@DramaLlama18 unfortunately before MLK, first weekend in January, but we appreciate the offer! i told my D this will be a good test for how she likes Boston at the worst possible time of year! 
We live in Pa, so not a ton of weather-shock, but some! Here is hoping for good, safe travel for all during this busy time!
@Kristiern1 We live no more than 10 minutes from campus, so this will be the least hectic of our audition days. I’ve heard all slots were filled and they were wait-listing people, so it should be an action packed day.
Hoping to schedule his audition at Ohio U in January, but it all depends upon if admissions will ever provide a formal acceptance to the school.
Best of luck to your son this weekend!
@CanaDad In our experience the CCM auditions ran on time. (Of course - my son was early in the schedule) I think they try to keep things pretty tight to on time. I would say that you could fit a walk-in in between the dance call and the audition slot, and yes, you should be able to make the next audition at 2. They might run a little off schedule, but not by that much.
Here’s a side note that I’m not sure I should share, but here goes - S had an audition scheduled at unifieds last year for BOCO. After hearing more and more about the program, he decided that it wasn’t really for him. He cancelled the audition, and they told him he could still get his audition in via video. I was surprised. He didn’t do it since he wasn’t interested any longer, but - this may be a somewhat unspoken opportunity for some.
@MTMomma13 I will second what @Kkrazie said. Visit LIU. We visited after S was accepted. On paper, the program looks amazing, and S had a great connection with the auditor for the program. From what I’ve heard, their acting program is quite good. They are unique in that they teach suzuki as a primary acting method which I don’t think is very common. I’m sure there are some for whom this program is a fantastic fit. That said, my son knew within an hour on campus that this was not the place for him. The facilities are less than ideal and our visit was disorganized which turned us off a bit.
@MTMomma13 My D just started her freshman year at Hartt and is absolutely loving it so far. She’s had great experiences thus far and quite often comments on how much she’s learned already. The faculty and facilities are really wonderful. I would encourage you to look into the program in more detail to see if it’s the right fit for your child. My D did a shadow class after she was accepted and immediately knew she found her home.
Does anyone know anything about the UCLA MT program? THX!!!
I know it’s a BA Theatre program @KAT67 and that UCLA undergraduates can transfer into the Theatre major up to Junior year. Half of the credits for graduation are academic/ non-theatre - I assume a lot of admissions decision is also academically based and UCLA is hard to get into. MT is a “sequence” not a major and there’s no guaranteed casting. So essentially, I infer there will be more Theatre majors than roles and a lower bar for “talent” than a purely audition-based admitted group but that doesn’t mean there won’t be very talented people in the program. I am a UCLA alum and it’s a good school but imo LA is more of a Film and TV town than a mecca for theatre.
Thanks so much @CaMom13 That is information I needed to hear!
@KAT67 The UCLA Theatre Program is regarded as one of the top in the US. I know a few things about it since my D attended their summer program a year and a half ago, and she is applying there for next fall. The admissions decision is mostly about the audition (what was said above is an assumption and not correct). Kids apply, are academically screened, and if they pass that, they get an audition invitation. But the bar for passing that academic prescreen is relatively easy. One does not have to have the regular high GPA and SAT that students applying for non-theatre UCLA majors do. Essentially many B- students with mid-level SATs/ACTs and up get audition invitations. They bring in about 1000 students each year to audition. The entire program is audition based, and is very competitive to get into. Acceptance rate is around 4%. There are two tracks. The Acting track and the MT track. Both are highly regarded programs. You have to apply to and get admitted to one of those tracks, and you cannot switch once you get admitted. There are no “low talent” general theatre major students in the program. Also one cannot easily transfer into the program as a regular non-theatre major UCLA student. You pretty much have to get accepted as a freshman. They do take a couple of transfers from outside UCLA every year from what I hear, but its rare from what I understand. The UCLA theatre degree is a BA and not BFA, so fewer required courses. They do have Senior Showcase in NYC for MT students, and a Senior Showcase in LA for Acting Students. Hope that helps!
Hey @socalpops - thanks for the correction. Most BA programs require a higher academic bar for admissions than BFAs so I am very interested that UCLA Theatre is accepting B- students! That’s not the impression I had but you are more intimately acquainted with the admissions process than I am.
@Mark80 - does Ohio U require academic admission prior to scheduling an audition? We were on an online chat a couple of weeks ago, and the Ohio staff person said academic acceptance was not tied to program acceptance. The first auditions we saw were at Explore the Arts Day in October and I know none of those students had academic acceptances yet.
Hi @CaMom13 - from what I’ve learned over the past 3 years or so of researching various programs, it seems that the main distinction is whether or not the program is audition based or not. UCLA’s BA is audition based, and is one of the most competitive to get into, as any of the top BFAs in the country. USC’s BA in comparison is not audition based, and academics are big part of the admission decision. USC does have auditions for their BFA Acting program (and now their new MT program). Much of what you said originally above would apply to USC BA Theatre degree, in that they take larger pool of students and the academic screening bar is pretty high. And that is not what one would expect based on the historical reputations of USC vs UCLA for sure (as I would guess you are well aware of as an UCLA alum)!
@kat67 UCLA is very clear they are not a conservatory style program. They are looking for an “academic artist” is the wording I heard at their information session. You take a lot less singing/acting/dancing/music classes you would at other programs. I’ve been told the UC funding makes it so there are also a lot less MT performing opportunities in the program, but there are some plays too. There are a lot of student-run opportunities, such as film. There may be off campus MT opportunities, but It would be smaller venue development.
If you want 50% of your major with lots of academic core classes with very competitive students, explore film/tv and student run performing (which can be good for future networking), then UCLA may be for you. But, If you want closer to 70% of your classes in MT related coursework, more opportunities to audition as much as possible for MT, and still want a traditional college experience, look at major universities with conservatory style programs. There aren’t a lot in the West, but examples of that style are U of Arizona, Utah, Northern Colorado and ASU (ASU is a BM, so heavy on music). Examples of other non-west coast programs with this style in a larger traditional university would be Oklahoma, Michigan, TCU, Florida State, Texas State, Alabama, Ball State and Penn State.
Well and UCLA states that they are not a conservatory program and they are interested in training scholar/artists, which would certainly indicate that academics were strongly considered as part of admissions! But what they say and what they do may well be entirely different.
@OrangeFish - We attended an orientation during the summer and spent significant time with the MT faculty who told us differently. I may just go ahead and get him scheduled. At worst, they will just decline it. Thanks for the info!
UCLA does want to train academic artists, or intelligent artists. But the academics just aren’t that big a part of the admissions decision as one would expect. We’ve had multiple UCLA people tell us this, including two professors. Once you get the invitation to audition, its all about the audition. The upfront academic prescreen is basically there so they can make sure you can handle the UCLA academics - its not about sorting for the top scoring students. Regular STEM type kids applying to UCLA need 1560 SATs and 4.3 GPAs to be competitive, while the theatre kids can get in with a 1250 SAT and 3.0 GPA if they audition well. Everything you read online about how hard it is to get into UCLA and it requiring a 1500+ SAT and 4.2+ GPA to be competitive just does not apply to the theatre department. They are almost like a conservatory department in this regard.
Chiming in on UCLA MT - they have a great information “sesh” and really lay out the difference between BA and BFA programs. They describe themselves as a hybrid, aligned with programs like NYU and Northwestern. We know one B student admitted to acting a few years ago, but I think that was an exception rather than a rule. Last year they had a 3.5 GPA cutoff - at least for the MT applicants. That may have changed, but regardless, UCLA is the most competitive school in the country to get into, in general, and their MT program is small. Prescreens are narrowed down to 1000 and they only accept about 10 kids for MT per year. In my D’s friend group one got in and is a current freshman (super talented and stellar student), one 3.4ish student did not pass the prescreen due to GPA, one applied to the acting program and auditioned but was not accepted and my D was waitlisted - and we felt pretty good about that result, even though it was disappointing. Do audition, though, if you get the chance - it was a very positive experience for parents and students alike.
Agree with the admission, re: UCLA. I know someone who got in to their music/vocal performance with a 3.7 and 1200 SAT…which is low for UCLA standards, but she is very talented. My daughter decided she wanted a stronger balance in vocational training rather than broad spectrum. She also did not want to be around the Uber-competition in her academic core classes, which are 50%. When you are taking 18 units for MT, you are in class/lab a lot, plus possibly rehearsals, and homework/study time is a premium. If you are a person that thrives on academics and loved AP classes, it probably should be a school for you to look at. But, incredibly talented people with smarts do audition there. So, still just as competitive on the artistic side.
I believe a lot of playwrights, songwriters and directors attended there. It is a fit for that direction, too.
Congrats @StageDad311 to your incredibly talented daughter (must be!).
To those waiting to hear from Millikin - D got her notice that she passed the pre-screen today. Hope others received good news too!