<p>EmmyBet, my D’s situation with vocal performance is so parallel in many ways to your D’s with theatre. A wide and deep passion for it. Talent and drive. Years of self-initiated commitment. A lifelong interest that, looking back, was always part of who she was.</p>
<p>We wrestled early on with the conservatory vs liberal arts education decision, and both landed squarely on the importance of a broader liberal arts education, rather than a narrow focus on music.</p>
<p>We also want the flexibility of being able to change majors…because…who knows? The performing arts are such a dicey career prospect that it just makes sense to leave yourself plenty of options and “escape routes,” as you said.</p>
<p>I encourage and support this dream of my D’s because I do think she has a potential future in it (maybe in ways we can’t even predict right now). But I also help her keep a broad based view of her abilities, talents, and interests. This is one 17-year-old who could go in one of many different directions over the next few years and I wouldn’t be surprised.</p>
<p>Keeping doors open, while bearing down on your dream seems very smart, imo.</p>
<p>S’s admissions interview went pretty well, they managed to talk for half an hour, he said it was a lot of standard interview questions, one he hadn’t thought about ahead of time was the “who would you like to have dinner with” question.</p>
<p>I remember my older D’s alumni interviewer from Tufts asked her why she hadn’t applied ED. She stumbled a bit on the answer. While she was interested, it was not her first choice, she had several schools she liked. While she has not changed her major, she did add a second one.</p>
<p>S has not wavered in his choice of career for the last 5+ years, he is applying to schools for his major. He is following his dream - if it doesn’t work out, he’ll regroup.</p>
<p>Mommylaw: In terms of LOR and transcript requests, I recommend requesting everything at once. I think that there is less of a chance for mistakes that way. I also think it’s easier for the teachers to handle all the forms for a student at once. </p>
<p>Our school had a college information program last night. I dragged my daughter there to attend a session about writing the essay. As we were leaving, she mentioned a good idea for her common ap essay and agreed that it was helpful to go. She went home and completed her transcript requests and turned them in this morning. Progress!</p>
<p>Regarding majors. 9 of the 12 schools S is applying to will offer him the opportunity to switch to pretty much anything. Three of his schools, are included on the list because of their business program, finance in particular. If he switches from finance to something outside of business he will probably have to transfer from those schools. </p>
<p>It will be a topic of discussion when the acceptances come in.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize I sounded like I was struggling … I actually am not. What I’m saying is that while in principle I do believe in a broad, exploratory approach to a college education, I can believe that some kids are on a defined path and that it is all right for them. And my gut with this D is that it is not the wrong choice.</p>
<p>But most of that is because of my D’s approach. Like mosb, I am glad that my D is leaving options open for other areas of study. Also her very “specific” major happens to be an extremely multidisciplinary field, so even within it her learning will be broad. This all contributes to my comfort level.</p>
<p>There are other choices she could have made that would have made me struggle more - but probably as much because I knew they weren’t right for as because they were more limiting. Depth of passion is a real thing, and recognizable. She has found that now.</p>
<p>I went to a university that required broad, deep foundational learning before any major could be chosen. I loved that. I think I tried to do an interdisciplinary major even beyond that because I enjoyed and believed in it so much. But my advisor saw through it and steered me very kindly toward the conventional major I was rebelling against. I then found that following one passion in depth was incredibly rewarding (well, two, because I continued with what would have been considered a minor if the school had granted them).</p>
<p>momjr - Yay! I can’t wait to write a post like that! My D was more focused on dressing for “'80s” Day the past few days than on anything remotely to do with college.</p>
<p>mamom - I’m looking forward to how your story turns out. We’ll have a major discussion at that point, too, much based on her “major” and how she wants to follow that. I’m glad I can send her to a few more college visits, a few overnights, so she can get a first-hand look at the life she’s seeking. Luckily I’m positive it’s all a win-win situation, and I hope it feels that way for your son, too. Transferring sounds so awful, but it’s also an incomparable growth experience for many people. Also, with the proliferation of the “2 and 2” programs, it’s becoming standard to spend time at at least 2 different campuses, anyway.</p>
<p>FlMathMom & momjr, thanks for the tips. D will have to get all her LOR & transcript request forms in by 10/1 deadline. </p>
<p>I am under the impression that our GC sends LORs & transcripts directly to the colleges and doesn’t give them back to student in sealed envelopes. Perhaps I am mistaken.</p>
<p>Our daughter has been a Theater/ Vocal girl all her life but never had the completely driven part…she spent a month doing a touring production this summer and while she enjoyed it and had a major role, it confirmed for her that theatre is not what she wants to ‘do’ with her life although will happily participate in college (and hopefully beyond). She does not have the drive nor thick enough skin she says!</p>
<p>She is very excited to be applying to a school which encourages participation without having to major and that has lots of other courses for her to explore what she really wants to do.</p>
<p>I am glad since I read lots of posts on the MT thread and the competition is FIERCE and I don’t think either one of us could stand it!
Good luck to all who are part of that, looking forward to living vicariously through you!</p>
<p>happy64, my daughter was the same way. She was in all the HS drama’s and musicals so I was very surprised that she did not continue doing that in College. She said that she realized it would be a too big a time commitment so instead chose to do comedy improv. She could still act, but in a much looser format. </p>
<p>My older two have HS rings and wore them all of three years. My youngest was adamant about not wanting a ring and knowing what happened to his brother and sister’s rings we certainly didn’t push it. I wish I had gotten my oldest son an Eagle BS ring, because I think that’s something that you can wear your whole life.</p>
<p>happy - what a great opportunity for your D to explore how she really feels! My D also was able to spend her summer trying out the “theater life,” including the rough stuff, and interestingly she was OK with it. Every time she hits a wall, we talk about what that means in terms of her college choices, what kind of day-to-day experience really works for her. This is definitely why every program she’s applying to is within a full-fledged college setting. It’s also why she’s picked her schools on a very strong gut feeling of fit/connection with the people/family-like support systems. </p>
<p>It’s not enough to know what you “like,” but also just what it is that you like about it, and that can be defined so differently by different people. My science D has learned so much in college about just what kind of science person she is. It’s a fascinating journey.</p>
<p>My H always regretted that he hadn’t gotten a college ring. For our 20th anniversary I got him one that combined college and grad school, and he wears it all the time.</p>
<p>That’s right, missy, and I also think those degrees can be springboards into careers other than the traditional singer/actress “life on the boards.” </p>
<p>My D can’t define right now specifically how she wants to incorporate music into her career and life…just that she does. She will double-major (probably in the equally “impractical” field of English lit :)) so I just have to trust that, somehow, she’ll build a career for herself. Her gut-feeling (and mine) is that this is the way she should go. I expect it will be an interesting journey…</p>
<p>mamom, good point about being able to switch majors without needing to transfer schools. As many of you have said, it’s very difficult to know if a high school senior’s current path is where they’ll remain over the next few years. I ended up being the type who stayed the course, so in some ways it’s harder for me to understand that yes, young people can make huge changes in their career plans.</p>
<p>No ring for D1. I’m not sure I’ve even seen anything about them being sent out. Her magnet is short on sentiment. On the other hand, every year some of the teachers and admin staff are invited to alumni weddings. I suppose the sentiment needs time to ripen. She wanted senior portraits, but was satisfied with the least expensive package. </p>
<p>D2 is our drama kid, in every sense of the phrase. kathiep, I love seeing kids pursue improv. </p>
<p>We haven’t had refreshments in awhile, and our fridge is overflowing with calories. I know many of you are on diets, but you can feast on these virtually:
*Chocolate mousse pie (vegan, even!)
*Insanely good chocolate layer cake with ganache icing
*Cream puffs (well, custard filled) from Beard Papa</p>
<p>Slithey - there goes my resolution to stay away from desserts! Thank you though - mousse pie is one of my favorites!</p>
<p>I posted this on another thread, but guess I’ll ask here as well. D got a LOR from one of her teachers - said teacher gave her the letter, a few copies and told D she could send them out to the colleges as she wished. Is this ok? I was expecting D to give her stamped, addressed envelopes to send them in. Apparently, she told D that she had once made a spelling mistake in the name of the person she was recommending and since then, she has the students read their LORs.</p>
<p>All aside, the LOR is a glowing recommendation for D!</p>
<p>S was not interested in getting a class ring. We didn’t schedule a session for the senior pictures either. I need to sneak a haircut for S. before his Sr. pictures are taken. He is very low maintenance and packages with 4 outfit changes will not work for him. </p>
<p>On the bright side, common app and one supplemental essays are done (but nothing is submitted yet). He turned in the counselor and teacher recommendation requests some time ago. Today he met with his GC and she said that one of the teachers already gave her letter of recommendation to GC. So, I guess, he is making progress. </p>
<p>Another news from his meeting with GC she is planning to nominate him for a very selective scholarship. The thing is that its for a college that he originally didnt planned to apply to. But its a very good university and a full scholarship. I think his chance to get it is not great, but we wont know unless he tries. He has to tell his GC tomorrow if he will apply to it or if she should nominate someone else. Scholarship application is due October 1st. More work. And his NMF application is not done either. I dont see the light at the end of the tunnel; the stress level is building up.</p>
<p>arisamp - congrats on glowing LOR. I think it’s ok if your D sends it to colleges, but she should give it to her GC to send it along with her transcript and school profile. It looks better if it comes from the school.</p>
<p>keylimepie - Sounds like lots of great progress and good news at your house. Kudos to your S. NMF app is no biggie to do. Should not take too long. Your S probably has another essay he can use for it.</p>
<p>arisamp - I agree with keylimepie re: mailing LOR and any other official forms. Our school actually gives the kids a sealed envelope for each school with LOR, profile & transcript enclosed. I assume there is a signature or something across the seal to validate that it has not been opened. I’ll let you know when I see them.</p>
<p>I need some suggested schools for a friend whose D is a B student (at best) who thinks she is interested in theater, TV news, communication…nothing too academic. School needs a Jewish presence (not kosher or Orthodox). Eastern US preferred.</p>
<p>First app signed, sealed, delivered! Or I guess that’s electronically submitted bit you get it.
Rolling admissions start on 10/15 so we should have one in the hip pocket by then. He put decent effort where only stats were needed because he’s hoping for oos departmental scholarships. The curent merit aid is good, but not rocking the world. Still it’ll be an acceptance to a school he’d be happy attending.
Love thy safety!!! :)</p>
kathiep, I love seeing kids pursue improv. </p>