@CanaDad My info is a few years old, as I auditioned for BW in 2014, but when I auditioned, prospectives were with current MT students all day in a holding room, and lunch is provided for them. The students will take you to a practice room to warm up before your voice/monologue audition. While you’re in holding, there’s sort of an informal Q&A with the MTs, and I remember we watched some highlight reels from BW’s productions. My dad went to some info sessions with the conservatory/financial aid while I was in holding.
@CanadianMTgirl @CanaDad it was the st year. Everyone starts at intro meeting but after that separated until the end of the day. They serve a great lunch to the parents too.
Our D has a call back at Pace in late January. She has been academically admitted and has received a package of about $36,000 in aid. I can’t imagine how we would come up the other $36,000/year to send her there. Any ideas?
@artsmomof4 - If you filled out the FAFSA, you can see what aid/loans you can get from the government. Also, hopefully, she has been applying for scholarships all this year if she will need financial assistance. Otherwise you will need to take out personal loans or do as we did and use a HELOC (as the rates are way better than a Parent Plus Loan) to make up the difference.
@KAT67 my d heard from BoCo, early action.
@stagedoormama Thanks! Yes - FAFSA says we are eligible for more loans but I can’t imagine taking that much out a year. She is on hold for three other programs and also has call backs for three others. The total cost of some of the other schools is less than $40,000. Not sure if she should audition if the Pace is so far out of reach.
@BWmama thats so funny, it was the same for us! As soon as the transcript was in, we got our yes from BOCO!
Does anyone know how long NYU On-Campus auditions are? Were auditioning there at 9 and then Pace at 1:30, was that a mistake? Do I need to change some things around?
We auditioned for NYU at LA Unifieds and it was a well-coordinated half day so that sounds doable @MTMomma13. Getting from WA square to Pace is a pretty quick trip.
@MTMomma13 - congrats on BOCO! Did you hear for a passed prescreen, academic acceptance or admission to the program? Just trying to see whether we would hear academically by now or not…
@jollyballoon and @BWmama Congrats to your kiddos! That’s so wonderful! Great way to start the Holidays!!
@artsmomof4 -That is something you really do have to think long and hard about. Many people have kids audition for schools that are financially out of reach “just to see” if they can get in, and then if they do, and can’t swing it- it is devastating for the student. I am of the mindset that there is no reason to get into huge amounts of debt for an MT/Acting degree. Therefore, we didn’t have our D audition at places we couldn’t pay for relatively easily. Only do what your family can afford. One of our friends who I helped with auditions got into Carnegie- and couldn’t afford to go. It was pretty awful. If getting into too much debt, the student may not be able to afford their loan payments after graduation (due to the uncertainty of this profession) and then be required to get a survival job to pay their debt, and then never have time to audition or get a chance to work at what they got their degree in. Have a sit down with your student and really lay out the reality of what your family can afford, and go from there. Your student can get great training at places that don’t have to break the bank.
@artsmomof4 I want to know how you found schools that are under 10,000/year! Unless they are commuting from home, or you are lucky enough to live in a state with low/free tuition! I’m jealous! LOL
@frisbee3 BoCo gives one acceptance after the audition.
@ZukAndSowash I thought my D hadn’t heard back from Elon but when I pressed her she said she got an email last Monday but never opened it. I assume (and I suspect she does too) that they told her No. she would have gotten a call if it was a yes so… she just doesn’t want to face it. Happily she did get accepted academically and heard back last Thursday on that. I told my D that perhaps the MT could have deferred her and to open her email but based on the string of comments here on CC I suppose that the Nov candidates are told yes or no at this stage?
@artsmomof4 IMO, go ahead with the audition but make it very clear before hand that, unless there is a money tree found, that you don’t have the funds to send her there. You never know that money tree could be in talent scholarship. They really need to get used to disappointment and rejection since this is a big part of their future. If there are 500 auditioning for one part, 499 are going to get rejected. Any outside scholarships that she may have applied for, need to be renewable for 4 years otherwise, after one year she’d be right back where she started and it would be harder on her and to transfer.
Awwww @3Blessings - sorry. Just 2 cents on the “academic acceptance” - it’s good to celebrate that, but I personally wouldn’t want my kid considering a BA at Elon if they were rejected for the BFA. The MT program is so strong a BA student is likely to feel like a second class citizen… and actually an Elon BA theatre student wrote a piece to that effect a few years ago, it’s an eye-opening read. The best backup options imo are non-audition programs where the students are given wide opportunities for training and performance, not ones where they get “what’s left” after the BFA students are taken care of.
@artsmomof4 About the total cost of college… For our D we have an upper limit that we are willing to spend over a 4 year education. Some of my D’s reach schools are well over that price. We are letting her audition for them anyway, because it is possible that she could get scholarships to reduce the total cost. Our D knows these schools are out of the price range unless the schools come through with sufficient scholarship offers to put these in our price range. This is the best way to handle this IMO. Determine now what your total cost numbers are. Then let your kid know ahead of time so there is not a huge letdown come spring.
@ZukAndSowash @3Blessings - I think there are probably kids who get deferred, and this would be normal. My D auditioned for BFA Acting in October. They told us during the then, that after the early/Fall auditions, they would accept a few, deny a few, and roll a bunch over to after the first of the year. The process being there are some kids they can decide right away as definite yes/no’s and then there are more that they will wait and see how they compare to the remaining pool of kids who audition in Jan/Feb. That is what we were told for Acting. I would think MT would be similar, but I don’t know this as fact.
Less than $40,000 LOL!! Not $10,000