And I second @NYYFanNowMTdad !!
I’ve loved reading these posts. Here goes.
Programs Applied to: Baldwin Wallace, CCM, CMU, Elon, FSU, Hartt, Ithaca, Marymount Manhattan, UMich, Molloy/CAP 21 (after walk-in), Muhlenberg, NYU, Oklahoma City University, Otterbein, Pace, Penn State, Rider, Shenandoah (after Combines–basic application no essays), Syracuse, Wagner, University of Alabama Birmingham (after walk-in) [selected MT only for all schools that allow you to do so] I think this is all of them. He applied to a lot of schools because this process is so incredibly competitive and several were reaches academically. I know people who applied to many more, and the more the better really. It’s good thing for him too because NY Unifieds were a disaster. We probably should have just tried to reschedule those auditions and been where we needed to be. The point is, don’t just schedule all your auditions at one Unifieds. If your kid gets sick or there is a death or near-death happening at that moment, you don’t want to have that be the only time you are auditioning.
Prescreens: Passed all prescreens other than Penn State, redirect to acting for CMU (BMW had him sing in audition, so future MT people be prepared to do that if you get a redirect).
Accepted to: BW, Hartt (LA Unifieds), Marymount Manhattan (Regional Audition), Molloy/CAP 21 (LA Walk-In), Muhlenberg (Regional Audition), Oklahoma City University (On Campus Audition), Otterbein (LA Unifieds), Rider (LA Unifieds), Wagner (Accepted his Combines Audition), University of Alabama Birmingham (walk-in Chicago Unifieds)
Rejected from BFA MT Program: CCM (NY Unifieds), CMU (NY Unifieds–Acting), FSU (on campus), Ithaca (NY Unifieds), UMich (Chicago Unifieds), Pace (first audition, on campus, great dance). Did not consider other programs if offered.
Wait-listed at: NYU (on campus before NY Unifieds), Shenandoah (Combines before NY Unifieds), Syracuse (LA Unifieds), Elon (on campus; academic?, program apparently doesn’t keep a waitlist)
Coach: MTCA (love them–did mocks (invaluable) 2 workshops (amazing) worked the most with monologue coach, selected two songs in his book with singing coach, did his own dances, participated in all but one webinar (key). On-site warm-ups at auditions and support from coaches, other kids, and amazing parents are just about the best thing in the world.)
Summer Programs: Dance, not MT
Background: Everything started at age 10 for him: dance, acting and MT training. Like most of our kids, he lives for it. It’s been so fun watching him grow. He’s got a golden age voice and has been classically trained. Picks up instruments on his own, pretty quickly. He attends an MT conservatory attached to a challenging academic high school. He ended up having a pretty rough first semester academically, which would have narrowed our list had it happened before senior year. Part of the reason for the slide was auditions/attendance policy, however, so it is what it is.
He generally enjoyed the audition process, and felt all the schools’ representatives were warm and inviting (with the exception of one), and all were professional. He had no horror stories. I did, but that is neither here nor there. One thing he did was change up his songs. He did better statistically with certain songs.
Final Decision: Before he received any answers (other than CCM rejection, whew, that was fast) he rated his audition experiences. He was accepted to all the schools he gave the highest audition rating, except one, where he was waitlisted. So I guess how he was feeling in the room really mattered. As we got acceptances/rejections/financial aid packages we compared every school again, discussing debt, revisiting curriculum, and basically reviewing everything. Slowly, we erased schools from the whiteboard that has graced our living room since the summer. Everything changed when the BW acceptance came. In the end, he chose BW because he felt at his audition that the curriculum was perfect for him and that he had found a home. Immediately after his audition (2nd audition), he said he wished he would have applied Early Decision. After visiting, his “feelings” were confirmed. He’s committed, and we are thrilled.
Now we can focus on the rest of senior year and the spring show.
Congratulations @Anybodyhaveamap !
Congratulations @Anybodyhaveamap !!
Congratulations @Anybodyhaveamap and I have to say it again - more great talent headed to Ohio.
@Anybodyhaveamap - great summary! BW is an amazing place to land and I’m so happy for him. He to his goal… without a map! 
I love that he rated his audition experiences before getting the results, that’s a really nice idea - figure out how you feel about the program before your impressions are colored by their feedback. Congratulations on being DONE and so successfully!
I don’t know how to edit that post, but I read coaches to mean college MT coaches. He also had two awesome private voice teachers over the past 4 years, great teachers at his schools, and wonderful ballet/tap/etc. teachers at his studios.
Congratulations to @Anybodyhaveamap and @gatorbridget! Great stories and so happy your guys have found their “homes!”
@Anybodyhaveamap great choices & Great landing spot, CONGRATS!!
Congratulations @Anybodyhaveamap! My S just graduated BW and there are a number of BW parents on these threads; reach out with questions!
@Anybodyhaveamap Congratulations on your S finding his perfect fit!
Was great to catch up on this thread and read all the positive stories! Congrats to all who have made their decisions.
@gatorbridget - Congrats to your S on his decision for Otterbein.
@Anybodyhaveamap - Congrats to your S on his decision for BW.
Lots of talent coming to Ohio this fall !
@Mark80 Yours is headed there as well to one of tHe most amazing heads of program!! We loved Xavier and Stephen as well
So finally, we can breathe!! Through thousands of miles of travel, countless days and nights of wondering and hoping…will he find his fit? Happy to say he has!
Programs Applied to: UTampa, Florida Southern, BW, CMU, Texas State, Otterbein, Ohio Northern, Montclair, UArts, Utah, Columbia College Chicago, North Central, Ball State, Temple, Roosevelt, Coastal, Wright State, Viterbo, UAB, Point Park.
Prescreens: Carnegie Mellon, Texas State, Otterbein, Coastal
(Passed Otterbein and Coastal)
On Campus auditions: Montclair, BW, Wright State
Withdrawals/canceled audition: Point Park
Accepted to: (All BFA MT) UTampa, Florida Southern, Ohio Northern, UArts, Utah, Columbia College Chicago (BA MT), North Central (BA MT), Ball State (BA Theatre Creation Redirect), Roosevelt, Coastal, Wright State, Viterbo.
Rejected from: BW, CMU, Texas State, Otterbein, Montclair
Redirect to Theatre Creation - Ball State
Wait-listed at: Temple
Coach: N/A
Summer Programs: N/A
Background:
My S has been singing since before he knew words. First was the humming of some classical piece, then High School Musical came into his life, and that was that! HA! At four years of age, he knew every word to every song, and he’s not stopped singing since.
He has participated in nearly every local community and school show since the age of about 5 or 6. No formal training until he went part time to a performing arts high school in his freshman & sophomore years. After that he had some voice lessons on/off, but mostly self taught. S is a singer and actor who can move (& has a great high kick!)
There was never any question of what he was going to study, It was a matter of figuring out where. HIs first college audition was the mid-Atlantic regionals in November, which was a game changer for him. It was here that, although we knew he had talent and drive, It was validated at MARCAS, that he could indeed ‘swim with the rest of the fish’.
He had already applied and had been academically accepted at Florida Southern & U Tampa, and both offered him a spot in their BFA programs at MARCAS. So going in to the Winter auditions with some options under his belt was awesome.
Next up was Ball State audition at NY Unifieds in January. Getting excited to start auditioning again, we were a bit blindsided by my S calling us on New Year’s Eve asking to come home bc he had extreme back pain. We picked him up and after a week of no sleep due to radiating pain, and his inability to sit or lay down, he was finally diagnosed and admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. After discharge, he was then readmitted later for a week, only getting out on Thursday before his Saturday Ball State audition. Living not too far outside NYC, we drove in for the day where he began and ended his day with Ball State. Once at Unifieds, the vibe of It all really got him going & he ended up doing several walk-ins (UArts, Temple Viterbo), which he thoroughly enjoyed, and provided to be fruitful, although the BSU dance call at the end of the day wore him out completely.
Then on to the deep freeze for Chicago Unifieds. After having to fly out two days earlier than planned due to the weather, we were finally in Chicago and ready for the majority of his auditions. We started with his first audition for scholarships at North Central. When we came in to Chicago itself, we stayed at the Cambria Hotel, a couple of blocks down from the Palmer House. While S wished we were a little closer, we were both happy with our choice of hotel. (It was definitely walkable, but probably one block longer than S would have liked, but It was clean and comfortable.)
At Unifieds, S auditioned for UAB, Ohio Northern (walk-in), Otterbein, U Utah (walk-in), Temple (dance), Coastal, and Roosevelt/CCPA. He was scheduled for Point Park audition on campus the weekend following unifieds bc the unified auditions were full, but when we saw that PPU was offering walk-ins at Unifieds, S asked if he could audition for them while in Chicago (trying to save us yet another weekend away, day of school missed and driving/hotels, etc.), and was informed that he could not, by two different people. In the end It was fine, and we simply cancelled his audition for the following weekend, (& he emailed them to let them know that he was freeing up a spot).
The last two auditions were scheduled for the end of Feb in Ohio at BW & Wright State.
Feeling so blessed to have so many options, It was time to really start honing in on specifics of each program and seeing what would work. For various reasons, a couple of the schools were released earlier in the process. We finally narrowed It down to Wright State, Coastal and Roosevelt. (Yes, all different & in different directions! HA!) S decided to visit Wright State and Coastal, (& we were comfortable in not having to visit Roosevelt again after being at Unifieds.) Wright State visit was first, and was a fantastic visit. Sitting in on classes, chatting and lunching w students and faculty, walking the campus, and in the evening the performance of A Little Night Music was great, and the talent was tremendous. The next visit was to Coastal. Driving down we were wondering how the visit was going to go. We had heard the campus was beautiful, and that people who auditioned here had a fabulous day, but would S have the same experience? Well, yes, he did. Again sitting in on classes, chatting, lunching, etc. and seeing their black box production of A New Brain. Again, tremendous talent!
How were we going to make a decision???
Well we knew that no matter which school he went to he would get great training, and he would need to put his all into It, so we went to these visits with the notion for S to determine where do I fit? Where will I feel the most comfortable, and be able to be me? Well…the palm trees won him over!
Chants Up! S will be joining the BFA Musical Theatre Class of 2023 Coastal Carolina University!
@lithpool Chants Up! Any questions at all feel free to inbox me. My D was in New Brain and likely someone your son communicated with as she is a Student Recruiter. Welcome to the family!