If an applicant passes a prescreen at a school where he has submitted everything (pre-screens, grades, transcript, essays, recos, etc), does that mean that he has been accepted academically already? Or are academic acceptances separate at some schools? And how would he be notofied of an academic versus a prescreen acceptance? Thank you, everyone!
@goldenslipper Pre-screens and university acceptance are two different things. Your child can be accepted at a college before they even audition. About 95% of colleges require you to apply to the university before or as you apply to audition. You will receive a notification from the theatre program about pre-screens and auditions and one from the admissions department for regular admissions. It does get interesting for some schools. My son received an acceptance from Syracuse after being admitted into the program and was deferred after not getting an offer from Elon’s program. Some schools wait until after auditions and some don’t. It’s up to the school. The bottom line is that they have to be admitted into both the program and the school separately.
@cmatte Thank you for the logical explanation of this incredbily intricate process!
My D heard a yes from Elon, Shenandoah, and Pace this week. A giant swing on the roller coaster from the No from Penn State last week. Anybody else waiting on Texas State?
@goldenslipper Anytime. I’ve been through it and glad to answer any questions you have. The process is ever changing but it’s so much fun watching our kids do what they love.
@MTRound2 Congratulations - that’s a great and diverse list.
I think every school my D applied to last year the merit aid was based on a matrix of “unweighted” GPA and test scores (note: some schools’ UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS may still weight the GPA which is separate). Keep in mind that GPA cutoff for university acceptance is often by department and how many apply, so a GPA at a school may get you in a theatre major but may be higher threshold at the same school for a business or engineering major. I remembered reading about this on CC a while back, so we opted out of a lot of AP for my daughter to keep her GPA to a point to get more merit aid (which she did). But, she did take 22 units community college dual enrollment credits and about 10 units of it directly applied to specific core classes she now doesn’t have to take (and no stress of AP tests)
Just a quick caveat - backing out of honors/AP classes to raise GPA can work, but with an academically competitive school, or with some merit scholarships, it can hurt b/c your child has not taken a “rigorous” curriculum. So you have to weigh both sides. There can be ways to do both. For example, my D’s senior year, she did not take AP Physics or AP Calc - b/c the workload would have been extreme. She took AP environmental science and AP stats. She was lucky - her school offered a LOT of AP choices. For parents of juniors, it might be worth a meeting with guidance counselor at the end of the year to discuss scheduling, and how they determine what they say about academics etc for their part of the common app.
Uh oh- just got a no from Emerson. 
Emerson rejection from prescreen submission. Uh oh
So sorry @penny1234. Was that a top choice? I’m viewing the pre-screens as “what is meant to be, is meant to be.” I know that’s easier said than done! This process is so crazy! I’m taking the advice of the experienced parents here and saying that maybe it wasn’t a true, good fit??
Thanks @NYKaren! It feels like a shaky start to the process, but yes what is meant to be will be. My DD seems ok- maybe she’s more prepared for this; but I’m thinking I’m going to need to toughen up!
@BWmama I can speak about FSU and academic admissions. They do have minimum standards, and interestingly, might be the only program that looks at subscores, not just composite. I am not sure what those minimums are exactly, and they could change year-to-year. FSU is a beautiful campus, and the program has an excellent reputation. Their students do very well in the “real world”. You can always reach out to Michele Diamonti, who helps run the program; she is a gem - both informative and transparent.
Some schools that tend to weigh academics more heavily include: NYU, Penn St, Michigan, FSU, Emerson and Syracuse. Important to note though - many of these programs do lower those standards for MT/A applicants. And some universities with very high academics for all other majors (ie Carnegie) truly do base up to 80% of their admission on the audition.
@penny1234 I’m right there with ya. i got rejected too. i don’t like their prescreen process. only one video? i don’t think it’s a fair representation of someone
Received our first academic acceptances this week. S is sooooo excited to at least be going to college! LOL
Academics acceptances received from U Tampa, Florida Southern & Wright State. He is also very excited for his first auditions at MARCAS. Both Florida schools will be there, so that’s one expense I’m happy to not have to incur (until decision time…fingers crossed). Also excited to learn more about other programs that may not be on our current radar screen.
Just be careful with the accuracy of this document posted. It’s from 2015 and many of the new BFA programs are not listed. I just glanced at it briefly and saw a lot of errors.
This one is the one that I am referencing:
https://www.broadwayartistsalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Colleges-and-Performing-Arts-Programs-Packet-2015.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-73,798
@loribelle Brenau in GA is now an audition program.
My D is doing her first in-person audition on Sunday. Arcadia University (suburbs north of Philly) holds auditions as part of their open house for perspective students. Pretty sure this year’s freshmen were the first for the MT concentration. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1957151-arcadia-university-in-greater-philadelphia-adds-new-musical-theater-concentration-to-bfa-in-acting.html.
In going back through old threads, they only take 6-8 for the MT concentration, and they’ve been at Palmer House and for Chicago Unifieds. Free to audition and free to apply to the university.
@afterp89 Good luck on Sunday! We have looked online at Arcadia since they will be at MARCAS, and my D loves the castle dorm! I think she might apply just for that! lol
Hello! Our D is currently a freshman in a BA theatre program and is looking for a change to a BFA MT. She did auditions last year but has decided to re-audition and see what happens. Her list is: UTampa, LIU Post, Penn State, Viterbo, UMiami, CCPA, and TCU. If you have any other program suggestions please let us know! We want her to find her place!!