<p>Pamavision, what a terrible experience for your D. It certainly says more about that institution than about your D's talent. After 11 auditions (did I mention, we're through!!!), my D is clear that she learned a great deal from dealing with the representatives of each school. Unfortunately, her first audition was not very good, even though the school is touted as one that is warm and supportive. Being the first candidate of the day, she witnessed bored and inattentive auditors who were passing notes and arranging papers while she sang rather than paying any attention to her. It took some time and some coaching for her to get over it. Thankfully, she has had others that were attentive and appreciative, even when they clearly had hundreds of applicants. I haven't heard of any other instances that were as bad as yours. I hope your D grits her teeth and puts it behind her. Good luck on her remaining auditions.</p>
<p>Yes, there seems to be no earthly excuse for treating a student that way (shudder). </p>
<p>One of things my D is gaining along the way during this 7 month audition period is the ability to screen out externals (auditioners' facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, etc) and just give her best no matter what. That may be most valuable lesson learned. [I know it's hard for me, as a adult, to do that when I give presentations.]</p>
<p>Pamavision,</p>
<p>First of all welcome to the forum!!</p>
<p>As you are finding, this process of auditioning for college programs is quite a daunting task not only for the students but for the parents as well.</p>
<p>I have twins who jumped through these particular hoops last year at this time. They auditioned for one school which split the group of students into two groups and they were each assigned to one of two panels of auditors. Of course they were forewarned that they would not be auditioning together (what else is new....that was the norm for all classes through school growing up). S#1 was warned that he would be performing his monologues for the "harder group" and S#2 was pleased to find out he was assigned to the "fun group". EEE-Gads! So did it go....S#1 performed to a stonefaced group that gave hardnosed critiques and had him perform it over again applying their little tweeks while S#2 had his panel in stitches and sparking good hearted conversations.</p>
<p>With each audition they completed we talked about what they would have done differently and what they liked the most. For the ones that seemed tough and perhaps on the frigid side we talked about how that would make them stronger....tougher...as you know all too well, this field our children wish to enter is not one that will cater to the meek and mild.</p>
<p>I also recall one school we visited where the admissions counselor told my Ss that he had the hardest time understanding why kids with GPAs as high as theirs would even consider majoring in Theatre! To top it off, this counselor's major was theatre!! <strong>Excuse me, but aren't the most brilliant actors...gulp-S-M-A-R-T?</strong> The rest of the interview revolved around the counselor's "twin" questions...such as "Do you feel each others pain?" "Have you ever switched places?", etc. Needless to say, they had their fill and let him know it. It was that moment in that counselor's office that they knew more than anything that this WAS their passion and they weren't going to let any one person stomp on that dream.</p>
<p>Guess the point I am trying to make by sharing all this with you is that sure you will encounter those auditors, counselors, etc who will challenge your Ds level of perseverence....but it's important to make sure that your D understand the value of these experiences. Luckily for every one calloused individual out there, there are five who want nothing more than to nuture and grow the budding talent that come their way. Make lemonade out of the lemons....there are lessons to be learned from even the worst experiences.</p>
<p>I have always told my Ss....be real, be humble, be strong, and be professional. There are people out there who forgot what it was like to start at the beginning, but don't you ever forget your roots.</p>
<p>Enough of my soap box. Again, welcome to the neighborhood...tell your daughter to break a leg and we look forward to hearing about better experiences....because they are going to happen!!</p>
<p>SUE B aka 5PANTS :)</p>
<p>Welcome to the forum, all new parents and students. This was my first encounter with MT as well, and this thread was what brought me to CC. I can sympathize with the not so thoughtful auditioners. I do want to share with you, however, that my son's worst audition in term of disinterest in the auditioner (who did not hide how tired he was from auditioning all of those kids and was stifling yawns while my son auditioned)accepted him. He was the last one to audition in that morning session, and because the afternoon kids were already coming in and they were running late which meant a very short or no lunch for the audtioners, he felt he was given a true short shrift. They cut him off from his pieces, the one guys was yawning all over the place, and S was very angry and upset about the unprofessionalism of the whole thing. But, you know, they obviously gave him full due. So it does not always mean that they are not giving you full attention, though I do believe that it is the job of these people doing the auditioning to be as fair and encouraging as possible, given the difficulty of what these kids are doing, not to mention the time and money being spent. They are not the panel of "American Idol". But they are human too, and get tired and cranky after 40 auditions, one after another with the afternoon yet to go. It did sour my son on the school and may have contributed to his attitude when we were about the tour the college after the audition. He crossed the school off his list, which was an immature thing to do as it could well have ended up his only choice, and the school has a great reputation and kids thrive there, and love it. The same experience could have happened at many other schools. I can tell from feedback from S and other kids, that it is impossible to predict the outcome from the audition. My friend's son who is going through a second list of schools after being waitlisted and denied at half the schools on list one, was devastated when he did not get into one school where he was given glowing feedback, and where he truly felt he "nailed it" . He was on cloud 9. An even more bitter pill was he had heard the person in front of him sing, and she was way off key, as all of them in the hall agreed, and he heard later that she was accepted. Yeah, it happens. But the kind, encouraging, smiling soul may accept more kids than the sour, impatient one who cuts you off, mumbles, looks disinterested and cross. Also, sometimes muffing the piece does not mean you are out. Whatever they are looking for does allow for that. The other program where S was accepted , he was off on his monologues, and actually stopped, and said so, then continued, sure that he was disqualified right there--that one he took full blame for. He could not seem to focus or get into the zone with his monologues that day, and he knew he was giving a lack lustre performance, but then maybe he was coming on too strong on all of the other auditions. He got very little feedback from the auditioners, who just nodded and permitted him to proceed, but he found out he got into the program. In some ways it would have been valuable*to see where he got in for all of his schools, just for informations sake, but then the info would have been tainted by an not so objective or accurate 17 year old, so it was not really worth the pain of possibly holding up spots for others. But just in the few where the results were given on a rolling basis, it seems to be pretty unpredictable based on the demeanor of those auditioning and the "feelings" that S had about the audition.</p>
<p>Another Site for Unifieds</p>
<p>It wouldn't be any less expensive to go to Houston, Dallas, Atlanta or New Orleans. The flights and hotels would be comparable (and Chicago was a blast!!). What would have cut costs and reduced school absences would have been the ability to schedule the auditions so that a full day wasn't needed on each end for traveling. The few preferences for audition times we expressed in our initial requests were totally ignored, although we were able to make some specific plans when making followup calls. Also, not being able to make the travel plans until a couple of schools confirmed auditions pushed our costs up. So, in my view we don't need another site, but we could use a little more cooperation from the audition coordinators. That said, the experience was great; thank you soooo much to all the schools that auditioned, took walk-ins, stayed flexible, and kept up their end of the marathon.</p>
<p>Wouldn't it be nice to have a true unified audition process, where the kids could audition in front of a number of schools? I initially thought that was how the unifieds worked.</p>
<p>The current format lets each school spend as much or little time as they want on each interview. In one, they worked through a song in a different style, they asked for a 3rd song; in another, they worked on the monologue. The give and take with the interviewers gave my D the chance to get a feel for them, and they, for her. On the other hand, why not share the dance auditions and get a real dance floor?</p>
<p>You know, Hoofermom, I am just finding out that the Unifieds are sometimes used as a pre-audition for some schools. IF they love what they see, the offer is on the table. If they like you, you are invited so that they can see more and work through the audition with the kid. They would have more individual time with the "likes" and it would make it much more affordable time and money wise for the kids and families. I know some kids for whom it was pretty much out of the question for them to do these rounds, and other who were limited to 4-5 school, and with the accept % so small, that may not be enough. I know we were struggling, and I doubt if I would have been able to accompany S had he continued through the new year as I have too many other obligations.</p>
<p>Clarification</p>
<p>I posted this earlier: "Unfortunately, her first audition was not very good, even though the school is touted as one that is warm and supportive." It has come to my attention that someone thought I was making a veiled reference to Otterbein. Heavens NOOOO!! That is one school that lives up to every kind word spoken about it. I will not name the actual offender, but Otterbein rocks!!!</p>
<p>Does anybody know where the Carnegie Mellon auditions in LA are being held?</p>
<p>My son auditioned there. Audition about 10 -3 pm</p>
<p>CMU auditions in LA are being held at the LAX Hilton on Century Blvd. on Sunday and Monday Feb 13/14</p>
<p>Thank you - my daughter had misplaced the e-mail with the address. </p>
<p>After my previous post about her dispiriting experience at College X's audition, I am happy to report that the CMU auditors could not have been kinder or more welcoming to my D. The musical theatre director even complimented her on the song that had aroused the ire of the auditor at the College X audition! The UCLA audition experience several weeks ago was also a good one (and those auditors liked that song too - go figure). As she said in the car after the CMU audition, "I know what the odds are, and I know I probably won't get in - I just want to feel like I've done my best." CMU left her with that feeling.</p>
<p>Is there a website I can go for Unified audition info.? I am new to this process and don't know where to look. Also, how do you find out about what schools will be present?</p>
<p>Here you go:</p>
<p>includes a list of schools. there are also schools NOT on the list, that at least in NYC were in town the same days. Not at same site but nearby.</p>
<p>My s auditioned at Emerson this weekend and was surprised that there was only 1 auditioner for each area of dance, voice and monologue. Accompanist was unhappy with his sheet music although he has used it many times before with no other complaints. He verbaly told her where to stop and also indicated this on the sheet music yet for some reason it was VERY unclear to the accompanist. Over all he did not feel very good about this auditon experience.. Any other feedback from anyone else??</p>
<p>My D didn't apply to Emerson, but at her UArts audition she was also surprised to see just one auditioner for each area. She didn't like that setup, and I think it contributed to her deciding that she didn't like the school so much after all...and, lo and behold, she got rejected. To throw around the old cliches, some things are meant to be, some things aren't, and everything happens for a reason. She much preferred the arrangement at Point Park this past weekend -- voice and acting auditions in the same room, with a panel of four auditioners. To have just one person for each area seems so...I don't know, I guess the best word may be imperial...and it opens the door to even more arbitrariness than there already is in this process!</p>
<p>It may have been because some of the auditioners were at the Unifieds this weekend. One of S's friends went out to LA as did my friend's son.</p>
<p>any one new hear from Michigan??
still waiting after 1/14 audition</p>
<p>Anyone going to be at Hartt this Friday, 2/18?</p>