@actingdreams thanks!
We only have 2 this weekend, UNCSA and Rutgers. Then CMU on Tuesday, and Juilliard the following Saturday.
@ginaf1102 my daughter graduated with her BFA Acting from NYU in May so please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have! BAL to your D!
BAL @actorparent @ginaf1102 Weāre auditioning at Fordham this weekend and itās the only school in NYC. Maybe weāll find a walk-in but I canāt imagine applying to another school lol. The rest will be Unifieds here in Chicago starting with DePaul next weekend and the rest for the next 7 days. All of our chatting and reading leads up to these moments 
Wishing you the best
We are in NYC and my daughter just finished up Emerson. She has a total of 9 scheduled Thursday-Sunday. Very easy to get from studio to studio. Not a lot of room at the studio so I left so the kids would have room. If you are at the New Yorker Hotel it is a 2 minute walk to either Pearl or Ripley Grier. Sunny and cold but NO SNOW!
Hi @MI3rdClosingAct thanks for the feedback. Would you mind sharing your audition experiences youāve had at your schools at your convenience? BAL
@actingdreams We got to Emerson about 20 minutes early. Most of the kids were already there. The MT kids did the dance call first, and the acting students (my D) were given a chance to hear about the program. They then got to sign up for audition slots, which I thought was nice because kids could choose when they auditioned. My D went third, and felt like it was a super relaxed environment. There was only one auditor in the room for her audition. She then had Rutgers later at Ripley Grier. She had to show her photo ID when she got there, so make sure your kid has their wallet. There was a waiting room and then they called her in. There were 2 auditors (both women) in the room. My D loved the experience, and they interviewed her after. They told her that there is a callback weekend in early March, but that sometimes kids get accepted without the callback. Also, a note for parents! I would not recommend going up to the floor with your student. It gets very crowded and congested, and I think the students are more focused if they are alone. Thatās just from my experience, though.
Sounds like Emerson was grear and the nice hint from Mason Gross sounds interesting in the best way. We have our first audition tomorrow at Fordham and I really wanted to get my S to do a few walk-ins but he is application wise burnt out and taking his chances in Chicago at Unifeds.BAL to your daughter. What a great start for her audition wise
Interesting tidbit from the DePaul info session at Unifieds- they received 1100 prescreens and passed 300 for in-person auditions.
@Naevia how was the audtion? Most of the staff there are pretty laidback, very welcoming and they try to create the same vibe while producing good work. My S school has worked with them several times throughout his years in HS.
@actingdreams He enjoyed the DePaul audition. The assistant director spoke to parents and students about the program and process for about 30 minutes at the beginning. Then parents left and students performed their monologues in front of DePaul staff and the other students and then worked on a scene together as a group. Very collaborative process.
thatās fantastic @Naevia, sounds like your son made it through the callback portion during that day. I hope that he gets wherever heās really hoping for. BAL ā¦ Iām editing this. There will be auditions at DePaul this upcoming Saturday. Itās from 8am-2pm. The longer you stay, itās assumable that youāve made it to the call-back that day. Iām sure the unifeds is different. In and Out is a good thing. you get to put on who you are and there isnāt any lingering
My D and I had a fun and crazy weekend. She started with her U of Arts audition at Pearl Studio. The audition went as well as could be expected, did monologues, got some direction, had interview - D felt good about it. She had Rutgers this morning - on campus - and LOVED it. The auditors gave her great direction, the interview was great and they asked her to do the monologues again so they could video tape them. My D was as happy as could be, she was dancing in her seat as we drove back to NYC for her Pace audition. There were a ton of people at Pace. D went up for her audition, they had her do her monologues (no interview, or discussion) and basically clocked her. She did her scene with her scene partner and that was it. She did not get a callback and therefore her first rejection. I have read it on CC a hundred times - but sometimes its just not meant to be. I donāt think Pace was the fit my D is looking for in a school, mostly because they didnāt spend any time getting to know who she is. Interesting tidbit - the girl that was my daughters scene partner has a Juilliard callback but she was also rejected from Pace today. Sometimes its not meant to be.
WE will get through this, stronger and wiser - and I believe have amazingly rich relationships with our children. 7 down 6 more to go!
@ginaf1102 yea forget all of the rest! Looks like she has a callback coming from Mason Gross (keeping fingers and toes crossed) I hope sheās not disappointed at pace. Iām sure itās a nice school but I think the others are so much more better :). Youāre more than 1/2 way done. Sheās has the audition experience now and Iām sure the next 6 will be a breeze :). BAL! She will be exactly where she needs to be and will love it!
My S was at the DePaul audition on Friday and according to him there was no callback portion. He said that they split them into two groups at the beginning. Each group watched the monologue presentations for their group and then they were assigned scene partners and presented their scenes. He said that everyone at the audition was very good. He was pretty wiped on Friday night, but he also was up at 4:30 am that morning to catch the flight to NY so it was a bit of a day all around!
@actingdreams Yes, they seem to have eliminated the separate callback portion now that they prescreen. I definitely prefer it to the same-day callback. Juilliard yesterday was kind of painful waiting for hours for a callback that most donāt receive (including my S).
Back from Unifieds. Donāt have any rundowns, since my kid is interviewing for design and production and I know 99% of you arenāt interested in that (message me if you want info), but I just want to say how inspiring, hopeful and heartbreaking all at once it was to see all these kids at their auditionsādancing, singing, acting, designing, and worrying their hearts out. Lots of hopes and dreams roaming the halls this weekendāthey are working harder than 95% of high schoolers on getting into college. BAL to everyone who still has auditions coming up.
@Naevia you know Juilliard seems to be looking for a specific total group. It always reminds me of Saturday Night Live where they need 2 tall, one or two blonds, a cpl of minorities so its always a toss. We just have so many talented kids
@ginaf1102, what a great summary! Iām glad your daughter had some awesome auditions!
I have a question for you: when Rutgers filmed your daughterās monologues, was she sitting down for both of them? I ask because my D auditioned there on Saturday and also was filmed, and the woman who filmed her had her sit in a chair and do them one right after the other wile being filmed. My daughter usually DOES sit for her contemporary monologue, so that was fine, but she usually stands for her classical one, so sitting while doing that one felt a little odd to her, and sheās worried she may not have done it as well as usual because of that. So now sheās second-guessing herself and wondering if she should have asked if she could stand to film it, or if their standard procedure is to film everyone sitting down and it was better to just go with it (as she did). So please ask your D if she was sitting when they filmed both monologues, or if she had a choice to sit or stand. (Sorry to be so obsessive - this whole process is so nerve-wracking, sheās obsessing over every detail!)
D had two auditions this past weekend: Rutgers (of course sheās thrilled that they DID film her, and has her fingers and toes crossed hoping for a callback!), and UNCSA, which she felt went really well - they asked for her third monologue, and talked to her for a long time. She was able to tell them in detail all the specific things she loves about their program, so hopefully they could see that she really loves it and would be a great fit! She has some professional work on her resume, and they gave her a very nice compliment, saying āIt looks like your career is going well - are you sure you even want to go to college?ā She answered honestly that all her professional work was from age 9 - 14, and she knows that she has a lot to learn and needs a lot more training to get to where she wants to be as an actor and be able to compete in the adult acting world. (I told her afterwards that I thought that was a great answer - not only was it honest, but it showed a) that sheās committed to a four-year acting program, i.e. sheās NOT looking to constantly audition while in college and drop out as soon as she gets a role; b) sheās realistic about how difficult and competitive the industry is and knows she needs more training in order to have a chance; and c) it showed a humble attitude, that she knows she has a lot to learn and isnāt conceited or anything.) So, fingers and toes crossed for that one too!
One good thing is that the wait to find out isnāt really TOO long (though Iām sure it will feel like it!). Looking back at last yearās threads, UNCSA starting calling people with acceptances on Feb. 21, so if they do the same this year, itās only a month away. And Rutgers notifies people about callback weekend a few days after their last audition, which is Feb. 11 this year. So for better or worse, we should have some answers a month from now!
Btw, I agree with @actingdreams - my D has a Pace audition coming up next month, but the fact that they only ask for contemporary monologues is already a turnoff for her, because she really wants strong classical/Shakespeare training (Rutgers, UNCSA, and of course Juilliard are her ādreamā schools). So if she doesnāt get a callback at Pace, it may hurt her pride, but sheās not going to cry over it. (To be totally clear, I am NOT in ANY way disparaging Pace - Iām sure their program is top-notch! But we just get a vibe that it has a ācontemporaryā slant, whereas my D really wants a program with a strong āclassicalā emphasis. Different strokes for different folks!)
What a rush, exciting, thrilling, anxious, nervous time we all have @lots2learn. I think Unifeds is terrific for a DePaul audition. Our DePaul audition is this Saturday and its from 8 am- 2pm.