So, recently, I’ve been wondering exactly how schools go about accepting MT kids… do they accept as they go along, or do they wait til the last round of auditions and look at the whole pool of applicants and accept from there? I’m assuming that a lot of school do accept students after each audition, because I’ve been hearing some students say they’ve already been accepted at schools that I scheduled auditions for in January or February… so I guess that leads me to wonder whether a later audition date decreases chances for being accepted at a school, if they’ve already started offering slots in the freshman class? Does anybody know if they accept a certain amount of kids after each audition date, or if they just accept the people they really like after each audition without sticking to a set class size? I’m very curious about the process!
I’m sure the process is different for each school, but some offer early admission - then hold auditions in Nov/Dec and let these kids know right away. My daughter did this and was told - in advance of the audition - that only 3-5 kids would be picked for early admission. I’m guessing they did this to leave open spots (10 of them) for those auditioning later. U of Michigan does not do early admission, and Mark Madama said that those auditioning on day one have the same chance as those on the final audition day.
Some of those early acceptances you are seeing were likely from Moonifieds, held in November. Many of the schools at Moonifieds made that audition their final audition, then they contacted the kids right away if they wanted them.
And I’m sure the schools make offers to more than they need to account for attrition.
I will say this…
future auditioners should APPLY and SCHEDULE your audition as early as possible! My D applied and sent in prescreens on October 12th, and when she got word that she passed her prescreen from one school, and submitted her audition date request at another school, she was told that both schools were completely booked up! Zero audition slots left on campus or at Unifieds! I begged but they would not let her audition, nor did they have a waitlist. Ultimately I was able to get back her application fees.
The shirt answer is- it varies by school… if you list some of the schools where you are auditioning maybe people could give more specific info based on past years… (though there is no guarantee that schools will do the same thing year by year)
As for the feb/march auditions- don’t worry that all the spots will be gone - the won’t. You can drive yourself CRAZY trying to time the perfect audition (early so they see you 1st, late so you are fresh in their minds…Yada yada). There is no way to plan it perfectly- too many variables. You are the only person you can control, so schedule what works for you
@jessieburnett it varies from school to school; and to complicate things-from year to year. Historically, many, many, many students have been accepted after auditions during the last date; and even at a walk-in audition at Unifieds. The pro of auditioning early is that they may not have seen one of your type yet; you knock their socks off-and you receive an acceptance. The con is that you may be far less prepared in November; and more prepared in February or March-when you have had time to really grow with your audition material, tweak accordingly, and improve from your audition/mock audition feedback. And of course, some schools don’t make any decisions until all auditions are complete. Early Audition vs. Late Audition, and On Campus Audition vs. Regional Audition stats/odds have been analyzed…and the bottom line is that there are early admits, late admits, on campus admits, and regional admits. If there were any empirical data that favored a certain course-we would all take it!!! Wishing the best of luck to you. My D is in the thick of it right now as well-no BFA MT acceptances (yet): And it’s scary, as the artistic acceptances start rolling in.
I don’t have skin in the game but I do know of this website: www.collegeauditions.org
New website that lists hundreds of college dance, music and theater auditions.
No more info to add- but I have to laugh at my earlier “shirt answer”…
In 2015 my S was accepted from the last audition date at two schools who had Nov/Dec early acceptances. At one of those schools, he was the last person to audition at the the last audition date and was accepted in the room. I wouldn’t worry about it because it will drive you bonkers.
My friend who’s kids have already been through the process warned me of March auditions for some programs, mostly the one’s with rolling admissions. Not many of the schools that my S was applying for had early auditions so he has all of his auditions late January and early Feb. The only school that he was able to do an early audition for was Millikin and they told him at his exit interview that he was accepted into the program. Early Xmas gift for us all! He actually has an audition scheduled for Marymount in late January that we are going to cancel, that will open a spot.
To reiterate what’s been said above - schedule what works for you. During D’s audition year - she was accepted at both the first and last school where she auditioned… with a mix of accept/wait list/redirect at the ones in between. Unifieds vs. On Campus - didn’t seem to matter. Don’t drive yourself crazy!
March auditions for rolling admissions could be an issue if you are a 5’7" blonde ingénue and the program has already admitted 2. Anecdotally - all of my S offers came from on-campus auditions (both early and late) and all of my D offers but 1 came from Chicago Unifieds.
I’m of two minds here. I do think the most important consideration should be what works for you. So I’ll start by saying that if it works for you to audition late, audition late.
That said, if you can - without over-stressing - I think you improve your chances by auditioning earlier. I mean, there will always be people accepted in February and March. My own D was accepted to a terrific program in March, on the school’s last scheduled on-site audition date (she was accepted a couple days after she auditioned). But this is anecdotal, which you can’t really go by.
I think statistically, you improve your chances in general by auditioning earlier because most schools, not all, go by type, and yes, your ‘type’ could be taken. This is not just ingenues. There are many other ‘types’ the school is looking to fill, racial/ethnic types, gender, voice type, body type, etc. And many schools - not all - look for an overall range of types and gender. Also some schools accept on a rolling admission, and for these schools for sure you might have your type ‘taken.’ But even other schools, while technically they don’t accept on a rolling, they will still accept a type and/or talent that they feel really fills their class need and then this type is ‘taken’, or at the very least, there are fewer slots available.
To use one example, let’s say the program plans on accepting 8 boys and 8 girls. By January, they have accepted 1 boy and 3 girls. No matter your type, you are going to have a lower chance of getting in if you audition in February. And if you’re a girl, you’ll have even a lower chance, and if the 3 girls they accepted were all white, thin, belters, and you are a white thin belter, well, you are just going to have an even lower chance. Does this mean you won’t get in? No.
Again, I"m not speaking specifically here, but statistically. Overall, you increase your chances. But I also feel you have to do what’s right for you. I’ll close though by saying that three of my kids have gone through this process, and none auditioned early, and all got into good schools.
So I guess this is a long post to say: if you can schedule earlier, do, but don’t panic or over-worry if you can’t.
connections, I have to agree, that for many programs, earlier is better.