Audition Information

<p>My D is good friends with a student who is currently in the MT program at Elon University. My D applied EA to Elon and was accepted academically but rejected MT. Her friend called her yesterday and told her that this year's adjudicators were looking for strong dancers rather than strong singers and that may be the reason she did not get in. ( and he was trying to convince her to come to Elon anyway as it seems that a good number of MT students transfer into the program their sophomore year.) The interesting thing is, the dance audition is optional ( you choose to do a one minute choreographed dance rather than a second MT vocal selection). My D did not do a dance since it was optional and since her primary strength is singing. Perhaps others on this forum can confirm/deny this info. I thought those of you who are planning to audition at Elon, might find this to be valuable information. Good luck to future auditioners!</p>

<p>How does one "drop in" to an audition? Is there a signup sheet on a table in front of the room, or ? Do you send in your application late, in that case? Just curious.</p>

<p>I am new to this forum in terms of geting the courage to post but I have been reading it for several months. My S is auditioning and we are all very stressed about how competitive this is. He has been a lead in all school plays and community youth theater programs and has been told by many pfoessional that he has talent but he is loosing his confidence and only went to 1 audition so far. does anyone know all the schools offer you acceptance into the school if they do not accept you into the MT or D programs?? help I need some moral support.</p>

<p>There are a number of schools where you can be accepted to the university but not to the MT or Drama component of the school. Others you have to make an effort to designate the choice on the application. Emerson, Oklahoma City U and Elon and Cincinnati are schools that pretty much automatically have a two tiered process where you can go to the university but not be accepted to the program. With other colleges llike Michigan, you have to fill out the app form as a dual applicant to another part of the school along with the MT program in order to be considered; otherwise your denial is a denial for the entire app, as you go through an academic review before the audition. At CMU, you can apply to as many as 6 schools when you apply but it has to be specified on the app. If you audition MT, you are automatically considered for the acting program as well. Syracuse also gives you the option to apply to the college as a general admit in Liberal Arts or whatever they call it, along with you app to the auditon required MT program. So you can see that it can differ from school to school. </p>

<p>Where is your son interested and what does he want in a school? These folks here can give you a lead on a number of schools still open , and some with open admissions to the programs. I know that University of North Texas where one poster goes has large MT offerings without auditions. There were some posters last year that found spots as late as March/April. There are schools with great drama/music departments without auditions. College of Santa Fe has a host of outstanding performing art opportunities at a terrific theatre in a program that is not so auditions driven. And it is an important part of the arts scene in a city known for its arts. So there are all sorts of possiblilities.</p>

<p>It is a very competitive field, but if your S is passionate about it, then he should give it a try. It is true that the acceptance rate is very low into MT programs (some as low as 3-5%), but there are also good schools that have fine non-audition programs to consider as safeties. Check out this website to see the BIG LIST: <a href="http://www.geocities.com/musicaltheatercolleges/%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.geocities.com/musicaltheatercolleges/&lt;/a>. As to your question about being accepted to a school yet rejected for the MT program, this has happened twice already to my D this year...accepted to both Elon and Emerson EA academically but rejected for MT. She DID get accepted to OCU's MT program, which ends up being a better fit for her anyway. I also know of some students who like a school so much that they choose to attend anyway and audition during their freshman year to transfer into the MT program with a higher rate of success. As for support during this process, you couldn't have found a better place than this forum for that! Good Luck!</p>

<p>Thanks for the quick reponses! My S applied to Ithaca, Emerson, Syracuse,Wagner, Uof Buffalo, Penn State,Marymount Manhattan and Hartt. He purposely did not apply to the most compettitve like NYU etc and alos money is an issue. His grades are very high and he did very well on the SAT's so i think he should get ino the colleges. thanks for letting me know about the schools that except you directly into the college even if you don't get inot the MT program. I looked through the list that was recommended and most of the schools are far and he did want to stay on the east coast in the NY area so he is limited.</p>

<p>I think he just needs ot keep up his confidence.. thanks again.. Ii will keep reading and if I have anymoer questions I know where I can get the answer now!</p>

<p>You can call each of the schools and find out what their specific policy is. Since he has already applied to Syracuse, he might want to change the app with a second choice program, for instance if possible. I know Emerson and Ithaca have two separate processes and he can be accepted into the school academically but not into the program. I am not sure about Harrt--whether anything had to be indicated on the app as my son applied on line and I have no record of what he put down. That is an example of a school with fairly easy admissions but very selective program.</p>

<p>Chrism:</p>

<p>Many schools at the Unifieds do welcome "walk-ins". Schools which are actively seeking walk-ins are likely to have a sign-up sheet and/or a person sitting outside their rooms. Makes it pretty easy.</p>

<p>Many other schools (including us) will give a student an audition time if we have one available. The best approach is to wait outside the room until an audition is completed, then speak to whomever comes to the door to get the next applicant and ask (1) if the school accepts walk-ins, and (2) what the process is. For some schools you may only need to be prepared to come back much later in the day, or the next day. Others may ask you, in addition, to fill out an application for admission and pay an audition fee.</p>

<p>Part of the point of the Unified Auditions is to make it possible for students to audition for a number of schools. Students start hearing about schools they'd never considered, and want to audition for them. Most of us are interested in encouraging that process.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

<p>doctorjohn--my D will be at the Unifieds--am I allowed to stick my head in and say hi to you? I'm sure I'm not the only CC parent who would like to say a quick hello and thanks in person for the time you have taken with us</p>

<p>MTwannabe </p>

<p>Just read your S's list of schools. Penn State also offers admission if a second major is designated on the app. I know the confidence issue well. We are going through the same thing. Hang in there!</p>

<p>newmtmom: Sure, I'd love to meet anyone from this list. See you there!</p>

<p>I'm not sure if I should post this here, or in Part 37.....oh well...Today my D auditioned in NYC for Syracuse. They brought everyone into a room first and spoke for about 1/2 hour about the school, policies, etc. They were very friendly. They said about 700 people apply to the programs (including Drama, MT, Technical Design and Stage Management). They plan to take around 25 Drama & 20 MT. Our room was filled with maybe about 65% MT and 35% acting. No one was there for Stage Management or Technical Design. I forget what they said for Technical and Stage. Around 10 each? They broke up the MT's into two groups. First group went to dance audition first. Other group sang and performed monologue first. When the dancers finished, they switched. My D didn't get a feeling either way from the auditor for the singing or monologue, but she felt she performed well. Thank goodness her voice held out since she's been home sick most of the week on anti-biotics, steroids, etc. Anyway, Syracuse said that after they finish with all the auditions, they forward the results to Admissions and that Admissions actually chooses, based on talent as well as SAT's, grades, etc. We should hear by March 15th...Wishing everyone luck on these future auditions. Good luck and stay healthy!</p>

<p>lynnm (or anyone else who has auditioned off-site), Syracuse provides an accompanist for off-site auditions, correct? I'm auditioning next Sunday, the 16th, in DC, and Syracuse is my first-choice school. The day before is my Ithaca audition, for which I WILL need to provide taped accompaniment (as well as a recording of my vocal audition, which I'll be working on tomorrow), so I just wanted to confirm!</p>

<p>alex_nicole. Yes - Syracuse provided a very, very nice accompanist. He came out between auditioners to check the next student or two's music and went over it with them re. tempo, etc. My D will be auditioning for Ithaca on site, so if I remember correctly, they provide music. Good luck! p.s. Please read your info. from Syracuse just to make sure that in Washington they will have an accompanist. Sometimes schools only offer them in NYC; I wouldn't want to steer you wrong.</p>

<p>One other interesting thing my D told me about the audition. In the dance portion, they had two kids come up at a time and stand sideways so that the auditor could just look at them. She said she felt like cattle on the bidding block!</p>

<p>Hi,
My D auditioned at Syracuse in the fall. They asked for 2 songs and only had her sing one (that could have been good or bad!). The dance audition was nothing like what lynn described, no standing side by side. My D said it was a hard dance audition (she's taken years of dance). The auditioners (songs and monologue group) looked so bored and the whole thing was so rushed that my D lost interest in the school altogether and she never did end up applying. </p>

<p>FYI. In our experience, what one person experiences at a particular school's audition is no guide to other auditions for that school. They seem to really differ. The only true guide is to be ready for ANYTHING. In our experience. </p>

<p>Chrism</p>

<p>In the interest of full disclosure, I should add that it wasn't JUST the audition experience that led my D to decide not to apply. It was also the tone of the admissions talk, the experience a distant family member has had as a student there, and the tuition.</p>

<p>Syracuse - L.A. - Saturday we had our Syracuse audition. Yes, they provided a pianist, so bring your music. It was pretty low key...only about 10 kids there, however they had 2 sessions on Friday, and 2 on Saturday. There were 2 professors there auditioning the kids. One was a choreographer/stage combat instructor and one was an acting professor/master teacher. They talked for about an hour before the auditions to the parents as well as the students and it was quite informative. They have added something new to their program. Instead of going to NY for a showcase in your senior year, which they say are not that productive since the agents have so many to go to, they offer a semester in New York with instructors, professional speakers, etc. This sounded great to me. I think it really prepares them for life in New York. She said the dance audition was quite different...more challenging than the Emerson one. She said it was unusual because it was in counts of 5, not 8. She said she didn't think much was dependent on this dance audition, and there was only 1 other dancer besides herself there. She also said she didn't think that some of the kids were very well prepared as a few kids said they only had picked what songs they were going to sing the night before. This audition in L.A. was VERY different than what she experienced in Boston. I'm glad we got to experience both.</p>

<p>During her song, her music fell off of the piano, but she kept singing and said it was fine. She loved the pianist and she felt it went well. </p>

<p>By the way, I know it was mentioned previously by lynnm that they tell admissions who they want, and then admissions decides. This was not brought up at our audition, but any info on this subject would be appreciated if anyone knows more.</p>

<p>My D also auditioned in L.A. on Saturday. Because she had listed Hip Hop as one of her dance styles, they asked her to demonstrate freestyle - - she was surprised but OK with it. They worked with her on both her songs, asking her to try different things. Also, it was very helpful that two freshman attended and answered questions. We warm-weather folks were interested in the weather, the atmosphere of being off campus (the theatre is several blocks down from the main campus), and the community. The two students were delightful and clearly happy.</p>

<p>I had my syracuse audition at 900 Tuesday in Chicago. There were 10 people there auditioning for MT, 7 girls & 3 guys. There was only 1 girl who was really good at the dance part, some did good and the rest did ok. I think I did good, considering im not a dancer. It was strange because there was piano accompaniment for the dances and It seemed like the choreograher was making it up on the spot, but it was cool none the less. After that he asked if we had any special skills to show, so I did some of my gymnastics. After that we warmed up and then did Our songs and monologues. I was second to go. I was really nervous while waiting to go, but while I was in the room I was fine. I sang my songs perfectly, but the auditioner had me sing my ballad again but had me act it out some more. Then he had me do my monologue 3 times, it was crazy, different each time. All together I got a good feeling from the school, Although I dont think Ill get in. It doesnt matter, its not my first choice and it was my first audition, mainly for practice. But hey crazier things have happened!</p>