Cant figure out the Wright State portal. Under My Application page it shows MT and the Admission Status columns says ‘Admit’. Does this mean my D is accepted to MT or just the college? The home page on the portal does indicate she’s admitted to the college (and we did get snail mail on college acceptance). Confusing.
Hi all. My daughter went through this last year, and I checked back in a while ago to see how this year’s crop of parents were surviving bc I remember how much it saved me last year. Like the others I want to say as difficult as it is, they WILL all land where they are supposed to be (even if that’s taking a breather.) Just remember how arbitrary it is - my kid ACTUALLY had a school tell her they weren’t giving her an audition slot bc they didn’t need another “her” last year. And she was grateful they told her that, bc at least she knew! Point being, you just don’t know why, but much of the time (even with prescreens) it isn’t about talent, so as we’ve heard from a very annoying princess, try to LET IT GO!
Also, like @DramaLlama18 , my daughter is a freshman at BoCo this year. I’m happy to answer any major questions privately, but just a couple of things. She has friends from all divisions as well as over on the Berklee side, and is starting her third performance opportunity of the year. While everyone thinks the school focuses only on dancers, my daughter’s biggest strength is acting, and those acting classes are phenomenal (she’ll call me crying from happiness or overwhelmed after a particularly intense experience, and it happens often,) so don’t for a second think it isn’t a well rounded program.
Yes they take more students than other programs, but this school solely exists for this purpose, so of course they do. This is all they do. The school does lose students along the way due to attrition (like all the others), though. The numbers seem higher bc the amount of students is higher, but the percentage is the same. Once they realize their lives will be this intense, they’d better really want it, and they don’t always. My daughter’s cohort of 15 is now down to 12 after the first semester. Also, for those who think there’s no real work, my daughter had several very long papers to write and exams to study for this midterm week just like “normal” kids do. She’s a kid who always planned to go to a program where she could also enroll in an honors program, so being in a Conservatory was a shock to us. It’s been good to see she has found literature classes the really enjoys.
I wish you and your kids all the very best. Try to sleep, don’t drink too much or take too much Xanax to round out the month! It will be ok!!
I always say, regarding the “your college student is an adult now” thing, they are an adult…until they’re not. Like when you go to make a hotel reservation & they cant check in since they aren’t 21, etc.
I will say I feel like college is so very different now then when even my husband and I were graduating from high school. My husband paid for a majority of his college himself. his parents contributed some but not a lot. So they had not a lot of say in anything he did, choosing classes and majors and navigating the process. It seems like now students’ college tuitions are being funded by parents a lot more, so the parents tend to be more involved in the college process then back then.
I have regretted doing too much for my D in high school and even now that she is in college. I have contacted the college regarding financials , since we are paying but never her school professors or any people involved in her daily college classes/program etc. I only call the school if I have some random generic question that she cant answer or isn’t on the website. It most definitely is the hardest thing as a parent to step back and let them go & make decisions and see them sometimes make wrong ones and suffer the consequences. No one understands how hard that is until they are a parent. I will say if your child has not yet gone through the college MT admissions process yet, let them do a lot of it themselves. I wish I had. It will make them more confident in decisions after they get to college. They of course need help & guidance as it is so nuts that very few could apply to all the schools without help, but coming from someone whose child is leaving her MT major in the fall, things may change down the road… It is much more important to get your child on the road to independence & create a responsible adult then freak out if the Rider prescreen gets missed. There is a lot of money involved in this process I know (trust me!) but a lot of the little things are indeed that…little things. A couple times where things get screwed up in the process most likely wont make a bit of difference & if in the process your child becomes more responsible well then that is great & will only make them more resilient. not to mention that you will see your child’s personality in regards to truly having the type it takes for a performance based job where things go wrong all the time.
Just my two cents. My kid has been in this game as long as most of yours, 11+ yrs, so I most definitely get it 
I assisted my son, who is dyslexic, in formulating his emails and I proofread them, but he sent them. He set up his tech interviews after consulting with me on my time schedule. Before he started college and had to go to the Disabilities Services office for his accommodations, I practiced with him what to say and I helped him formulate the initial introductory emails. He now handles everything by himself, though he will occasionally ask me to review something before he sends it out.
@“boola boola” Hey! Who are you calling old? :))
@CaliMTdreams Sorry! I was looking in the mirror and accidentally included everyone ?
Re: college students are adults – my S is a college senior this year. At his new student conference, we parents were told in no uncertain terms by the college dean that if we called his office, he would not even take our call unless our student was in his office with him. I have used the payment portal each semester and looked up a few dates on the website, but that is it as far as communication with the school. Back in September, I did whip out my Mom Card, as the lease co-signer, when he was getting the runaround from his (off-campus) apartment management about a leak in the unit above his…and they ended up thanking me because I forced them to investigate/repair and saved them around $100,000 in renovation work on the whole building due to black mold! He has really learned to advocate for himself and others at school – it’s a beautiful thing. ?
@Loganator lol on whipping out the “mom card”. Yes def situations where this gets used by me also! Select situations but especially I can see the apartment one being necessary. I am also the co signeron a lease in the fall. I have already had to be consulted over renters insurance since it’s through our policy of course. Plus I have noticed a lot of businesses like apartment complexes etc and others do not take college students seriously. They blow them off. But you can bet they don’t blow me off when I call :-h
Does anyone have experience with choosing a BFA acting degree over MT??
Depends on the school, but my son got a BFA acting agree but most of his career has been doing Musicals . He is a NYC based actor. The school would need to be provided excellent voice and singing training and some dance.
Or he/she would need to supplement with outside singing training. Any decent acting program will be training in voice
Which is not the same thing as singing.
@jbrown Thank you for sharing. I had the same question as @mteverlasting.
@jbrown Do you mind sharing where your son’s BFA Acting training was from and/or what made it excellent voice, singing, and dance training in your opinion? My D has been accepted to 2 BFA Acting programs (no MT yet) so she wants the triple threat training. She is forming a list of questions to ask and things to find out when we visit the campuses.
@mteverlasting My son had BFA MT and Acting options — he opted for acting. During the audition process he realized he would rather wake up for a 7:30 a.m. Shakespeare class than a dance class. He is a Freshman at UNCSA — he still has movement and dance classes, but they don’t seem as intense as a true MT program. He also takes private voice lessons to keep his voice in shape. He booked both a musical at a regional theater this Summer and will be doing a play before heading back to school. He’s maintaining the best of both worlds for now.
Re:Syracuse admissions.
I have a D who is a very HAPPY Sophomore in the program, please email with ANY questions
First, Congratulations @MTmominCanada for the acceptance - let me know if we can help.
@collegehelp
Syracuse Admissions office sends the acceptances/rejections/waitlist for the whole school. They do it in 3 waves, 1 wave per Friday. It is not related AT ALL with the date of auditions, and it is not linked to auditions.
I can tell you with 100% of certainty, that if you do not get an acceptance on the first wave (last Friday), you could still receive an acceptance during the 2nd or 3rd Friday. It happened in my D’s class (2021) and last year as well.
Last year, a friend of mine realized she had missed an email re: financial aid, asking for additional info, you may also check in myslice if they need more info. Once that was submitted, the acceptance offer was sent the following Friday.
@mteverlasting I agree that UNCSA is one drama program that encompasses MT elements along with intense acting training. At UNCSA dance and singing are consistent classes required each year but not as intense or leveled like some MT programs. They also do intense movement and stage combat work. For singing, there are required (regular) courses and the kids
have voice demos each year for all the students where they all perform. There are some outstanding singers there.
There is usually at least one musical per year (sometimes two if there is an all school production as well). There are also private singing classes (on top of both voice and singing courses in the curriculum) and at least one current student is taking extra dance through the dance Dept/school of dance there to supplement what is offered in the drama school. Many “MT” kids thrive at UNCSA. Lots of alumni on broadway and/or tours with musicals. Often in featured roles as they are actors at the core.
In our experience, many acting programs don’t offer dance at all or much singing. Voice work as noted above is not the same as singing class.
We also found some MT programs with very limited acting coursework and others with lots of acting in the curriculum. It can be a challenge to find a combo, but there are lots of stories on CC of kids who found it or “created” it by supplementing through private classes or summer intensives. Some schools with both majors have crossover betweeen them. It can be done.
Best of luck. Good to have choices.
@mtmama42, @Oaktree99
Well my son trained at UNCSA as well!!
The dance is more movement based but the voice/ singing training can be top notch if you arrange for it. Dance was mostly movement and maybe styles classes as you progress.
I believe the very best MT s are those who have a deep fundamental acting core as their foundation. I would never discount acting training as a viable path for MT performers. You just need to have singing chops in place for sure, and find ways to keep up the Dance training somehow. Esp for a gal!
My D is in an acting-based MT program and I was surprised how many MT-specific classes she takes in addition to acting, voice lessons and dance. Music Theory, small group voice, vocal performance, integration of acting with dance… wow. Probably 50% of her time is in classes I didn’t even know existed. I don’t doubt that an actor can put together great triple-threat training at many schools but there is something to be said for a program where the curriculum already aims to develop all three areas simultaneously - because it would be very tough to add that much coursework on top of a normal BFA!
I’m trying to plan a visit to the NYC and Philadelphia next month. Will it be more cost effective to buy one way tickets from LAX to NYC, then NYC to Philadelphia, then from Philadelphia back to LAX?
Or is it cheaper to buy a round trip ticket LAX to NYC, and then fly or take the train and back from NYC to Philadelphia?
Boston may be a possible added city.
Any info on saving money is greatly appreciated.
@CaMom13 which school is your D at?
@love2share While this doesn’t answer your question on cost, I would recommend a train from nyc to philly…It will likely be faster and less of a headache.
@jbrown my D attends NYU.