I'm a senior in high school this year, and I've already auditioned for 2 musical theatre programs, and I've already heard back from both. I was luckily accepted to both programs (YAY!). One of them I'm already sure that I'm not as interested in because, even though it's a BFA, the training isn't as MT focused as I'd like. It's very much a liberal arts program and not a conservatory style one at all, and the course load is actually a little over half MT and theatre courses and the rest gen. eds. This school in a medium-sized college city in the south, in my home state, and, though they are kind of expensive, I received a really great scholarship that would take care of that problem. The other school is a conservatory BFA program in a large city in the north, and I am extremely interested, and it was one of my top choices (I didn't rank schools by 1, 2, 3, but instead I ranked them in tiers because I'm very indecisive, but needless to say this school was in my top tier). Every time I research more on this school (which is just about everyday) I find myself getting more and more interested. I was unsure about it at first, because it is a fairly new program, and it is quite expensive, but along with my acceptance letter--which I got a few days ago--I received a HUGE scholarship which now makes it as affordable as the first school I mentioned. My dilemma is that I have 12 more auditions left! One of them is a scholarship audition at one of my in-state "safety schools," which I suppose I don't need anymore now that I've already been offered spots in two MT programs. Another is an in-state BFA program (so I would audition on campus), and the rest are all out of state, and I would be auditioning for all 10 at the Unified auditions. I've already been academically accepted to all of these (except a few that don't accept you at all unless you're accepted artistically), and I've already paid the application fees, scheduled the auditions, etc., and my mom already made the hotel reservations for our planed 5 day stay at Unifieds. However, every day I feel more strongly that the second program (I'll call it School #2) is the one for me. I even made a pros and cons list with all 14 of the schools, and none had more pros than School #2 for me! Before I commit, however, I would want to visit the school to be completely certain that it's where I want to be, but I am literally 99% sure that visiting the campus will only make me love it even more! My parents, however, would like that, if we make the trip to visit School #2, I cancel the Unifieds auditions. (I have a sister who will also be in college next year so spending thousands on plane fare is pushing it for us.) I'm just not sure, because I really do feel like even if I go to Unifieds and complete these 12 other auditions, School #2 is where I will end up! I also don't have as much experience as most and am TERRIBLE at auditioning; I come from a small city with very limited theatre opportunities, and nobody to assist me with my auditions, so I also feel like all of my auditions at Unifieds (which are all for larger, well established programs) won't get me anywhere. I don't want to waste my opportunities, but at the same time are they worth it if I'll end up sticking with my gut anyways?
Please share your opinion and help me out! Sorry for such a long ranting post, especially on Christmas, but I've just been thinking about this since my audition for School #2 (I kind of already knew I'd be in because they very heavily hinted at it). I am also not naming the schools because the first school that offered me a spot in their program advised me not to post about it until January or February, because it was an on-the-spot (and then later by email) acceptance. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies, and happy holidays!
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