<p>YoungThespian, As the mom of a junior D who will be going through this process, your post is immeasurably helpful, and I know she will agree when she reads it. Thanks so much for taking the time and good luck to you at BU!</p>
<p>HSN, I’m so glad you found my experiences helpful! It’s definitely a bumpy ride. One thing I’d like to add, (which unfortunately applies especially to girls) is to keep faith no matter what seems to be happening.</p>
<p>A friend of mine, who is a triple threat musical theatre performer and probably THE best young actress I know applied to nine high-level MT programs. She was rejected at all but two – waitlisted at Emerson and accepted to OCU at the last minute. The string of rejections was almost impossible to bear and all hope seemed lost – but in the end it worked out and she is ECSTATIC to be going to OCU.</p>
<p>I wish you and your daughter the best of luck! And remember to keep your chins up even when it seems darkest, 'cause right around then dawn’s on the way :)</p>
<p>Bump. Important stuff here. How are you rising seniors coming along? Also, here’s a link to an old discussion on the MT forum that might help you divine your ‘type’ which should help in selecting your pieces … <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/531061-whole-type-thing-confuses-me.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/531061-whole-type-thing-confuses-me.html?</a></p>
<p>the OP advises to keep the afternoon of your juilliard audition full, but wouldn’t you want to keep it open in case of callbacks?</p>
<p>One of the questions that I have often seen raised is whether to visit schools before or after acceptance. Given the selective nature of these schools and the audition process, it has been recommended that students wait to visit the schools where they are accepted, and then decide. We did a combination (because my D auditioned for so many schools we couldn’t possibly visit them all) – and chose schools that were of different types so she could get some feel for a BA Liberal Arts Theatre program, a BFA acting program with a liberal arts component, a BFA conservatory program with few liberal arts requirements, etc. It seemed like a good plan, but . . . .she ended up getting accepted to four schools – two she had visited, two she had not. By the time she got her acceptances, with the May 1st deadline looming, lots of school commitments, etc. it was a challenge to fit in visits at that point. So she ended up doing an extensive “paper” review and phone calls to try to see if she could weed either school out – but frankly, she really didn’t want to go on any visits at that point, and ended up selecting a school she had visited earlier. (I wouldn’t let her select a school she hadn’t visited). I do think she ended up at a good place for her, but I sometimes wonder whether her selection was more a function of “I don’t want to take another trip” rather than “this is the place for me”.</p>
<p>Bump for cam3ra_on</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Which colleges were you (or your D/S) aacepted to?
-I was accepted at Purchase, Rutgers, Fordham, NYU (Cap 21), and NCSA-
Priority waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon (which I turned down).
Callbacks at Juilliard
Denied by CalArts</p></li>
<li><p>Were any acceptances a surprise or did you leave the audition with a good feeling?
-I was surprised by every place I was accepted and surprised by every place I was denied. The odds are SO against you that it got to a point where although I believed in myself, I was prepared for bad news. I honestly felt the most relaxed in the auditions the auditions of the schools I was accepted at. I was the most MYSELF at these auditions. My CalArts auditions was my first one so I was all tense and robotic because I was FREAKING OUT. CMU and Juilliard intimidated me so I was just very… SAFE. Although CMU gave me very misleading comments… I left that audition being basically told I was accepted and it through me way off when I wasn’t… I honestly do not know how Juilliard picks kids because the things they made me do at the callbacks were so odd… Had nothing to do with acting whatsoever. PM me if you have any questions I am always happy to answer and help!</p></li>
<li><p>Were there any auditions that you felt better about than others or were they all more or less the same?
-As I went on in the process I became more and more comfortable… I mean, I was one of the kids who was going crazy about these auditions… It started out as a life or death matter for me and I was honestly going crazy about it and devoted my life to preparation for months before… I think that ALL DIDN’T HELP ME. My best auditions were at the end because I was comfortable with my pieces… Had worked on them with auditioners from other schools… Audition at your top schools LAST I would suggest. And if you are doing 2+ auditions a day… Don’t get robotic about it… Find nuance for each audition.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you enter straight out of high school?</p></li>
<li><p>Yes.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you attend an arts based high school with a theater stream?
-No, my high school had a strong theatre program but I was very uninvolved… I worked in regional theatre in my area extensively and that is where all my experience derives from.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you get any special coaching for your auditions?</p></li>
<li><p>I worked with someone on my shakespeare piece because I was very unfamiliar with shakespearean work going into the process… So, I just wanted someone to help me pick a good one… Otherwise, I worked with a friend on them and also had some professional actor friends come and watch them after I thought I was ready to go to unifieds… I did everything I possibly could to prepare. Bottom line - don’t really worry about getting help from people - MOST importantly I would suggest taking the time to find the essence of your monologue… What does it mean? Who is the character? blah blah blah… That is you and the colleges want to see the YOU-NESS of YOU. They are not looking for perfection but a committed INDIVIDUAL person who has potential to be successful at their school.</p></li>
<li><p>What were your considerations in choosing your monologues?
-There is so much stuff out there it is overwhelming… Start reading plays asap and as frequently as you can… My monologues just ended up finding me - they were pieces I found myself having a strong connection to and character and plays that excited me.</p></li>
<li><p>How many monologues did you prepare, the minimum required or more?
I had 4 monologues prepared… Juilliard required 4 but they only ever made me do 2… </p></li>
<li><p>Did you select different monologues for for different auditions or were they all the same?
-I did my shakespeare and contemporary for pretty much every audition… They were both in the field of “dramatic” - Then when some schools would ask me for a thirs (CMU) I would whip out another classical piece… I had an Ibsen, Shakespeare, and two contemporaries. I just would do the ones I thought I was best with and liked the best…</p></li>
<li><p>Did you use a coach specifically to get ready for auditions? If so, was it a local person you knew or did you hire someone outside your network of teachers?
-Like stated above I had someone help me from a regional theatre in my area with shakespeare work… That is all I did… He just helped me pick a piece and deconstruct the meaning of it.</p></li>
<li><p>Did your “formal” theater training start in high school or before?
-Before, I have been acting in regional theatre since I was 8</p></li>
<li><p>Have you always known you wanted to act?
YES!</p></li>
<li><p>Is there anything in particular that you think helped or hindered your college auditions?
-Yes, I needed to CHILL OUT. I treated the situation as if it was the end of the world… I know it may seem like that to those of you who are going through it… BUT REALLY. My biggest advice is to just do it. Be prepared as heck of course - but don’t let yourself freak out so much about it that it hinders you from being a calm and relaxed you. Just be yourself and be professional. Be open… I mean, I know I was very successful with my auditions… BUT coming out of it… I can honestly say I believe it is 10% talent and 90% luck… FIVE-TEN minute auditions have NO WAY of showing anything substantial enough. I have visited top programs all over and have seen brilliant and terribly horrible work at them all!!!</p></li>
<li><p>If you had to go through the whole process again next year is there anything that you would change/add/detract etc.?
-Yes. I would narrow down how many schools I applied too… I was so concerned about getting in somewhere that I applied every where that I heard was a good. It is so much about the person though… Do what you need to do for yourself.</p></li>
<li><p>Anything else you would like to add…
Figure out who you are…? haha My best to you all!</p></li>
</ul>
<p>NYQ, you are an angel-- this is the best thing I’ve read about auditions, I’m going to print it out for my D and I’m sure many others will get so much from it too. You and Fishbowl should write a book-- your generosity and thoughtfulness to those who come after you are just wonderful.</p>
<p>I cannot tell you how helpful you are! Thank you SO much for taking the time to share all this info.</p>
<p>Which colleges were you (or your D/S) aacepted to? My D was accepted to UCLA, Cal Arts, CCM, Emerson BFA (Early Action), UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbar. She is now attending UCLA (Acting).</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Were any acceptances a surprise or did you leave the audition with a good feeling? She left Emerson, Cal Arts and CCM with a good feeling. She did not have to audition for UC Irvine or UC Santa Barbara. UCLA was a total surprise.</p></li>
<li><p>Were there any auditions that you felt better about than others or were they all more or less the same? CMU was her best audition. She had the CMU “call back” and was told she was “very talented” and would be accepted to many fine schools. NYU was her second best audition. She was told by the adjudicator “we will definitely be in touch.” But she was not accepted to either. From this, she learned never to trust what the adjudicator tells you. Cal Arts spent the entire time telling her why they were better than NYU and she would like them more. On the other hand, with UCLA, she could not read the adjudicator at all. It was a rather scary experience.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you enter straight out of high school? Yes.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you attend an arts based high school with a theater stream? Yes.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you get any special coaching for your auditions? yes. Two acting coaches. One vocal coach.</p></li>
<li><p>What were your considerations in choosing your monologues? She made sure she did what she was told. The rest was how she felt about each piece. She has unique tastes, and the adjudicators often either had never seen her pieces (which excited them) or had not seen anyone else done them, although they knew the pieces (which also excited them.)</p></li>
<li><p>How many monologues did you prepare, the minimum required or more? She had six pieces ready, plus 16 bars song.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you select different monologues for for different auditions or were they all the same? Different.</p></li>
<li><p>Did your “formal” theater training start in high school or before? yes. In 6th Grade at a regional theatre in classes.</p></li>
<li><p>Have you always known you wanted to act? I always knew she wanted to act. She used to put shows on in the backyard for the other kids.</p></li>
<li><p>Is there anything in particular that you think helped or hindered your college auditions? Being ethnic. She is beautiful, but doesn’t have a typical look. Good for screen, not for stage.</p></li>
<li><p>If you had to go through the whole process again next year is there anything that you would change/add/detract etc.? Not trust anything the auditors said. Add a few more schools. </p></li>
<li><p>Anything else you would like to add? Good luck.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>i always though having a ethnic look would be more helpful, even on stage. i figured it would set someone apart from the majority of other auditioners…</p>
<p>That hasn’t been her experience. Interestingly, she got into the schools known for t.v. and film emphasis (UCLA, Cal Arts), and didn’t do quite as well with the theatre schools (NCSA, NYU, CMU). Then there were the others like Emerson and CCM that she got into, so maybe we are projected her high school experience onto the college auditions. In h.s., she was always typecast because of her look, and not necessarily in a way she wanted to be. Now in college she is being told her look is a beautiful thing.</p>
<p>Any input on the Purchase BFA Acting auditions from those who have gone through it is welcome. Did everyone get videotaped at off-campus auditions or only selected students? Did you (or your child) get a callback at SUNY campus? Has anyone heard of a student being accepted with getting a callback or being videotaped?</p>
<p>I know this is old and was revitalized to ask a question about Purchase, which I can’t answer, but I’m gonna go ahead and answer cause I think this is a great idea!
- Which colleges were you accepted to? Last year, straight out of high school, NYU ED- ETW—> Strasberg, this year, with a semester of college, University of Michigan BFA Acting</p>
<ul>
<li>Were any acceptances a surprise or did you leave the audition with a good feeling? NYU- I was so nervous I couldn’t eat before the audition so the overwhelming feeling I had leaving was that of hunger, haha. After I ate, I thought that the audition went well, but I didn’t think I was getting in whatsoever.</li>
</ul>
<p>Michigan- I spent the day before the audition touring the theatre dept and sitting in on classes and getting to know students and professors. Everyone was so wonderfully helpful and answered every one of my millions of questions 
So I went in more relaxed and came out more relaxed. Afterwards one of the professors that I had known from the summer program winked at me and said ‘great job’, so no matter what happened, I felt pretty good :)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Were there any auditions that you felt better about than others or were they all more or less the same? I was so incredibly nervous for both of them. They were both such milestones for me- the NYU one being my first ever college audition, and the Michigan one being a huge step to make auditioning as a transfer student, not knowing what’s being expected of you, or if people think you’re crazy for wanting to transfer or not. I think I felt much better about the Michigan audition for a few reasons. 1. I had a semester of professional college training under my belt. 2. I felt incredibly welcome there after spending the entire day before at the Walgreen Drama center, touring the Theatre Department. 3. My self- confidence had improved so much in the year that separated the auditions. </p></li>
<li><p>Did you enter straight out of high school? For the NYU audition, yes, for the Michigan, I had one semester of college training.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you attend an arts based high school with a theater stream? No, I attended a public high school that was lucky enough to put on several large scale productions a year, though.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you get any special coaching for your auditions? I had a private monologue coach.</p></li>
<li><p>What were your considerations in choosing your monologues? I really tried to look for something that was out of the box. ( That can backfire though- at NYU I felt that that was interpreted into ‘experimental’ and I was placed into ETW- which was NOT a fit for me whatsoever.) I was lucky enough to have a monologue coach who agreed with me and who was familiar with such ‘obscure’ but wonderful playwrights.</p></li>
<li><p>How many monologues did you prepare, the minimum required or more? Since my NYU audition was ED, I had 2 monologues prepared for that, and if I was rejected and needed more, we would add them on an ‘as needed basis’- and by that I mean those 2 monologues were the ones that I worked the most upon, but I had many others at the ready.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you select different monologues for for different auditions or were they all the same? The same, pretty much. I also used the same pieces from my NYU audition last year for my Umich audition this year, simply because we don’t work on monologues very much in NYU Strasberg 1st semester freshman year, and I felt very connected to them.</p></li>
<li><p>Did you use a coach specifically to get ready for auditions? If so, was it a local person you knew or did you hire someone outside your network of teachers? Yes, I used a monologue coach. I found him through a mutual contact but I didn’t know him before.</p></li>
<li><p>Did your “formal” theater training start in high school or before? In high school, pretty much. Well, I had done theatre before but I count it from high school because that’s when I became very serious about it.</p></li>
<li><p>Have you always known you wanted to act? I think that passion was always there in me, but I also think that until around 8th grade I was caught up in a million different thing, experiencing life before I became deadset on doing theatre for the rest of mine. But since then, I have never looked back. </p></li>
<li><p>Is there anything in particular that you think helped or hindered your college auditions? I’ve had some issues with casting at my high school, and because of that, I think my self confidence wasn’t nearly what it should have been in regards to acting. I know that this sounds SO corny, but believe in yourself- you will end up where you truly belong.</p></li>
<li><p>Anything else you would like to add- My mom is a big believer in ‘you end up where you should be.’ I think this is true, but I also think that for some people it takes a bit longer. For me it took an extra year and another school to finally feel that I’m going to be where I belong. I know that some people think that I’m crazy for wanting to transfer from NYU- and I’m perfectly fine with letting them think that. My own parents thought that for a while. Another cliche coming- but it really doesn’t matter what other people think as long as you’re happy. And please please please don’t get caught up in the ‘names’ of schools. I can’t tell you how many people auditioning I’ve talked to have no idea why they want to go here other than ‘It’s NYU.’ That’s not an answer, and if you go into ANY school with that attitude you’re not going to have much fun or get much out of that education.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>That being said, I wish you all the best of luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask me!</p>
<p>Monologue, thanks for sharing your story…and your good advice. It’s great that you have been able to do what you know is the right thing for you.</p>
<ul>
<li>Which colleges were you (or your D/S) aacepted to? SUNY Purchase, CMU, Rutgers, CalArts, DePaul, and U of I. </li>
</ul>
<p>Wait-listed at Juilliard.</p>
<ul>
<li>Were any acceptances a surprise or did you leave the audition with a good feeling?</li>
</ul>
<p>The Purchase, and Juilliard ones were very suprising. I came out of a normal High School I had no idea.</p>
<ul>
<li>Were there any auditions that you felt better about than others or were they all more or less the same?</li>
</ul>
<p>The faculty and Purchase and Juilliard were really cool and made me very comfortable.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Did you enter straight out of high school?
Yep</p></li>
<li><p>Did you attend an arts based high school with a theater stream?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Normal High School with a great Theatre Program.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Did you get any special coaching for your auditions?
No - Worked alone in my room after school.</p></li>
<li><p>What were your considerations in choosing your monologues?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Material I had a personal connection too.</p>
<ul>
<li>How many monologues did you prepare, the minimum required or more?</li>
</ul>
<p>Two - they required four but I only had two.</p>
<ul>
<li>Did you select different monologues for for different auditions or were they all the same?</li>
</ul>
<p>Used the same ones for all of them.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Did your “formal” theater training start in high school or before?
None just high school theatre and some out side projects.</p></li>
<li><p>Have you always known you wanted to act?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yep since I was in third grade.</p>
<ul>
<li>Is there anything in particular that you think helped or hindered your college auditions?</li>
</ul>
<p>Going into the auditions being myself and being all about the work.</p>
<ul>
<li>If you had to go through the whole process again next year is there anything that you would change/add/detract etc.?</li>
</ul>
<p>NOTHING AT ALL. EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.</p>
<ul>
<li>Anything else you would like to add </li>
</ul>
<p>Be yourself have fun and pick material that speaks to you. Don’t overwork yourself.</p>
<p>S not only successfully auditioned at “last minute” but then sat in on audition boards for incoming students. His success came from preparation with coaches. His observation was that too many applicants came in unprepared, after all that’s what the business is about “bankable talent/skill”</p>
<p>That’s the key! You need to be prepared. Being unprepared will not only make you completely nervous, but the auditors can quickly tell the amount of preparation you have put into your audition. </p>
<p>My D was accepted this year to Emerson (and my S will be auditioning next year!) and we used a coach. We tried to do it on our own but choosing material (as we all know) is extremely hard without some professional guidance.</p>
<p>Be prepared. That’s it.</p>
<p>welllll, I have to admit that the school my D was accepted to was the one where one of her monologues was a last-minute addition. Just goes to show you that there’s not a right or wrong way!</p>
<p>I love this thread, it’s such a wealth of information. I’ll be sure to print it.</p>
<p>It’s that time of year again-- let’s resuscitate this thread for the next generation!</p>