<p>Thanks chrisnoo, it works.
E</p>
<p>Has anyone heard info on Sryacuse audition dates or when app will be ready?
My d is auditioning on 11/12 for Ithaca and thought it would be great if we could do both while in NY. Good luck to all those filling out apps & scheduling auditions, preparing essays - Whew guess it's all starting now.</p>
<p>Thanks
D</p>
<p>If you call Syracuse, they can give you some tentative early dates. So far there were several Fridays in Oct., one of which was our fall break at school, so I didn't take them all down. One was the first weekend in Nov. I don't know about the Ithaca weekend you are looking at. It would be nice to save on travel costs! I know nothing about the Syracuse application yet, but it is not due until 1/1, even if you do a fall audition.</p>
<p>Warning - we did the first Syracuse audition offered, and I would not do that again. Email me if you want details, reasoning, etc.</p>
<p>CHRIS, I am assuming your warning has to do with the fact that it was the first audition date but not about Syracuse overall. I'm wondering if it had to do with that date. I know a girl from our state who auditioned there early and was not too pleased. We went in late January (same weekend we did Ithaca) and thought Syracuse's audition was one of the best run ones of all. I especially liked the talk by the director. Our impressions were raised by this experience.
Susan</p>
<p>Susan,
Yes, our experience on that date was not that positive. Yet others, like you, have raved about the place. So that just shows that schools can differ - different people who experience a school can see different things according to their own personality, or according to the date they were there. So take everything people say about any particular school with a grain of salt, unless it's consistent.</p>
<p>Chris, I do agree with your statement wholeheartedly. First, in evaluating a program, you must talk to SEVERAL in it, not just one...to garner various perspectives. Just cause one kid does not like it, does it mean you will not. With regard to the audition date thing, I really wonder if it differed on that date from the ones later on because it seems awfully coincidental that the girl we know from our state who went to the earlier Syracuse audition was turned off by it and apparently you were as well (you can let me know privately how if you wish), and then in late January, it was run very well, I thought. My D came away with a more elevated opinion of the school after this visit. I am wondering if it changed some since the earlier one. Who knows? That's why one can't put too much stock into either one person's feedback or even one day's experience. As I wrote on another thread, I thought there were some problems with how Tisch conducted their auditions (in terms of organization and stuff like that), yet did not judge the entire program on that experience because after all, my child is going there this fall. As well, I thought one of the audition days that was done the least best was Emerson but did not want to think less of the program and knew it was likely just that day. </p>
<p>I have come away from auditions with one thought, though...and that is, these programs should really really really think about the impressions they make on the audition day and how it is run and so forth because many kids (and parents) have only been there on that day and form opinions about the ENTIRE program from that one experience. It is sorta like for regular college, when I read kids talking about how they did not like the school cause of the tour they went on and how the tour guide turned them off or some such. I always caution them to not judge a school by that. But with the audition day, I saw WIDE variation in the way it was handled and presented and organized and if one were to judge a program on JUST that experience (and one really should not), it sure would affect opinions greatly. It seems to me that the experience you and this other family had at Syracuse on the early audition date, affected your view of the school. And here we observed an excellently run audition date the day we went. It obviously made lasting impressions in both cases. </p>
<p>I could sit here and rate each audition day by order that we went to in terms of how it was run. It is not the same order as my D's preference in choosing a program to attend because we tried to look and explore way beyond the audition date experience but I can readily see how that experience affects many people's impressions of the school as a whole. They really need to think about this. Some schools did an excellent job. Some needed improvement in ways that everyone present was discussing (and agreeing upon!). </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Susan, I'm going way out on a limb here with speculation (spell that G-U-E-S-S-I-N-G) but the attitude of so many schools is "you'd be so very lucky to be chosen by us, we are just soooo selective and special" that I'd guess some of these schools don't worry too much about the impression they create. </p>
<p>I will say that when my D visited a certificate school (not a college) in NYC recently, a highly regarded one, that was one of the things that really impressed her. There was none of that uppity stuff. No chips on any shoulders. No implicit comparisons to other schools (and why "we're better"). Just a real conversation about the work of acting, and what she would study and gain probably by being at that school. Very low pressure. VERY nice.</p>
<p>Chris, I do think at some schools there is this sense of we are selective and in the driver's seat and you are lucky if we pick you. But at some schools, there were presentations that went out of their way to be informative that came across in a way that they really wanted to make sure you knew about them so that YOU pick the right school for you (of course AFTER you get in, lol) but they were aware of and seemed to want students to learn about THEM to see if it was what they wanted. I was impressed with some of the presentations. SOME schools had NO presentation. I thought that was unwise. Here was a chance for them to explain the program so that families could learn more and choose appropriately. </p>
<p>As mentioned, the presentation by the head of the theater dept. at Syracuse was one of the best presentations I had heard and the other was Brent Wagner's at UM. These are simply the presentations I am discussing (though the set up of the day was well done too). Not saying these are the two best programs but this aspect was done well when we went on those days. They did not come across haughty either. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Yes, and I should hasten to add that sometimes the negative impression was NOT conveyed by the head of the program, but by the support/administrative people who are in contact with the applicants or the auditioning students.</p>
<p>I would like to say that while Syracuse gave quite an impressive presentation in L.A. for the parents as well as the kids, this was the only school that my D said after the audition that even if she got in there, she wouldn't want to go. She did not care for the attitude of the choreographer, who also was the speaker. She did end up getting waitlisted there, but never followed up with any letters or calling simply because of him.</p>
<p>Just wondering if anyone s or d is auditioning for Elon on September 2? I know it is early but d sr. play is in October and another one in Feb so she wanted to get a few under her belt right away. Hope auditioning so early would not hurt her chances? I know for competition order sometimes makes a difference. Any opinions?</p>
<p>By the way the audition coordinator has been VERY helpful as well as informative. We cant wait to see the campus.</p>
<p>Thank you
Lexismom</p>