<p>HI,</p>
<p>I am new to this site. My son, is applying to 15 BFA programs for acting. I am in the process of setting up auditions. I was hoping to do all at NYC and Chicago unifieds and a few over the weekend of February 18th. We are not visiting any schools because of time and money. My challenge is that I thought we could do 3-4 auditions each day at unifieds and now I found out that some schools require a half of day. If you have any advice, please let me know. Thank you.</p>
<p>Whoa; 3 to 4 auditions per day is way over ambitious. One a day is more realistic – especially at some colleges, which have their initial auditions in the morning and callbacks in the afternoon. You need to leave time for your child to breathe.</p>
<p>I’m trying to figure out how to set up auditions as well. It seems that we will have a 5 day spread in NY, possibly with a gap day to drive home (100 miles) and then back again. I’m anxious about such a long stay in NYC (the hotel costs!) but I don’t know what to do-- it seems risky to double schedule them and as it is we are a little nervous that two auditions would be assigned on top of each other. Right now we have Jan 16, Feb 1, Feb 3, Feb 5, with Feb 2 requested for one school that we have not heard back from, and one hopeful for the 4th (also waiting to hear.) She also has one scheduled in Boston for Feb 18. I hate to think she could come this far only to miss the ability to audition due to scheduling conflicts (or g-d forbid, weather.)</p>
<p>Having been through the process, I want to share a little advice that I completely understand if you disagree with.</p>
<p>It seems like so many people try to get as high into the double digits of colleges they auditioned at as they can. This is to increase the likelihood that the kid will get in at least somewhere. But as a student, I knew that if i didnt get into a least a few schools I liked, I would get the memo that this was not the right idea for me. Now, that was just me.</p>
<p>Now, all I did was the chicago unifieds, and I got about 8 auditions done over 3 days. Some schools take forever, some are ready and waiting to get you in and out. Personally, I only had two dance calls. I felt like the 8 auditions was PLENTY and by the time that was over I really didnt want to do any more.</p>
<p>Also, I didnt audition places I could never afford. Or that were too far from my home for me to consider. (Hartt being my 1 exception, but that was a walk-in).</p>
<p>I would just advise, before putting yourself through more stress than you need to, looking before you audition to see if its right for you.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>I would definitely find out the length of process of each schools auditions. </p>
<p>Some schools you might be able to book to a day but I would definitely recommend making your second audition at a school you don’t mind missing the audition. I have heard people took longer in the first audition then planned then missed the second audition.</p>
<p>Some schools you might have to only book one a day…</p>
<p>15 audition schools is a lot; I wish him a lot of luck and strength to get through the process.</p>
<p>My son is sticking to Manhattan and only auditioning at 4 schools. I can’t imagine that all 15 schools hold the same passion. I would try to narrow it down.</p>
<p>I really think you can do three a day at unifieds, have definitely heard of others doing that with no trouble. You need to find out how much time each school needs… as of now D has 2 scheduled on one of the unified days, with 5 hours between. Plenty of time for a walk in if she decides on that.</p>
<p>How do “walk-ins” work? So far, we are only aware of auditions that are set up in advance, often after the application is submitted. Can someone explain? Scheduling these auditions at unifieds is nerve-wracking — do you know if UNSCA (4-hour audition slot) will let you leave to run off to another audition w/ a time slot?</p>
<p>I just wanted to say…I was able to do 4 auditions a day at the Chicago Unifieds. It actually wasn’t as bad as you would think, and I took an hour train ride back home every night for my tech rehearsals for my school show (although after rehearsal I took the train back, so I could stay downtown and not have to worry about making it to early auditions). I mean, it wasn’t easy, and it WAS stressful, but all auditions are stressful really. Just try to schedule yourself 1.5-2 hrs between auditions, and that “should” be enough buffer room. If auditions are running late or something though, just let them (and the school you have coming up) know what is happening. They expect people to have other auditions, and things happen. A lot of times they work with you to make sure you get time to audition. And often you can call the school in advance and ask about the length of audition times, just for your own peace of mind.</p>
<p>One thing I have to say though is that you have to keep yourself motivated for the end of the day or end of the Unified auditions. You just start feeling drained, so you might want to schedule your top schools in the middle of everything.</p>
<p>I don’t remember UNCSA last year having a 4-hour audition slot. If I recall correctly (and I may be wrong) part of that time includes an info session that last about an hour. After that they did the real auditions, where they would send everyone out of the room and then called people back in individually. So if you needed to run to another audition, you have a chance to tell them about that. Everyone seemed to be as accommodating as possible, at least for last year.</p>
<p>Walk-ins are basically where you go to the room where a school is holding auditions, and put your name down on their schedule during open slots for auditions. Some schools do it, some don’t (so don’t count on it). Also some don’t because you have to get accepted to the actually university first. Walk-Ins more just if you have time to kill and are interested in a school that you find there.</p>
<p>Thank you! This was very helpful!!!</p>
<p>Hmmm. From reading this, I am beginning to wonder if we’ve spread out my daughter’s auditions too far, one per day. But perhaps we can fill the time with walk-ins? Or walking around…?</p>
<p>MomtoC - No problem! Glad to help.</p>
<p>Glassharmonica - I just went back and reread your concern about getting accidentally double-scheduled. You can always call the school to ask for a more specific time for your auditions. I can’t say EVERY school will do this…but I believe all mine did, and I at least didn’t have too much of a problem getting 4 a day in. I’d say to be cost-effective, maybe try to get one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You’d most likely still have enough time to do a walk-in or two in between.</p>
<p>Walk-In’s are always a good possibility in my opinion, because then if you have an interest in a school but aren’t sure (or need to do more research), you can throw them into the running. If they accept you, then great, time to look more in depth about the school! If not, well at least it was worth the shot.</p>
<p>I’m not sure exactly what walking around (at least inside the hotel) will accomplish. Unless you talk to some of the representatives that some, not all, schools have outside their doors. They might be able to give you some valuable information about the school, the drama program, campus life, etc, that may help your decision in the future. Or they might give you enough reason to do a walk-in at their school!</p>
<p>DePaul demands most of a day (student must be ready to return for call-backs). UArts wants a similar commitment (at least in Philly) - they want everybody in place by 9. My son is taking just one SAT subject test this weekend, and would be able to get to UArts by 11, but that wasn’t acceptable. Fordham’s audition is supposed to be very quick. We are allocating full days for BU and Emerson, also, and will consider some walk-ins if they go quickly. I would recommend allowing more than enough time; I think it never looks good to treat a school as if you aren’t really serious about it.</p>
<p>One in the morning and one in the afternoon is fine. We had a day where D only did one audition and we were done by 10 AM. She could have done a walk-in or two but wasn’t interested. There’s plenty of time for one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A couple of schools have separate dance calls but the only one I remember being long was BOCO. The process at CMU took all afternoon but it was mostly waiting…lots and lots of waiting.</p>