We went through very similar situation for my D21. She was either waitlisted or rejected to most schools. Finally she got into Columbia University and she is really doing very well there. So wait till RD and your child will be fine and do well.
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Thereās nothing disclosing here that doxās you.
So Iām not a theater person - in that many say - the audition trumps the academics.
Perhaps thatās why the DePaul rejection?
Some kids may have been in lots of shows - but perhaps donāt have the technique, etc. they are looking for? My daughter was in shows. We loved watching her. Was she a great actress? I think so. I loved her as Willy Wonkaā¦but truth is, I have no clue if she was. We sent her to little local classes but more for fun. And she had fun. But that doesnāt mean she was great technique wise, etc.
Deferral can mean lots of things - and not necessarily rejection. So itās hard to tell.
So from an academic POV, Sarah Lawrence accepts about 50%, the test is only considered so may have factored in littleā¦and only 21% submitted per the latest CDS. If they track weighted GPA, youāre doing great but unweighted, in range but below. It could have been an audition issue. It could be a GPA issueā¦and it seems like theyāre not huge fans of the test.
Iām the last one to talk on theater but Iād assume schools, while caring about the audition, also do about academics.
If thatās the case, it seems like NYU, both NUs, and maybe Vassar and Wesleyan would not happen.
While itās great to go for them, maybe itās best to supplement with a non-audition school.
You have Templeā¦congratsā¦fine schoolā¦but sounds like you want an LAC.
Muhlenberg is non audition - except for scholarship. They donāt list stats in the CDS but it has a higher acceptance rate. So best of luck.
You have Ohio U and Temple but the student wants an LAC. I guess Iād make the same comment about SDSU.
A 36 is awesome but many schools only consider (donāt rate as important) the test because they want to see rigor, etc. vs. 3 hours.
And it could be talent wise, regardless of how much actual performance he has, that some of the schools donāt deem him ready for the program. I donāt know - just trying to look at it analytically.
Again, not speaking about auditions - itās hard to research where required - but schools like (and I donāt know budget) - but if some donāt require audition, academically, it certainly fits and at many with nice merit.
Allegheny (Penn)
Beloit (WI)
Drew (NJ)
Gustavus Adlophus (MN)
Hartwick (NY)
Hobart & WIlliam Smith (NY)
Juniata (Penn)
Kalamazoo (MI)
Linfield (OR)
Puget Sound (WA)
St. Lawrence (NY)
Ursinsus (Penn)
Washington (DE)
Willamette (OR)
You may need to demonstrate interest of course.
At least heās got the Temple safety net.
Hopefully Muhlenberg comes through. And thereās definitely a place out there for him.
Best of luck.
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For what it is worth, I am the leader of a major regional theater, and I can tell you that where your aspiring actor goes to undergrad is of no significance in the professional world. All of these schools are terrific. Some position themselves as strong arts schools; others may not. The most important thing is for your emerging artist to follow their passion and find just one teacher who believes in them and nurtures their talent and dreams. That teacher could be anywhere. And once they graduate into the real world, what matters is their talent and tenacity, not their alma mater.
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I wonder if occasionally human error comes into rejections. The entire process is a learning experience for me, but we recently just had a strange situation involving scholarship money that we were told was human error. My daughter is chasing merit. She has a 32 ACT which gives her full tuition to Alabama and Ole Miss. Alabama is too ābigā for her, but she is quite interested in the smaller Ole Miss. She sent in all transcripts, grades, test scores etc into Ole Miss on the first day she could apply. Ole Miss sent her a āCongratulations on the 32 ACT, you are exactly the type of student we want at Ole Missā mailer a week later which she thought was cool. So they knew she had a 32. She was then accepted into Ole Miss shortly after applying. Her merit scholarship should be $100,272 according to their chart. Then she gets an email telling her that her scholarship is ready and to log in to see it. It was like $22,000 total over 4 years. She was very upset and I told her that it was likely an error and we would get it fixed. We called the school and even though everything was sent to the school electronically, somebody had manually typed in her ACT score as a 27 into the scholarship system instead of a 32. It is crazy to me in this electronic day and age anything has to be typed in manually, but it was. It was quickly fixed and her scholarship is now the correct larger number. My point is simply we all assume these schools are 100% high tech and everything passes around digitally without errors. In reality, I think there might occasionally be some manual processes still in place that get occasionally screwed up. Perhaps your child was evaluated on a score below 36 if somebody made a manual error somewhere. Just a thought. I wish you both the best though and with that amazing ACT score they will end up at a great school somewhere.
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@NiceUnparticularMan My daughter just told us today that she is going to switch her application at my alma mater (BC) from RD to ED2 after much consideration and a bit of a nudge from school GC. She wants to give herself the best chance at the best possible school with the best fit. Now letās just hope BC agrees. BC school of management with attractive early internship opportunities makes BC very desireable.
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BC is great! Excellent academics generally, super connected in business in particular, real sports, Boston . . . good luck to her!
Edit: Oh, and of course ONLY in her honor, I will be thinking about an Irish whiskey cocktail . . . .
Hopping in from the 2025 crowd to offer my congrats on St Olaf. It looks like your son is looking at the sciences and languages; I think heād be happy there. My son is loving his natural science major + minor experience there, and since, as you probably know, their study abroad program is quite flexible, heās been able to bolster his studied language of choice (they can go abroad during the semester or their january term or their summer so opportunities are numerous). Anyway, itās a great option to have in hand while your son waits for other results 
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What type of āearlyā opportunities vs. other schools?
Awesome! Good luck. Iām a BC grad tooš¦
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Another St. Olaf acceptance here! D24 accepted with a very generous scholarship. Looks like Iām planning a trip to Minnesota.
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We booked our trip to Minneapolis (EA acceptances UMN and Macalester) for Feb 15-18! Winter wonderland! It is D24ās winter break, and we needed to leave time for other visits. It will be just her and her dad on the trip, which is good, since Iām unusually vulnerable to cold. 
Also, we all currently have Type A flu (confirmed yesterday), and, 10 mins away, ma-in-law has Covid. Holiday madness!
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First drinks are on me for any parent who steps onto the St Olaf campus and starts belting out āIn Summerā.
Edit: Having realized hundreds of parents could potentially qualify, letās go with the first 5 parents who submit video proof.
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You got it. I apologize in advance for anyone who has to see/hear the video proof.
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do I get extras if my kid is a blond blue-eyed Scandinavian throwback named Elsa?
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Only if she sings!
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A little behind on shopping, but hoping to make it across the finish line in time with local bourbons. Thanks for the great idea. Apparently, there are several craft distilleries in the area with products carried at the big liquor stores. Planning to get one or maybe two different 750 ml bottles for spouse (I am low on gift ideas right now) and perhaps some minis for the frequent-traveler sibling.
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Iām led to believe that in our household as well, Mrs. Claus may be leaving multiple bottles from a local distillery under the tree, and this Mr. Claus is not complaining!
In fact, rumors that my ENTIRE wish list this year was made up of bottles from that distillery are both vicious and well-founded.
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D24 just got accepted to Centre College! Yesās from 6 out of the 7 schools she applied to. Still waiting on school #7. Sheās pretty happy.
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Congrats to her !!
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Congrats!! Your D did a great job picking schools that are the right fit for her ā and the schools recognized that fit! So amazing!
Enjoy the trip to Kentucky to visit! Please report back after!
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