@toowonderful OMG I actually know 2 people on that thread LOL one personally and one through FB. They talked about a FB parent support page but it only had 88 members??? How helpful is that? But pretty funny comments!
The CC-bashing always makes me laugh… whether it be from the college coaches, fellow parents, and now apparently program directors as well?! Jeez… I think they are being a bit harsh to say it’s all misinformation on here; acting as if we are a bunch of clueless bumbling idiots. We’ve all gotten this far in the process with very little help from the schools themselves so everyone needs to just settle down.
@MTdreamz - if I could only <3 your post here, I would. In total agreement - if they don’t want parents to search out online support groups, make the F-ing application process a little more transparent and easier to get through!!!
I do sympathize about the rumor mill though - people say something here and the next thing it’s what 100 people “heard”. I would not appreciate having to fight off rumors that I was leaving my job every year.
@El-Cee We probably are to them because they know how this really works and are laughing at us when they go back to their hotel room - they throw all the kids names in a big hat and take turns drawing names! :)) That would explain so much!
Despite there being some misinformation on here, our family would not have known about Unifieds, pre-screens, auditioning, summer programs, training opportunities or expectations, coaches nor any of these MT programs to even research if it wasn’t for CC. My daughter was the only person from our entire town or area who ever went through this process and none of her teachers or instructors knew about it either. Kids in our area only seem to know about AMDA.
Updated list of MT programs with either a “recent change” (i.e., in the past 2-3 years) in MT director / chair or where a change is rumored (but not refuted) as being imminent
Recent Changes:
MSM - Liza Gennaro (2018)
Michigan - Vincent Cardinal (2016)
Ohio University (newly formed program - Alan Patrick Kenny; opening 2019
USC (newly formed major - part of school of dramatic arts in partnership with schools of music and dance; opening 2019
Wisconsin - Stevens Point (Joan Karlen); Kenny left to start program at Ohio U
Rumor only
CCM (rumored - nothing officially announced - about Aubrey Berg)
For all of the frustration many feel with the hurdles of the application process, if I were a program director I don’t know how I could make the process any easier for parents. There’s no obligation for a school to attend Unifieds we are sure glad they do because no way could we invest in the travel and time off work and school to attend to individual on campus auditions. Any school that we contacted with questions, scheduling conflicts, got back to us right away and were accommodating. Sure, some auditions were more personal than others but it must be exhausting for the faculty to try and see so many kids. My D was grateful for the ones who did take time to do some work or extra Q&A or acting exercises with her. Yeah, it’s expensive, it’s frustrating, and inevitably heartbreaking when kids get rejected. But my take-home feeling is that schools DO recognize this is a challenging process for everybody and I think most do a great job of balancing supporting the applicants with their recruiting needs. So, thanks to faculty who were part of this week…
@El-Cee as an earlier post noted, you can fly into Minneapolis and take a shuttle bus. I’m looking into options to visit the campus and flights there from the northeast seem super affordable despite being a bit of a hassle. The truth is that a lot of great schools are not conveniently located but there are options!
We just returned from Unifieds and it was overwhelming, but productive. D went with 4 schools scheduled (all prescreen yes schools) and did 5 walk-ins with schools we ‘discovered’ later in the process and sought out while there. For those who were concerned that it was unfair to walk-in, (1), we did go back to the hotel each night where she filled out applications, wrote essays and PAID THE FEE and (2), no one gave us a refund for the few prescreens from whom she got no responses to the prescreen so she didn’t do an in-person audition - some quite sizable app/audition fees - so it all comes out in the wash! 
With 15 apps in the fall and well over $1k spent in just the app/audition fees, I’m not feeling bad about taking walk-ins that were offered! I don’t think everything has to be either/or. . . we prefer to allow for “and”.
She actually finished yesterday and is done with auditioning. We scheduled heavily for fall so she could not interrupt spring musical as much as possible. She got 2 no responses early and no other word, so the walk-in experience and a few schools that had her sing/act and then invited her back to dance felt like progression that she didn’t always get to experience with some of her earlier auditions, so it was nice for her to end with some feeling of accomplishment until she gets answers. We found some of those ‘hidden gems’ that people talk about and now one of those is a top choice for her. . hoping for some positive responses soon. The closest she’s gotten so far is ‘you’re not a no’ from a top choice!
Good luck to those still waiting, BAL to those still auditioning and CONGRATULATIONS to those with acceptances. We’ve got to stick together through this crazy process!
We have a few auditions to go, but when we get down to analyzing “all” of the offers from these schools, any thoughts about the background of the faculty at the individual schools? There are heads of departments or teaching faculty who are artists-in-residence as music directors or former music directors, former Broadway performers - 1 year, 10 years - former regional and/or traveling performers, former directors of MT shows on or off Broadway, just to name a few.
Is there more value/opportunity/connections/current teaching methods, etc., with staff still working in or recently worked on Broadway, regionally, etc, as opposed to staff who are more distant from that world or only worked shortly and then decided to teach? Any thoughts, opinions or experiences appreciated.
@toowonderful excellent advice (post #2866) to check out the comments on her public post. Some coaches and other professionals were appropriately professional in their comments and others weren’t. Good to inform ourselves. It’s interesting that Chris Peterson is sarcastically snarky about CC but I don’t hear him complaining when the CC people are the largest group sharing and linking to his blog to increase his views.
@loribelle - I agree with you 100% - my D would not be where she is today (a working actor in the MT biz!) if it weren’t for CC, and that is the truth! The 2014 CC MT parents got me through some dark days and steered me in the right direction. I have tried to pay it forward ever since.
@EastchesterMom - Preach!!! Every once things go off the rails, but overall, I have rarely been a part of a community more devoted to supporting and celebrating each other, our kids, and the arts.
Hello! My daughter is auditioning at Coastal Carolina in a few weeks. Does anyone have any hotel recommendations in the area? Someone suggested the Country Inn Suites. We were thinking maybe near the beach to see the area?
@mtmom1967 - We stayed at Comfort Inn and Suites for both our tour and the audition. Nice hotel with free breakfast - only about a mile from the school. We opted for closeness to the school over the beach, but you should be able to get a good deal on a place at the beach this time of year.
@mtmom1967 We also stayed at the comfort Suites. Clean rooms and about a mile from the campus. Anything else was in Mrytle. There are some amazing deals on the beach right now ($50 or so) if you want to do that. We had no interest in the beach. Room was clean. Staff was nice. Breakfast was stale but edible.
If you look at hotels at the beach watch out for the “resort fees”. Some of them advertise a $50 room but then add on a resort fee. Most of them are around $15 but I saw some that were $75 or more.
@lovetoact @toowonderful re: excellent advice (post #2866)
Clearly those that replied do not realize that VB’s Facebook newsfeed is public (she probably doesn’t realize it either?) and therefore, identity and comments are also public. Very entertaining (to me!) and not a good look for some. They should have used CC with anonymous handles - ha!
Reading those FB comments, what got me most curious was the comment by one guy that the Artsbridge woman had been banned from CC for trying to give helpful information? That’s really strange, I wonder what happened there.
Thank you! Did you rent a car or just uber/cab to the school?
As far as getting on campus auditions done early (fall)? Does anyone know if Boco, Pace, Elon, BW, or Montclair do earlier auditions?