<p>We are very lucky to have a voice teacher who requires her rising Seniors who want to pursue any type of audition-based major to turn in a “college chart” August 1 of senior year. Our school was no help at all - D had to explain to the college counselor what a BFA was & that she had to audition as well as apply. Theatre teacher at school no help either. So glad we have a voice teacher who is knowledgable! </p>
<p>Before I found this forum in August, my D was only going to apply to one auditioned school…thank goodness I found you all in time!</p>
<p>As a High School theater educator, I ask people to be easy on their child’s teacher. </p>
<p>Most theater teachers at the high school level never did theater beyond the collegiate level. They are painfully unaware of how theater works beyond the doors of their institution (and have little desire to find out). </p>
<p>The majority of theater educators know little about college auditions. Many others think that Thespian Conferences are a sufficient audition outlet for their students (when most of us know that the top schools rarely attend even state thespian conferences). As I have stated before, I personally take my students to audition venues if need be - SETC, Unifieds, On-Campus Auditions. I also try to bring college professors to my campus. </p>
<p>Most theater teachers ARE brilliant theater minds, though. If you partner with them in preparing your child, you will be much better suited. You do the research, let them do the coaching. </p>
<p>On a similar token, it drives ME crazy when parents are skeptical of my assessment of programs. When I tell a student that Elon is a stronger choice for an MT than UNC-Chapel Hill, I get raised eyebrows from parents. Florida State is stronger than Duke. UMich is better than Harvard. Penn State is stronger than Notre Dame. All losing battles…</p>
<p>Excellent points, and even if your school’s theater teacher DID attend a theater program, this process–as most parents have learned by now–is a moving target. Requirements and expectations change every year (prescreens for acting students? not a big thing 5 years ago), and the number of kids applying has soared in the past decade. I’m a h.s. visual arts teacher, and the process for application to studio art and film programs still varies tremendously from year to year. The best thing high school arts teachers can tell students and families, in my experience, is that they should start early and research seriously. We can’t memorize each year’s requirements for each school, even if we had “free time” (and nobody has less free time than a h.s. theater teacher with a full courseload and three shows a year to direct). </p>
<p>As long as we’re piping up on behalf of the teachers who have brought your children this far: nobody teaches high school because they are a sadist, or because they want to get rich. They aren’t making casting decisions to hurt your kid’s feelings or because they just whimsically WANT to cast somebody who, in the eyes of other kids’ parents, is “less talented.” They want the best outcomes for kids and for their program. I know there are some baffling or even misguided decisions made, but for the most part, high school directors base their decisions on what they now about kids’ abilities AND their work ethic/reliability. Speaking as a fellow “drama mama” who is also a colleague to the theater teacher, I can tell you that the rumors, accusations, and angst over casting are incredibly stressful to teachers who face tremendous pressure from all sides and must make choices based on their own good judgment. Amen to RabunGap’s post!</p>
<p>I’ve been wishing a teacher would chime in here. My daughter’s drama teacher through her 4 years of high school was the best and most supportive mentor a student could ask for. Still is. They are very much in touch though she is now a college sophomore. No, he didn’t know a ton about the college audition process but whatever she needed, he was there to help her. He gave her access to his personal stash of plays to help her find monologue material. Gave her feedback on her monologues. Wrote her what I am sure is a wonderful recommendation (never saw it.) Patiently listened to her through tears about casting decisions. Did not always cast her because he had obligations to give his other students opportunities too, not just his stars. Made her appreciate the work every bit as much as any performance opportunity. She owes a lot to this fine teacher who didn’t know a thing about unifides. </p>
<p>I so agree. D’s high school theatre teachers (husband and wife team) changed her life and trained her well. They are dedicated educators and what they do over and over again on a shoe-string budget is amazing. They take the kids to the International Thespian Festival every year and the juniors participate in the auditions (which at best are pre-screens for some of the schools). However last year their son was applying for tech theatre as my D was doing MT auditions and they were newbies just like me. In fact I knew more about the process than they did, we all helped each other. Until you go through it yourself, it is hard to imagine how complicated it is.</p>
<p>And as for the guidance counselor, well bless her! She just kept filling out those forms for us, with just a raised eyebrow for how “early” we were doing everything!</p>
<p>I have nothing but praise for how hard they all work!</p>
<p>I can’t agree enough…my S would not be on this journey if it were not for the wonderful educators he has had the priveledge of training with the last four years. Our high school is an ordinary public school (not a performing arts HS) but has an exceptional Fine Arts department (Dance, Drama, Choral, Instrumental). There are approximately 1100 students in the school, and 350+ are in the Music Foundation!!! I truly do not believe we would be sitting here today waiting for Audition results if he did not attend this school. His director’s have been exceedingly supportive through the entire process, from recommendations of programs, analyzing the final list, writing recommendations, coaching, etc. Our school does not attend any conferences or other audition opportunities…but we have had several graduates go on to MT, Acting, and Vocal Performance programs…so they are not completely unaware of the process. But as mentioned earlier, the process changes from year to year…my S’s drama coach (not one of his HS teachers) didn’t even know what a pre-screen was before us; and she is a former Professor/Auditor for Boston College and current Professor at one of our local colleges.</p>
OMG if I had not found this forum last summer I would have been one clueless individual! I have been telling all the older kids parents at my D’s school (arts high school also!) to look up CC because they have no clue either, well a lot don’t. They have no idea how many schools they have to have D or S apply to to even get a few acceptances. Last yr a Sr girl only applied to 2 schools thinking she would be ok and only got into one & it is not a great theater school & no MT concentration either. It is a crazy process & my friends with kids going to school for easier things with no audition do not get it at all. They just look at me like we are crazy.I try to read a lot of stuff on here cause I know I will need it next yr when D is a junior. We just found out about SETC & Unifieds last summer also.
I agree that often, high school theater instructors are not familiar with any theater beyond high school. However, I think that what frustrates me is that even after we went through this process back in 2008, our drama teacher and counselor never took me up on any offers to help future students. They knew absolutely nothing about the process but never really asked any questions or tried to gain from our experience. A girl who graduated with my son 5 years later told us she was going to college for MT and it turned out she had done nothing to audition for the schools she was looking at. She ended up at a non-audition program at a local state college, but it is not what she wanted.
My son is an athletic recruit, and we kind of went through the same thing with him- no one at the school was of any help at all. Fortunately, we had many other contacts through his club for his sport. Again no Staff at his HS seemed interested in his journey although we have had a lot of individuals come to us looking for help. I think HS’s in general are not equipped for any “specialty” students.
IKR! It makes no sense to me that the h school has little guidance for these kids. I cannot understand it. Guessing they are overwhelmed and overworked
I’m sorry but how can people not know their schools require auditions!?? I guess we have a pretty active theatre community here in VT with several kids going to theatre schools each year. The educators around are amazing, and though I found CC on my own, a local director/mom led a seminar on college auditions spring of sophomore year. That was what opened my eyes for real! I was and am also very much committed to doing the research, as is my mother. It honestly amazes me how much the process is about knowledge and organization. It amazes me how much control one can have over prep! At the end of the day, the only thing you CANNOT control is what each school is looking for.
At what point does research/ investigation of programs become the responsible of the applicant (and family)? Obviously not a problem for those on cc - but the general public as well. In a public school setting- is it reasonable to assume counsellors can be true experts on every field of study at every possible school?
It is reasonable to expect counselors to know that schools require auditions for certain majors to get in…and that they need to get their pieces of the puzzle in in a timely manner as to not hold up getting an auction slot.
First post, long time caller! Hope the avatar brings back memories for some…
@bisouu I think that is too tall of an order for HS counselors. Ultimately - and you know this is coming - it’s the student’s responsibility to learn about the audition process. Whether it is MT or any other selective admission program, if the applicant is not informed, doesn’t take action, or even relies on an unofficial source for information (such as forums, parents, friends, etc) and makes a mistake that precludes their admittance, the responsibility rests with them.
I am with the OP and the rest, this forum is tremendously helpful, and it’s also a pretty darned good time. Enlightened information-seeking people are a fabulous resource to each other and to our children. I have gained tremendous insight as to the MT application process, and there have been many times where I will spout out a factoid over dinner conversation prompting my wife or D to ask “Where did you hear that?” Heck, I even lived in Chicago for 4 years, and never heard of Do-Rite Donuts. Fixed that.
I, and many of us, are priviledged in that we are surrounded by teachers, parents, and students that have come before our own kids in this process who are willing to share. I would encourage everyone to pay it forward. If your high school is not aware of this zany process, ask them to host a parent-night and share your experiences. Get the counselors and faculty involved - most would welcome it. If the school is unwilling or unable to participate, then call some parents on your own and make it happen over pizza. Don’t stop going to your HS plays simply because your child has moved on to a BFA MT or MA program. Look for that next promising talent, find out who he/she is, stalk their parents, and make sure they know about how the game is played. You can make a big difference in someone’s life that way.
Don’t let that responsibility rest with the uninformed. Blaze a path and share the map.
@DaddyDoRite Anyone who promotes Do-Rite donuts is a friend of mine.
Ignorance with the high school counselors and administration is what has caused us the most headaches. They don’t seem to understand that this major requires auditions that quite frequently happen on school days. I am so tired of the phone calls from school and the truancy letters!!!
@MTDadandProud - I am curious, how many days per semester has your S missed? My D has to miss a few more and I am curious how close to getting in trouble we are.
I always suggest that people with kids who may go into theatre check out CC’s theatre forums. I would have been clueless, lost, and more stressed than I already was/am without it! It’s funny–I say, “I know that CC gets a bad rap by a lot of people because it can be a pretty intense place, but the theatre forums are not like that at all. They’re incredibly helpful–just awesome! I don’t know what I would have done or would do without them!”
Last week, we visited a school to which my D has been accepted. I fought hard to not let my eyes bulge and my chin hit the floor when a mom asked at a tour when her child could audition for the BFA MT (yes, for fall, 2015), and then, after we’d left the last building, asked me what he needed to do. I thought maybe she meant the schedule of the audition day or something. Nope. They didn’t know about songs or monologues–nothing!
As far as responsibility, I do think that this falls on the parents and the child, just as if one were going for an athletic scholarship. Yes, there are coaches and counselors who must do their part, but it ultimately falls on us.
@addicted2MT So far 7 days. All in February.
My D asked her high school director for help w/ monologues. She told her to contact X and Y … one college senior and one who just graduated college and ask them for help. (Uh, D wasn’t even in high school at the same time as these kids.)
I do feel bad for the kids who’s parents aren’t 100% on board w/ their MT BFA desires. I really don’t know how it could be possible that a high school kid could coordinate all that needs to happen to get accepted to any MT school. I’m quasi mentoring a high school junior right now in trying to prepare him for the audition process - but honestly, if his parents aren’t on board, there is no way it’s going to happen.