@collegeboundsam, when your son heard back from Penn as a no from his audition- did he still get academically accepted? Or is it a flat out no? I hope you are doing well with this process despite the no from penn.
Elon fall decisions are coming out. My D’s good friend just heard today from her November audition.
@CanaDad there are no callbacks at Unifieds - everything is covered in the one time slot. Break a leg, everyone!
@collegeboundsam my D was also accepted at Catholic U! She received a letter from the department saying she was accepted for MT, but has not heard directly from the college (official acceptance, or any scholarship info) yet. Has your son?
Thanks @collegeboundSam . My son’s situation is a bit unique so it actually makes sense that he hasn’t heard back from PSU (I was just trying to give info that some have heard back).
So…I need someone with experience to talk me off the ledge.
Background: My son has an excellent voice - and I know this based on outside evidence (top placings in choral festivals and nafme nationals this year). But for the other acting and dancing, my only evidence is that I (the loving parent) think he’s great. He gets top roles in his HS productions. Anyone who watches him knows he can really dance, though he definitely needs training/discipline. But I have no idea how this compares to all of the amazingly talented kids out there. He passed all of his prescreens (all schools in the OnStage top 25) which would I think (?) indicate that he’s at least in the right ballpark.
What has happened: 2 weeks ago - Baldwin-Wallace = No. Today - Elon = No.
Panic!!! How on earth to people get through this!!!
@ZukAndSowash if your son passed all those prescreens you’re definitely in the right ballpark! The only takeaway from the recent no results is that his fit is not in the suburbs of Cleveland or rural North Carolina! Hang in there - it’s a long way to April 1 when you’ll have results from all the schools.
@ZukAndSowash It is a brutal process. The one thing I would point out is that the competition is much tougher than we ever thought it would be. Coming from a huge public school with no performing arts schools in our area, we had no idea about the numbers of both private and public performing arts schools there are. Your son is likely competing with kids who have been in performing arts schools as early as middle school, and some who have already been on T.V. and Broadway and have equity points already. I think most everyone who is auditioning is getting the lead roles in their plays and musicals as well, in addition to many doing regional work as well as HS productions. If you saw posts from last year, some parents were talking about Annette Bening and Warren Beaty’s daughter at auditions. I know some of the most competitive candidates come from LaGuardia HS in NYC which is the “Fame” high school and where Timothee Chalamet attended. I know that two kids from the same performing arts school in Florida got into Juilliard last year. That says a lot about their high school and training since there are only 7-8 high school kids admitted. Then again there are also many kids who come from smaller schools, even rural area schools who don’t have access to much training and who have raw talent and luck. I think being on this board and knowing what the expectations are at auditions puts your son ahead of many kids who simply don’t have any guidance at all, don’t follow the audition guidelines, and don’t know how to pick appropriate material. The best piece of advice I got during this process was to remember that when all your local friends and family tell you that your kid is the best and that they’re sure they’ll go somewhere great–believe that, but don’t believe that it will definitely be a “top ten” school. If you have a good number of reach, fit and safety schools, your son will land somewhere. And as everyone has said, being a boy puts him ahead of the game already.
@frisbee3 - I don’t think you can read too much into what what the panel at the audition asks you for (or discusses). At my son’s first audition, they were very short with him (only sang one song and did one monologue) and the panel was very brief with their discussions. He received a YES from that school. At his second one, they had him sing both songs, did his monologue, and had a fairly broad discussion. He actually felt better about the second audition, and received a NO from them. So I don’t think you can ever tell one way or the other. Best of luck to your daughter. We have two auditions left !
@ZukAndSowash - stay calm, it’s a LONG way to May 1. All no’s are painful - but hopefully you have MANY more schools to hear from. The single hardest thing (for me) in BFA process was to keep the faith. I am a natural worrier - and literally didn’t take a free breath until we had our 1st legit “yes”… that was on March 23rd of my D’s audition year (after 4 No’s). Hopefully you will get one well before that - but we didn’t, and still ended up with 3 “highly ranked” BFAs to choose from. But I really did think I was going to spontaneously combust along the way. That is where CC was a godsend - a place to take my OBSESSIVE worrying, without stressing my kid out.
I feel like I have to add something more general. I love school theater, I really do. (It’s a full time job on top of the teaching that is my actual job) But public HS casting generally means very very little as an indicator of how the college hunt is going to play out. Being in school shows will do almost NOTHING to prepare kids for a BFA audition season (or to study in a BFA program for that matter). They are apples and oranges. For those of you reading with younger kids- very valuable advice is to get outside your school casting pool. This can be via regional theaters, national camps, summer college programs, or other groups. Then you are at least getting a wider view. Lots of people here advocate an assessment by a coach - though TBH, I have never heard a story of a coach telling kids they shouldn’t go for it, and I have heard stories of kids with coaches who got shut out. Now there will still be plenty of surprises along the way (My D had done regional, gone to a summer college program, and went to a magnet performing art HS - didn’t stop the stress one bit) but it still gives more info.
@toowonderful - Wholeheartedly agree! My S started doing community theatre his 8th grade year and has worked with people who once worked in NYC who have been the greatest mentors he could ask for. While his HS is a major player in theatre, his work outside of that is what has made him a more well-rounded performer. He’s done so many auditions that his college auditions are just “another chance to show his stuff”. And until he decides where he’s going to go (1 Yes, 1 No, and still two auditions at this point), the stress will continue!
@ZukAndSowash - just breathe. It’s a stressful process and frequently makes no sense. Elon and BW are both fantastic programs but having been through the process last year in retrospect we wouldn’t have applied to either because they really weren’t good fits for my D. Maybe next year you will feel the same. I believe the college selection process is very much about “fit” and frankly, the schools know more about who will fit in their program than the applicants do. It’s not just about talent and the fact that your S has two nos from very competitive programs does NOT mean he’s on the wrong track - it just means he’s not yet heard from a school that’s a good fit. Chin up and stay positive!
@Canadad there were two call-backs that I know of last year. LIU Post and OU both “called-back” students they were interested in though it wasn’t for an actual call-back. It was for an information session. OU’s Unified audition is (or at least was) a live pre-screen. Every candidate has to audition on campus and can pre-screen either via video or live at a couple of places - one being unifieds. They had an information session for those that “passed” their live pre-screen. I think it was at 5pm on the day you auditioned. LIU had a few various times for their sessions.
I can’t speak to OU but the LIU callback at Unifieds was completely optional. As @speezagmom mentions, it’s an information session, not a call back audition. You don’t have to worry too much if you get the invite and you can’t fit it in - they’ll still be interested in your student!
@ZukAndSowash My D is on the student green room Facebook page and there is discussion with last year’s students on how many places they auditioned for and were accepted. As an example of how random the process seems, one young lady auditioned for 22 schools and accepted to only 2 - one of which was NYU Tisch. Another auditioned for 16 and was only accepted by Elon. Conversely some were accepted by more than 75% of the schools they auditioned for. It’s really a crap shoot.
@penny1234 ,no, the portal and subsequent letter said they will “hold” his application until I called and changed his major request. Then it would proceed.
@LIMTMom , NO, we got the department letter, but did not apply early D or early A, so the portal at catholic shows application complete and “under review”. The website says Mar 1st.
@collegeboundSam- thank you!
@skylarmt
My son got a no from Ithica, but his gf got a yes.
Sorry I don’t post much- It’s easier on a desk top and my husband works from home, so… he commandeers the computer. Anyway, S passed pre-screen at Pace and CMellon. Got no’s from Ithica, Emerson and Rider. He had his first “real” audition for Baldwin Wallace in NYC on Saturday. Of course, I got sick the week before, then my 14 Y O got sick which caused my senior to have a sore throat for the audition. >:( Not feeling good about that one. But, glad to get the feel of auditions before Unifieds! sigh this is hella stressful.