The admissions sting operation exposed some really ugly thngs. But I think it’s important to remember that the parents and not their children are the perpetrators here. It is terribly unfair to think kids jumped the line but it was their parents’ money and ambition that made that possible.
@lovetoact, I think we’re almost all mad at Pace right now for jerking our kids around. I assume my daughter is either wait listed or declined. It would just really help to know. They gave her a really nice academic scholarship.
My S got a nice academic scholarship from Pace as well, and Pace is his #1. He’s actually considering going even if he doesn’t get in and trying again for the BFA next year.
In all fairness, when we went to Pace auditions in late February, nothing was mentioned about calls - they just said that they would inform by mail mid-March, so that’s what we’ve been waiting for. It seems like the few calls that I’ve heard about are exceptions, not the rule, and posters here from last year did say that not all acceptances were called. I don’t know what the rationale or criteria is that determines why someone is called and others aren’t. Who knows? Maybe they want to get a sense if some people are planning on attending or not, so they can make an offer to someone else if they’re not interested in attending. In any case, we’re waiting for the official word before we accept defeat! lol We’re being guardedly optimistic, and trying to stay as positive as we can.
My S did get an acceptance from AMDA, and we’re waiting on the result from Manhattan School of Music, so his stance may change, depending on those results. We need all the facts in front of us, including a financial package, to make a proper determination. Waiting is frustrating, but part of the process - and part of the MT world in general - so no sense driving yourself crazy about it. It will come when it comes.
Good luck, and positive thoughts to all!
@vlperez That is interesting. I thought I saw “test optional” along the way, but I didn’t really understand it…or maybe I just didn’t take the time to think about it.
@MTthreats - I’m with you. Let us not criticize these children. These were adult decisions and actions.
I’m not sure what is accurate, but what I read was that the Macy/Huffman’s declined to use this person for their daughter who is currently going through the college application process. The SAT score which is being publicized belongs to their older daughter who is already in college somewhere. And I do believe in the older daughter’s case, it is possible she did not know anything like this was happening. She may have thought she earned that score herself. So yes, try to leave the children out of it as we do not know what, if anything, they knew about all of this.
And to the child who auditioned at Unifieds this year. From those who attended Unifieds reports, it sounded like she was going through the process just like anyone else. Not having private auditions or special VIP access. So it sounds like she was trying to earn her spot in a program the right way. Otherwise, why on earth would she have auditioned at Unifieds? Just like I wish for all of you, I do hope if her talent warrants, she finds a school to welcome her and nurture her. Finding a caring and understanding program will be all that more important for her given what her family is going through right now.
Yes on the Macy Huffman daughter thing the older daughter is the 18 yr old who goes to the LA Arts High school. And is obviously graduating and was the one auditioning at Chicago Unifieds I guess. (I thought there was a D already in college and that was the one they paid to up her SAT score but I guess it was indeed the one auditioning. )
The other daughter is only 16. And that must be the one they apparently declined the offer to alter her score also as she is probably now taking her SATS .
Interesting. Wonder how her MT/acting acceptances will pan out now lol.
I agree @artskids as if she wouldn’t be favored anyway since she is their D!
And why would you pay to have the SAT score raised for MT anyway? Most schools could care less . She must’ve been applying to high academic standard ones .
@MTthreats @vvnstar Please. The kids who were posing as athletes certainly knew something was up. The kids asked to play stupid with the psychologist, and then travel an extra hour to take the ACT or SAT at the “right location” certainly knew something was up.
Don’t fool yourself. Parents with an arrogant sense of entitlement raise kids with an arrogant sense of entitlement. There are many people - kids and adults - that knew what was going on (and were part of it) that won’t be prosecuted due to lack of evidence.
Re: Macy/Huffman et. al. Judge not…
Re: Pace. I, for one, am not mad. Personally, I would need some actual inside information that suggests that they do their process the way that they do for the love of being sadistic to actually be mad at them. If you don’t like how they do something, write them an email (you can easily create an anonymous email account if you’re worried about repercussions). Let them know what their process is doing to you while you wait. Let them know that other schools do things differently. Ask why. And also, ask yourself whether it’s bothering your kid or not.
On a personal note, I’ve come to realize (and of course everyone is different) that for some reason I am more concerned/upset/joyful/(insert emotion) than my son is about anything and everything in this process. I’ve been asking myself why that is and what it says about me. I’m not liking the answers I’m coming up with!
@ZukAndSowash don’t be too hard on yourself. We are all human. We are parents and we feel your pain and understand the difficulties in this process. That’s why the support in this board is a life saver!
@ZukAndSowash - someone else said earlier that they struggled with allowing their kid to choose the school because their going to a “better school” somehow gave him a sense that he had been a better parent. He recognized that he was perhaps over-invested in the outcome of the admission process. I think that’s a wise parent and one who’s on the way to recovery. 
Sending your kid off to college is a time for letting go… and now is the time to start, but it’s hard.
Why shouldn’t we judge? What they did was reprehensible. And something I’m sure NONE of us have done for our kids. It’s yet another example of wealth and privilege abused, this time combined with the illegality of fraudulently changing test scores or falsifying athletic profiles. And while some of the kids (ones whose scores were changed after the fact) didn’t know what was going on, some, especially the kids pretending to be athletes and making excuses for why they weren’t playing their supposed sports once they got to school, surely did know and actively participate in the scam.
@CTDramaMom I think the point was that the kids perhaps DID know what was going on but didn’t necessarily understand that it was wrong because that was just the way that things work. The parents raised their kids to believe this and there probably wasn’t an influence in their life that taught them about ethics.
I think it’s sad to see people here being being vindictive.
I don’t find it vindictive to want justice to be served. But then again, I’m a prosecutor. So serving justice is kind of a big thing for me.
The funny thing about @ZukAndSowash not judging the parents is that (if I recall correctly) he was very conflicted that he was able to provide this opportunity for his kid because of white privilege. Much harder on himself for doing it the right way than on the people with WAY more advantage clearly doing it the wrong way. You have a lot of integrity.
@TexasMTDad Thank you. I really appreciate that. And everyone else, I’m sorry. I should know better than to tell anyone not to judge. I try not to because one of the few things I know for certain is that I don’t know what’s going on for anyone outside of me (and sometimes even that is not clear!).
Good perspective, @sedaley. Best of luck to you too. I guess we won’t give up on Pace just yet. You never know. We are also hoping to hear from Roosevelt, Elon, and JMU this week and hopefully the rest next week and beyond. Wait, wait, wait.
@sedaley Roosevelt will send out notices on Friday. My son auditioned for MT-Dance. What about yours?
@vvnstar Their daughters are 18 and 16 years old. In an article from January of this year, Macy referred to his oldest daughter going through the process. I find it hard to believe they were already down this road to where it would show up in an indictment for the 16 yo.
I’m with @CTDramaMom and feel totally comfortable saying these parents who got arrested are indeed worthy of being judged. I mean they broke the law … hello… and I am loving they got caught . Yes I feel for the daughters IF they didn’t know. I question this for a few of them esp the athletes. But also if your SAT score raised that much you would suspect something was up . If my D got some amazing score when she knew she didn’t test well she’d be like “Wth”
Why we continue to defend white privilege is beyond me. Especially when it’s a situation that was illegal. And this coming from someone who knows I possess my own degree of white privilege although of course not at the wealthy level such as this.
I remember my D attending a summer intensive in NYC while a high school student & a very well known broadway music composers D was attending the intensive as the hubby was a collaborator in the camp. The girl was not in my D’s group but I remember she garnered a lot of attention from the other students although she didn’t bring this on herself. She didn’t seem to be a diva. She attended LaGuardia obviously and now attends Brown for theatre. That being said that summer when I sat in the parent meeting w/ other obviously wealthy parents who were probably well known in theatre circles etc I got a little wake up call. There truly is a wealth and privilege factor to MT too & ive always remembered that