<p>Im nearing the end of my jr. year and I am excited but a little scarred about the mt audition process next year. I've been reading alot of the cc posts and most of what i've gotten out of it is to prepare and enjoy myself! I really want to make sure i do i all i can now before its too late. I know a year may seem like a long time but i have a feeling it's going to go by quickly. If there is ANY advice anyone can give me i will greatly appreciate it! I come from a small Louisiana town where being a big fish in a small pond probably dosent mean much--so any inspiring stories would be nice! lol I would escpecially love advice from current students or those who've just finished the audition process! Im for sure that these are the schools i'll be auditioning at next year: LSU ( for vocal performance),FSU,ELON,CCM,BOCO,PACE,PENN ST. (so if any students or faculty from these schools feel like chiming in please do!)
Thanks! and congratulations to all of the mt acceptances this year!</p>
<p>I would say that one of the best things you could do is start preparing over the summer, so that you are not so stressed out when your senior year starts. Use your summer to start reviewing audition requirements for each school. Then you can start picking out audition songs and working on them. You can also spend the time selecting some monologues that you can start learning. The earlier you get all of this done, the more time you will have to memorize and become comfortable with your selections. </p>
<p>If you are not already taking dance, find a class or two for the summer that you can use to brush up on your skills. </p>
<p>You can also start filling out applications and writing essays where required. Your senior year will be busy enough with high school activities, shows, and auditions- the more you can get done ahead of time, the less stress later. Be sure to make a list of all the different deadlines, and be prepared to submit applications as soon as you are allowed. It is much easier to schedule your auditions early before they start filling up. </p>
<p>My D is a soph. at Penn St.'s MT program. PM me if you have any specific questions as she would be happy to help out.</p>
<p>I’m just going to echo the advice that you will see everywhere on this board: Add some non-audition BA schools to your list. If you read the “rejections” thread you will realize how important it is to have at least one safety school that you will be happy with. It is just the reality of this field that there are WAY more talented kids out there than there are BFA slots (especially if you are a girl).</p>
<p>Just a note that there are non-audition BFA programs out there. They don’t get talked about very much it seems but they do exist. So if you are really interested in the BFA route you may want to check into those and see if any appeal to you. Nothing against the great BA programs out there. Just saying that the non-audition BFAs do exist.</p>
<p>If you have a school that you would be happy attending that is non-audition, an academic and financial safety, and rolling admissions, apply early and hopefully you will go into audition season with a safety (one that you would love) in your back pocket. </p>
<p>And really read through the great info that already exists on this forum. Now is a great time to start your spreadsheet of big data you will need in this process and reading through those other threads, especially the school-specific ones, can help you tremendously.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Hello!</p>
<p>We live in the New Orleans area and my D is involved with MT in the local community. If you can come to NOLA for a few days in early August, several former NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) students who are now performing on Broadway are holding a workshop there. Here’s a bit about it. To register go to broadwaytheatreconnection (dot) com </p>
<hr>
<p>Broadway Theatre Connection will offer a 4 day intensive, musical theatre workshop to be held at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) from August 1st - 4th 2011. Louisiana natives Jessica Hartman, Jason Lacayo and George Smallwood are New York Artists with a desire to give back to the community that was the springboard for their success.</p>
<p>BTC Provides training for students ages 12 to 20 years old who are interested in becoming well-rounded in the disciplines of musical theatre. BTC’s Faculty has worked on over 75 Broadway Shows and will teach students original choreography and music from hit Broadway shows, winning audition techniques and offer a rare “behind the scenes” look into the exciting world of Broadway.</p>
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<p>Break a leg!</p>
<p>All the advice here is excellent! My additional suggestions would be:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you can at all afford it, hire a coach. Even if it is just for a few sessions, the advice/feedback/support is fantastic. My D used MTCA and it was money well spent!</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t ignore your SAT/grades. My D was given academic merit money at many of her schools, including Pace (on your list) which gave her $25,000 per year. </p></li>
<li><p>Though all ready stated, bears repeating: pay attention to your list! You must, must, must have a comprehensive list filled with likelies both financially and academically.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s a wild journey, but also fun! Break a leg!</p>
<p>thanks everone for the help! I’ll definetly work on making my list a little more diverse in terms of academic fit and programs!
@mom2them- that sounds awesome!! i’ll definetly look into it!
Just for info. I am guy.lol and I do not tahe dance right now. I did for (3 months) but te financial aspect of it was becoming hard to keep up since im also in voice lessons. Are there things that i can do to atleast somewhat prepare myself for the dance auditions? To give you an idea of my history, I have been in principal dancing roles in my HS latest productions of Carousel, Cinderella, and West Side Story. ( I was Bernardo in WSS) I have rythmn and flexibility but i lack greatly in technique!</p>
<p>theatregeek - A foundation in ballet is probably the best thing you can do to prepare for the dance auditions. They teach the combinations quickly and knowing technique and lingo really helps. Does your high school offer dual course credit with your high school? If so, you may be able to take ballet at your community college. My D took a jazz class that way to help her prep and found it to be beneficial and fun. And since it was a dual credit class she didn’t have to pay anything for it.</p>
<p>My daughter also took dance in the summers at our local CC for free. They have since cut back on summer classes with budget cuts, but maybe they have some in your area. Worth checking!</p>
<p>My daughter’s ballet studio has a free ballet class for men, if they come to the partnering class (also no charge and right after the free men’s ballet class). Guys are always in great demand for roles/partnering. I don’t know if anything like that is available in your area, but you might want to check it out.</p>
<p>learn how to have FUN when you dance. Even if you have forgotten everything! Then your golden =)</p>
<p>thanks again everyone for the advice! I’ve been working on the dance class thing. As of right now, my friend who is an advancd dancer is just helping me learn basic steps and lingo. And i just found voice and acting coaches in my area who are going to help me prepare for next year!super excited!lol :)</p>
<p>Quite a few of the boy’s in my D’s BFA MT program are not “dancers,” and it obviously did not hinder their acceptance to the program. They dance NOW, as the program is dance heavy.</p>
<p>skwidjymom-what program? I guess its a little naive of me to think that every single person accepted at a particular school is a master dancer.lol</p>
<p>You do not NEED to be a dancer to get into MT schools, but it will help you at some of the places you are auditioning. Dance can never hurt! Get yourself in some classes ASAP!</p>
<p>And add some non audition safety schools to your list as all of your schools are super competitive.</p>
<p>want to ditto the poster who said make sure it you have some choices that are a fit financially…many of the schools on your list are very expensive and even with stellar grades you may not get much financial aid…you can look on this forum for lots of threads where people got into their “dream school” and couldn’t afford to go in the end. Make sure to give yourself lots of options.</p>
<p>Just a little note about visiting college campuses as you go through the process. If you have someone, especially a current student in the program, who is taking time out of their schedule to show you around, please keep a couple of things in mind:
- If the school you are touring isn’t your first choice, don’t go on and on about how this school isn’t your first choice. Because 1) it may well have been the first choice of student who is touring you, 2) you may end up attending and then everyone in the program will know that it wasn’t your first choice, and 3) it’s just rude.
- Don’t be condescending about things that you don’t like about the school/campus/program. If you have concerns about something feel free to express them and ask questions. But please do it in a way that doesn’t make is seem like you are looking down on the school.
- Don’t go on and on about this is your “safety school.” (Especially BEFORE you even audition. Karma is a not nice thing sometimes. Just sayin’) </p>
<p>I KNOW most of the prospectives my D tours are so gracious and that most of you here would never do anything like this, but I don’t have another venue to put this out there so help me out by spreading the word!
(Mom of student who does lots of tours steps down off her soap box.)</p>
<p>austinmtmom - Excellent advice!</p>