HS Class of 2026 and the Musical theatre/acting college audition

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
22

Hi, my son applied to 29 schools :face_with_spiral_eyes: About 20 from this list were submitted a few days before December 1st. He practically broke it down into 10 schools priority, 10 schools medium and 9 low priority (safety). As of today, he heard back from 3: Rider, University of Oklahoma and Ball State. (all pass prescreen). He struggle to narrow his list, so I am counting that the list will “self-shrink” when the rejections come in. It would be impossible to audition to so many schools in a short amout of time between January and March.

We are planning Unifieds for NY and Chicago. He agreed that for some of the less priority schools on his list, he will do digital audition if available.

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23

Just writing again to say now she’s called back at Elon, SUNY Purchase, DePaul and Syracuse. She was not invited to audition at Ithaca and CMU so far. She plans on going to Unified and some travel . Still waiting on about 15 schools . When does Michigan usually get back? Juilliard?

24

Last year Michigan replied back on December 20. Juilliard allowed us to schedule an audition without passing a prescreen - this was last year so maybe it’s different this year.

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25

It is funny how this process works. My son applied by Nov 1st to all his schools. Immediate no’s from DePaul and CMU which was disappointing. Accepted to SCAD. Passed prescreens for Ithaca and CalArts. Has auditions set up with those two plus UNCSA, Rutgers, Emerson. Still waiting to hear from BU, Purchase, UCLA, and USC. The waiting game is killing us.

26

Heard from UMich today and CU Boulder last night with audition offers. We’re still waiting on Elon and Cal State Fullerton.

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27

I had a child go through the process last year. I have also seen many of my performing arts students go through the process over the past decade. It has gotten increasingly competitive and there is now a real industry around college prep with paid coaches, companies, and advisors (beyond the voice, dance, and drama teachers your child may have at school). Some advice:

-Trust the process. People apply to many schools but can only go to one. If it is meant to be and you have a balanced list, you should find a spot.

-Girls need to apply to more schools than boys. If I had a girl, I would have added a new school for every prescreen no.

-The process is still very competitive for boys but many of the most talented boys will get multiple offers from outstanding programs. If your boy has a balanced list and had passed half of his prescreens, you are probably good.

-Use early offers to reduce your stress. My child was blessed with a few early offers in November and December. Every prescreen pass that came after that we asked: “Would you go to this school over the ones you have already been accepted to so far?” If the answer was no, we declined auditions in the hopes it gave others a chance at the slots they needed. It reduces travel and stress.

-Don’t be afraid to audition virtually…we know many students who got in to great programs with virtual auditions.

-Don’t take a school off your list due to money until you know the offer. My child was given a full tuition scholarship for artistic merit/talent at a school we were told by others “in the know” that did not give scholarships.

-My child is at a very well known program that is consistently in the top 5 on every list you see and there are so many students there that did not use expensive coaching companies and several students who are crazy talented but came with A LOT less experience than you would expect. Schools look for talent and potential.

-ENJOY this time. Crazy to say but you will miss it.

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28

The waiting is so hard! We went through this process last year and I have to warn you that there will be another period of waiting between your last audition and the final decisions. I remember that the process was difficult but also an amazing time to bond with my student.

29

We also went through this process last year and I agree with everything you’ve said. And I miss it too!

30

so I’m checking back in and it is January 13. I would advise everyone here to join the musical theater parents Facebook page because it is exceptionally active and you can get a lot of questions answered but you should know that it is very overwhelming at first. It seems as if everyone knows everything (and there’s a lot to know.) and you feel like you will never get a handle on it. At first.

But then you do and it’s a great resource

This is where we are in the process now we did exactly what I thought we would. The very last day that all the prescreens were due, which I think was December 3 we were working right up to the very last minute to get them in.

So many people are talking about they’ve already got offers. They already heard back from all their prescreens and we felt incredibly behind, but it’s all evening out now.

The first school we heard back from was Rider, which honestly I thought was more of a safety and it was a NO.

That was shocking because it caused me to second-guess everything. I immediately thought we should’ve refilled everything we didn’t ask for much advice. We should’ve had somebody look at these and make sure that we chose the right materials because although we did pick a coach to work with it never really clicked so we ended up just doing it all on our own.

Took about 24 hours for me to calm down and not spiral. I called the coach that I’ve spoken to and ended up signing up for a sort of limited experience, which was that he would look at all of her materials and make sure that everything was OK. I could call him when I had questions and we would have someone to help us at unified.

This was definitely the best idea because it helped me feel less like I was going to make huge mistakes and if I’m calm that makes it easier for her to be calm.

Next, we heard from Depot and that was a pass then Syracuse ( this was a big one because it’s my alma mater and I didn’t wanna have negative feelings about it) which was one of her top choices and it was a pass for musical theater, which was great.

We flew to New York for early decision 2 NYU and the Julliard auditions, which did not have a prescreen

And why you went well and she didn’t get a call back at Juilliard , but she wasn’t really expecting to. It was a good experience and it was beautifully run.

Back home again we’ve heard from almost all of the prescreens. Now we’re just waiting on one school and the second program at another.

So far it’s been

Rider No : CMU No: UMich No : Molloy NO

Ithaca Yes Acting : Penn State Acting. elon Acting : Point Park Acting

Syracuse MT : Pace MT : Montclair MT Manhatten Marymount MT : UMich MT

No prescreen Baldwin Wallace, Rutgers, NYU, new school

Redirect to BM from BoCo berklee

withdrew Emerson application.

still waiting on CCM and Manhattan school of music

Headed to Chicago unified in two weeks and several virtual ones between that and then LA unified three appointments there so the process keeps going we keep going with it and I can’t wait till it’s over

31

Can you share a link to the FB group? I’m not sure I’m finding the one you are speaking of. Any idea if there is one for Acting - not specifically MT?

We have heard from all but 3 schools - UCLA, USC, and Purchase for acting prescreens. Unifieds are just a few weeks away and if we need to schedule any other auditions in the area or out of state (we are in Chicago), it would be nice to have time to plan.

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That’s the acting one. It’s called BFA acting dreams if the link doesn’t work

33

Thank you so much. Just applied to join.

34

It’s called -MT parents- and there’s another for acting called Acting Dreams ( I just found out about this one). It’s a private group so you have to join. I don’t know what I would do without it every time I have a question I just posted it there and it gets answered by a dozen people.

35

Back again with an update..
finally heard from our last prescreens.
MSM NO and CCM MT No on the same day we got Penn State Yes Acting/ No MT. That was 1/12 … waiting and waiting for CCM acting. It was insane. There was a group of people on the MT parents Facebook page and they hadn’t gotten theirs either and we all realize it was probably a no but they were just stringing us along. I said two emails they kept saying we’re gonna roll more out in January but New York unified came and went and in Chicago unified are in a few days.
It’s not that the answer is important or that we cared so much about the school. It’s the waiting and the stringing you along when we’ve been through the emotional term well of all of these schools and you just can’t figure out a reason why they would hang onto it for so long. So we finally heard back from them and no, and every other person that we could see that was waiting was a NO as well.
Left a very bad taste in my mouth about that School but since it’s no longer available to us, it doesn’t matter and we move forward.

Getting ready for Chicago unified we have a midnight flight on Thursday. There’s been a massive snowstorm that made New York unified a unique experience. Apparently (we didn’t go.)
So we just have our fingers crossed that will still be able to get out and everything will go smoothly so we can get these taken care of. We have seven scheduled auditions and we’ll see about walk-ins.
And then 3 in a row on the first 3 days back in LA ( la unifieds.)
After that, we have one virtual Penn State acting and that’s on Valentine’s Day and that should take care of it and then after that, it’s just the waiting to see how it all turned out and see if we get accepted anywhere.

Don’t you love how I use WE I mean, this is all my daughter but since I’m so heavily involved in the emotional chaos it just feels like everything is happening to me as well. But it’s DD who is really going through it and trying to keep up with School at all of her extracurriculars and trying to have somewhat of a senior year with friends as well, so I look forward to the day that this ends.

36

Love this thread already…our daughter went through this amazing, exhausting and expensive process last year. If there’s one (or two) things we learned about the process, is that it all really comes down to auditions and class cohort needs. There is such a glut of talented performers, triple threats and supremely motivated kids out there, that casting a wide net (ie 15-20 schools) is essential. My daughter got in to BFA/BA programs for MT at Missouri St, Ball St, NYU, USC (BA), TCU, Elon, UMiami, and was wait listed at Florida St, Oklahoma, and Indiana. She was rejected from Syracuse, Penn St, UMich, PACE, CMU, and Cincinnati. I think that’s the list, if memory serves. She ultimately enrolled at Elon BFA MT and couldn’t be happier! She’s a Los Angeles beach kid, so moving to North Carolina has been an adjustment, but she has no regrets. Turning down NYU and USC was made easier due to their $100K+/year cost of attendance (staggering, I know). The best school, for the best price (w/ scholarships Elon is about $53-55K/year for us) which happened to be the best fit is thankfully where she landed. So many great programs out there, and I just know that you’ll “bloom wherever you’re planted” when the decision is made. Best of luck!!

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37

I am trying to locate the musical theater FB page for parents and I am struggling to find it. Could you share that with me?

38

Here is the Facebook group. It is called MT Parents: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AqBhpgqYN/?mibextid=wwXIfr

There is another one called BFA Acting Dreams. Be sure to answer all the questions to be admitted.

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39

Thank you soooo much!!!

40

Does anyone know anything about the rumor that Syracuse is thinking of restructuring in the next year or so? Dropping their acting program for a films acting? I heard they have MT and an actor/singer track which will be acting for theatre but regular acting will be film based. And that they are losing some of their better teachers I don’t know if this is just a rumor cause I can’t get it substantiated but I spoke to someone who was trying to decide between Syracuse and Penn State and decided to go with PS because of Syracuse uncertainty.

I know BW lost a lot to Oberlin and University of the arts closed down and those kids were just out of luck so I’m afraid to go into any school. That’s gonna make a change that my daughter will end up having in the cold.

41

I’ve been lurking here, so thankful for everyone’s posts.

My son has choices - still waiting on some bigs, but I am so curious about programs I know so little about.

EG, Point Park - anyone know any gossip on this place?

he’s very happy about getting into their Acting BFA, waiting to hear about MT focus, but at unified they explained they have an MT minor.

Also, he’s in/happy about university of oklahoma, but he didn’t initially apply to them but they had open slot at uniforms so he auditioned for their acting ghoul and got in. He’s MT.

Webster ACTiNG again! My son loves to sing and dance, but he again only auditioned at unified for acting w/webster as a drop-in, got in and is now all gung how about it. Never heard of it.

Then he got into UC Irvine Friday to their drama school, but they make the kids wait til spring semester to audition to focus in MT? We live in LA, so I would love if he chose UCI and his supplemental material must have gained his admission because his gpa is lower than it should be.

Others in: UIUC Lyric and BA, yes academicaly at Minnesota, waiting to hear. Rejected from UMiami. Waiting on nyu. Waitlisted at Molloy.

Waiting also to hear from University of Indiana and some others I forget still.

Any all opinions wanted, thank you!