I thought we could use this thread for that, since it’s called “Prescreens and Auditions.”
D has had her first 2 auditions (portfolio review and interviews) in the last couple of weeks. She has a total of 10 interviews lined up, 5 at Unifieds in NYC and 3 more scheduled for campuses. I know that auditions are very different for actors vs backstage, but for anyone interested, I would just note that there seems to be a lot more personal attention for on-campus interviews than Unifieds–she only gets 30 minutes for each Unified interview slot, but her on-campus meetings so far have been 1:15-2 hours long. I don’t know whether that will make any difference at all in the long run, but she was very happy to wind up with so much time to show her work–especially given that these particular schools are very, very high on her list. Also, this early there have only been a few students interviewing at these early sessions. The coordinator for the department did mention that going forward, they are booked solid and things will be hectic. Again, no idea as to whether or not this really matters, but it was very nice for D to start the whole process less rushed, given she was SO nervous about the prospect of interviewing and super-stressed about making a good impression at her very top school yesterday. BAL to everyone!
Here’s our Marymount audition experience! I have two kids auditioning for BFA programs - my daughter as an incoming freshman, my son as a transfer.
First, I have to say that of all the schools, Marymount has been THE most helpful and responsive, hands down. Every time we’ve emailed them with a question, we’ve gotten a response within a couple of hours. When my kids sent in the applications, as soon as all the materials were in (transcripts, recs, etc.), they both heard back with acceptances within a week, and the acceptance letter included a merit scholarship for both. (I’m talking about the college acceptance, of course - not the acting program.) Then on top of that, MMC emailed my son to say that they had reviewed his transcript, and all of his liberal arts credits will transfer. I loved that they did that without him even needing to ask - he hasn’t even said he’d attend the school yet!
That same helpful attitude was present at the audition: there were a dozen MMC students around wearing shirts that said “Ask Me: What’s the difference between the BFA and BA? Can I double major?” etc. etc. They were totally available to answer questions. Also, when we signed in, we were handed a sheet with the day’s schedule on it - and on the back of the sheet was a list of nearby coffee shops and diners! We had arrived early and my daughter had been saying she’d love to get a cup of coffee, since there was time, so that was very helpful!
According to the schedule, the MTs had had a dance call that morning, and the directing students had interviews. Sign-up for BFA Acting was officially at 12:30, but we arrived at noon and they were set up and let us sign in. At 1:00 there was an information session with Kevin Connell, head of the theater department. The main thing he talked about was how flexible the program is - a number of kids come in as BFA Acting majors, but then discover a love of directing, or playwrighting, or costume design, or music education, etc., and the school lets them double major or minor. He says students should be able to explore their interests while at college and find the path that’s right for them.
Then the kids went in to audition. This turned out to be a great day to audition for BFA acting, because there were very few acting candidates that day - only 19 kids for BFA acting, vs. about 60 for MT. The MT kids were divided into three groups, but for acting it was only one group. My kids were just doing acting.
They went into a classroom, and first there was a one-hour warmup consisting of movement and breathing exercises. My kids said it was basic theater exercises they’ve done in acting classes before. After the warmup, the kids went up one at a time in alphabetical order to do their monologues in front of the group. Most of the kids were worked with: they did the monologue, and then the auditors suggested they try it a different way and gave them direction and they did it again. In a few cases, they didn’t do that - the person just did the monologue and the auditors said “Thank you” and moved on. My son thinks that in those cases, they knew immediately that they either wanted or didn’t want that student, so they didn’t need to see more. He noticed that – in his own subjective opinion, of course! – the people who weren’t redirected were either obviously amazing actors, OR were noticeably not as good as most of the group. So he thinks that in those cases, the auditors knew immediately “Yes” or “No”, and didn’t need to see more.
My daughter got thrown a curveball when someone who went before her did the same monologue! She panicked and wondered if she should do one of her other monologues instead. But the other girl did the monologue differently, with a very different interpretation, so my D stuck with it and did the same one. She felt that she did it differently enough that it was a contrast. She was not redirected or worked with, which again made her panic. But her brother assures her that she did it great and he thinks she was one of the immediate “yes” students. I really hope he’s right! Fingers crossed!
My son did his monologue and was then redirected. His monologue was an angry one, so they said “Let’s try it a different way. What are you trying to achieve by saying these things?” My son explained who he was talking to, and that he was trying to get that person on his side, to sympathize with him (in his monologue, he’s upset and complaining about a different person). The auditors said, “Okay, here’s a chair. Sit down and talk to this person. Don’t be angry; instead, be very calm and just explain to them why you’re upset and really try to make them understand.” So my son did it that way, and he said it was really cool because it gave the monologue a completely different feeling and vibe, but still truthful. Then they talked to him about it - “How did that feel?” etc. So he hopes he did well, and that they see him as someone who is open to learning and trying different things, and who is a good listener and takes direction well, and (hopefully!) someone they’d enjoy teaching. Again, fingers crossed! 
Oh, my son said they also went around the room and asked everyone to say something about themselves NOT related to acting, to help them get to know them as people. My son said that he and his dad are roller coaster enthusiasts and love going on different roller coasters at theme parks around the country. My daughter said that she loves to write fiction and is working on a novel.
They said that we’ll all hear back with an answer within two to three weeks, which is awesome. I love rolling admission!
@actorparent1 Thanks for this great summary! I’m sure so many appreciate it not just me. My D was in the same Acting BFA room. Too bad we didn’t meet up. I sat in the coffee room the whole time. For those seeking information, My D described it the same way. Many people got direction and some did not. She did not so of course we hope that’s okay. There was no time to change clothes, or eat, so plan accordingly. All questions welcomed!
Excellent recap, @actorparent ! I love reading these recaps. Wishing both your kids broken legs!
sounds like you have 2 creative kids on your hands. Your experience sounds like you will have 2 children entering into the same college at the same time. This is has to be a really cool feeling. I know that you don’t want to jinx yourself but the auditions sound like they went REALLY Well. The roller coaster experience sounds amazing Good luck to you all
@Naevia, sorry, it took me awhile to see your reply. The Temple thing seems strange, right? I’m wondering if there have been major changes to the department recently, or something. Did you ever get more info?
@katew529 I didn’t get any more info and still no details from the department on where the audition is, so I’ll call this week. Will post whatever I hear.
Hi. My D had her Marymount Manhattan Acting audition this weekend. But actorparent1 did such a good job summarizing above, check it out. So I will only add things that aren’t already stated. Just to make it super clear, at Marymount, both the acting and MT audition are done in front of the others auditioning in the group, which is 20-30 students. This means no more prep time, no minute to regroup or time to change clothes or go to the bathroom or anything. And of course, you can’t let the environment rattle you. It’s actually intended to be run more like a classroom, where they give you some direction and see how that goes. IT does sound like most people were given direction. My D was not, she just got a nice “Thank You.” But it was still a good vibe, overall. Likewise, they stated pretty clearly it is rolling admissions and that responses on the Artistic side should go out within 2-3 week of the audition, IF you have your academic acceptance already. So get that app in BEFORE you go to your audition! They also stated clearly that Arts Scholarship decisions would be made RIGHT in the audition room that day.
I hope your daughters audition got her an acceptance and a Huge Arts Scholarship! I can only imagine the relief of having one audition down (but still some to go) at least she’s now in her grove and can either perfect or tweak for any that are coming up
@katgirlchicago Thanks for such positive energy! Yes, she seems happy to be auditioning and getting feedback. Sending the good love out to all of you!
Sorry we missed seeing you there, @FourStars! Keeping my fingers crossed for your D too!
How long did it take everyone to hear from Ithaca regarding prescreens? Mine has been submitted for a week and a half so far.
S passed CMU prescreen today, but all the Chicago spots are full. The schedule only shows 5 spots per morning/afternoon which seems strange since there were more spots shown in the other cities. I guess he just has to get on the waiting list and hope for the best.
@Naevia that is rough after all the effort to get a pre-screen in. How long did it take to find out the results? Do they email you or do you have to check on the website?
@123Mimi the response was via email and pretty quick - less than a week after submission.
hi… about the CMU audition. I was told today that a few people wanted to reschedule their Chicago audition to CMU campus audition. I hope that you can get on the list. If you’re here, it wouldn’t be a surprise that someone canceled and a spot opened up only an hour prior to the beginning of auditions hope you can make it
Thanks, @katgirlchicago Hopefully he’s high enough on the list to get a spot that opens up.
@Naevia, cool, thank you - will also share w/ you if we hear anything. Congrats on S passing CMU! So exciting!
Just wanted to give a quick summary of my son’s on-campus audition for early action at Emerson two weekends ago. My son said all of acting and MT kids are put together for an initial orientation about the school and the programs. They then asked for 6 Acting students to volunteer to audition with the first group. My son volunteered and they brought the first group of acting kids down a couple floors to the auditors’ room. It sounds like they had auditions going on simultaneously in two separate rooms. They then asked for two volunteers to audition first, and my son and another student volunteered. We had previously read on here that they asked for volunteers to go first so my son had decided in advance that he wanted to do that. His auditor had him perform both of his monologues and then asked my son to pull up a chair for an interview. The auditor asked what drew my son to those pieces and that led into a discussion of playwrights, the process of playwriting, and acting in general. Hope this info is helpful.