<p>I'm a boy and I have applied/auditioned for 9 schools. And I completely agree with MTGrlsmom that even though I am a boy I am so glad that I gave myself enough options. I have been rejected from 4 schools so far (one of which is a big name school that gave me amazing feedback, telling me how much they would love me in their program and asked me what year I would like to come in as, I'm a transfer, and then I got rejected, and another school telling me how they thought I was so castable, etc. and then got rejected). This just goes to show that you NEVER know what's going to happen and don't limit your options. I am so relieved that I still have 5 schools to hear back from and my top choice is still in that group! This forum has helped me so much with this whole experience. I learned also from a lot of my friends and teachers that many of their students (boys and girls) applied to around 10 sometimes even 15 programs to make sure they would have at least 1 option. Especially this year, I have met many boys that I auditioned with that are incredibly talented, and even though in a sense people say boys have a better chance because many schools take more and yes there is less of us auditioning, it is still very competitive and definitely varies by school you audition at. When I auditioned for CCM there was about 30 of us and I counted at least 15 boys auditioning! Best of luck to all!!</p>
<p>My daughter applied to 13 schools. She auditioned for 9 schools at Unifieds, all straight acting, and applied to 4 non-audition schools. She's been accepted EA to 2 of the non-audition schools and is still waiting for RD responses from 2. She's heard back from 3 of the 9 audition schools with 1 acceptance, one artistic rejection/academic acceptance, and one call-back. I'm not sure if this is important, buy my daughter is only interested in schools with strong academics and a good liberal arts component to the BFA or BA program. </p>
<p>I do want to thank all the CC contributors who strongly recommend over the years that kids apply to some non-audition schools. My daughter had 2 non-audition acceptances before ever stepping foot into Unifieds. I would have NEVER known to do that without this forum. This is the ONLY place I've heard mention this piece of the acceptance puzzle.</p>
<p>S applied to 10 audition-based schools, 3 acting/7 MT. He was too sick to do 1 but an early acceptance to another led him to drop the rescheduling effort with the school he missed. We'd probably advise 8-10, based on his experience. The practice gained in having at least a couple schools that aren't quite as high on the list of "hopes and dreams" is very helpful in making someone more comfortable with the audition experience.</p>
<p>Question here. I was reading a post, and someone said they were asked to sing at a BFA acting program. Why would they do that if it's just acting? What schools are we talking about? I'm just intrested, lol. I love to act, but I'm a TERRIBLE singer. People use to stare at me in Chorus, lol. Do these programs tell you this before you apply? At Purchase they make you sing for the audition. I don't understand why they do this? I would never do MT, I can't dance either. That's why I love film acting so much, lol.</p>
<p>The programs that ask you to sing are looking for one or both of 2 things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>the resonance of your voice: sometimes people with untrained speaking voices display great resonance in their singing voices - and that resonance is essential for classical acting (Shakespeare, the Greeks, etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>how tell a story through song (Juilliard says it's looking for this, for example)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What programs do this beside Julliard? So, if your a terrible singer are you doomed?</p>
<p>Coach C: What does resonance in your speaking voice mean and why is that essential for classical acting?</p>
<p>Good question. I'm also intrested to know, lol.</p>
<p>University of Minnesota/Guthrie asks the actors auditioning there to sing. Purchase often does, too. </p>
<p>Resonance is needed in acting (classical or otherwise) because people in the audience need to be able to hear and understand you!</p>
<p>But don't you think some people have different gifts. I honestly love to sing, but I'm terrible and I mean terrible. I can never stay on pitch and my tone is always off. I just have a terrible voice. God didn't give me a singing voice, but re: a passion for acting. A singer may be a terrible actor. How is that fair for actor's who can't sing?</p>
<p>I auditioned for 3 MT Programs and I have an audition (back up) in a couple of weeks!</p>
<p>early_college, I seriously doubt that a BFA program for acting would reject you solely for not being a competent singer. (A musical theater program sure would, of course, but that only makes sense!) Having you sing a few bars is just one more way that the auditors for BFA in acting programs have to evaluate your voice. Rest assured that no program (not even Juillliard!) expects an actor of 17 or 18 to be perfect and to have the fully developed voice (spoken or singing voice) that you would have after four years of intense work in Linklater or Lessac voice methods.</p>
<p>If this is a big concern for you, why not look into taking some voice/singing lessons? You may never be a good singer, but here's betting you could be better than you are with some training.</p>
<p>We visited all of our son's prospective MT schools last summer. He then decided that he would audition for all 9 schools. Once the process began, he took one school off of his list (decided it was too large and not the right fit). He had one more school to audition for but heard from one of his top choice schools. At that point, he decided to cancel his last audition because he knew that even if he was accepted at this last school he would not attend. NYC is where he's always wanted to be and that is where he will be in the fall.
When I give advice to other Theater parents (younger students) I would say to go and visit if you can to get a good feel of the school. I would also say that 1-2 schools should be non-audition schools with good theater programs. We did not do this but, in hindsight, I think that we should have because until he started getting letters of acceptance I was starting to worry.</p>
<p>Thanks NMR. I may do so in the future.</p>
<p>My daughter was scheduled to audition for five BFA programs, but after her first audition and acceptance, she (we) cancelled all but one. Because of the economy, and the high tuition costs, we were thrilled when she was accepted to a wonderful in-state University with a great BFA program. If money was no option, then we would have loved to see where else she might have been accepted. But, we didn't think it was fair to her (or to the schools) to have her audition when we couldn't afford the tuitions. And, on paper, it looks like we have way more money than we do, so we don't expect any help.</p>
<p>Maril - for those in future years reading this what you said cannot be stressed enough. Every year there will be someone that auditioned at 8 or so schools with no acceptances that didn't insure they had a non-audition backup plan. It's heartbreaking to read those posts. I also would caution about applying to more than one backup and to really research RECENT stats on colleges. College seems to be getting more and more competitive. I'm talking colleges in general here not just the BFA programs. That 3.5 GPA or 3.7 GPA you find on the net may be outdated. Even if your stats in every way exceed the avg there is no guarantee of admittance. At least spend the $50 or so and apply for a state college if you are guaranteed of admittance as many states have this.</p>