@frisbee3 just a prescreen acceptance for now!
One of the cuts we did on our daughter’s list when we began doing the cuts over the summer was the financial one. IfIf it is over $50k before scholarships and/or aid, it was out. I didn’t want to 1.) spend the app fees for a school I knew we couldn’t afford to send her to 2.) Worse, have her get accepted and not be able to send her. This cut out NYU, all of the Boston schools, Ithaca, UCLA and many others. Her list is very strong without those heavy hitters.
do recorded auditions actually lead to acceptances? i don’t want to ruin my chances by sending in a recorded audition, but flying to every audition is expensive and near impossible… I need advice
Many schools offer a ton of financial aid - last year my D was offered scholarships ranging from $56K-110/year from several schools (and then half of those schools did not admit her for the BFA, which was heartbreaking after the academic flattery. But that’s reality for these competitive BFA programs.) You just never know until you apply and audition, unfortunately. It’s quite a racket. For our family, the final three was a very interesting combination of BFA/academic/financial offers from three widely different schools. And we were grateful for them all! So make the best decisions for your unique family/kid during the application/audition process, but also keep as many options open as possible - it’s a long haul with many surprising twists and turns.
@dramallama18 That’s part of the reason that my D applied to as many schools as she did. In order to attend most of these schools based on what I am willing to pay each year, she needs merit scholarships on top of possible talent scholarships. Some of the schools I had a good grasp on what she would get merit -wise (because some are very straightforward), but others not so much. There were some schools that we just didn’t bother with though due to high costs and a reputation for not being very generous. We didn’t want to end up in a situation though where she needed to do walk-ins, possibly get her only acceptances, and be too late for merit scholarships. What a game this whole process is!
@MTMomma13 - congrats! That’s a YES and any yes is good in my book!
Definitely run the Net Price Calculator for all the schools you’re interested in. That gives you an idea how much you’re likely to get in financial aid and scholarships at that school, and a good estimate of how much you’ll actually have to pay. IMO, that’s a better yardstick than “sticker price.”
@actorparent1 I agree. There are several schools known to give significant aid, some enough to bring the sticker price at or below state schools. Urban schools tended to not be as affordable, mostly because of cost of living. My daughter is attending her most expensive “sticker price” school as it came at or below all of her other choices…and we purposely chose more affordable schools or those known to give aid.
Just FYI…just because you apply late to schools you do a walk-in for doesn’t mean there’s no merit. My son received significant merit offers from two walk-ins.
@kwheel_2019 If doing a video audition is your only option- definitely do it! My D did one video audition for her audition cycle a couple of years ago and it ended up being one of her BFA acceptances. (Though she ended up attending elsewhere). It may not be as “common” to have an acceptance from a video audition, but they absolutely do happen.
Just wanted to concur with what @speezagmom said regarding walk-in merit aid. While it definitely depends on the school (not everyone does give merit aid to walk-ins), many schools do. One of D’s BFA acceptances during her audition cycle was a walk-in and they gave her a HUGE merit award- it was then the least expensive school she was accepted to. She ended up elsewhere- but we did consider it hard (as they gave her enough money it would have cost us well under 10k a year)! :))
Thank you to all of the BTDT stories. A number of colleges say to apply early for the best chance of merit awards as funds may not be available later (or something to that affect) on their websites. It’s nice to know that walk-in merit aid has worked with some schools!
@kwheel_2019 Going to Unifieds is what saves you from having to fly to all your auditions - however someone from last year did get into University of the Arts from a late video audition! You never know…
@kwheel_2019 My daughter has three acceptances to BFA programs at this point in the game. One of them was strictly an online audition. They also attached both a merit and talent scholarship to the deal.
@BWmama and @afterp89 My daughter will be at the Pace 1/21 9am audition as well and we have a 6pm flight home. Best of luck to your girls. And @BrennaK Thank you so much for sharing the info. It sure is nice to have.
Has anyone heard back from Marymount on theater decisions? S auditioned on November 17th. We were told by admissons the kids would hear about their theater decision on December 21st. We’ve heard nothing.
@MEMTmom It seems like the only thing that anyone has heard from Marymount is academic acceptances. My D was notified via the portal that she was academically accepted and that the theatre department would contact her separately regarding MT decision. She did not receive an email to check her portal, we’ve just been checking all portals regularly.
D got a nice present on Christmas Eve - artistic acceptance into the MT BFA at West Virginia University. So 3 BFA MT acceptances and one BFA Acting before the holidays. It’s such a relief to know she’ll have options and still be able to shoot for a couple dream schools.
Happy Holidays to all!
Are there any current Hartt parents who could answer scholarship & University Honors program questions?
D was accepted to Hartt MT (she’s beyond excited & I’m beyond relieved) and her acceptance letter says she’s been selected for both a Hartt academic scholarship and a performing arts scholarship. It was my understanding from the parent information meeting, and what I’ve read on the school’s website, that Hartt students don’t qualify for academic merit aid, so I’m confused. We are grateful for any aid offered - but I want to make sure we don’t have to choose one or the other?
They also offered her admission into the University Honors program - anyone have insight on the requirements / benefits of the program?
@ac2680 we are still awaiting Hartt’s Decision. How did you receive the news?
My D auditioned 12/8.