(Hope I’m not spamming this forum too much, but I know that reading audition experiences really prepared me, so here are my own contributions!)
My third audition during the Chicago Unifieds was for Boston University. They’re not technically a Unifieds school, so their audition was in a conference room at the Hyatt Regency.
We walked into the room and sat until they asked us all to check in and bring our headshots and resumes forward (you need those for this audition!) After check in, the assistant director of the School of Theatre at BU, McCaela Donovan, talked for a while about BU and the program and what the audition would look like. And wow. Talk about getting a good vibe from a school. She was just one of the most downright magnetic people I’d met. She was funny and thorough and organized and looked like she was actually very happy to be there auditioning us. This was my number-one school, so the fact that it clicked so well was really relieving. I had been nervous about these non-campus auditions, since my Emerson one felt a little off, but this one was wonderful.
We all left the room and waited in the lobby for them to post the order of auditionees. I was fourth. Each session seemed to take about 10 to 15 minutes, but I’m not totally sure how long each one was.
When I was finally called in, I talked a little with McCaela (Ms. Donovan?) and told her what pieces I was doing. She had said earlier that we didn’t have to do “that awkward stiff slate thing,” so it was already very relaxed and warm. This was the only school so far that wanted to see both of my monologues. So after I did both of my pieces, she asked me to try my first in a different way, and then in another way (first audition this had happened). This isn’t because they don’t like your way of performing it (she said I did it the first time “beautifully”…yay!!!), they just want to see if you’re coachable I think.
Then we had a short interview. She asked me what other schools I was auditioning for, and why BU was on that list. I told her that I had heard about the school from my friend who did their summer intensive, and as I researched, I loved everything I saw (size, location, program size, campus aesthetics, study abroad opportunities…I love this school guys). Short interview…she gave me her card and told me to make sure I filled out not just the FAFSA, but also the CSS Profile, and we were done after that. I loved every second of being in there, though. She was so kind and funny and I just clicked with everything that was happening in there.
I feel like my audition was shorter than the others, but they say not to read into that. Which is REALLY hard…if they really liked me, wouldn’t they want to spend more time with me? Or were they so impressed they didn’t need to see more? I’m stressing about it too much just because I REALLY want to go there. Yikes. But at any rate, it was a good example of being able to get a good vibe from a school even when I’m not actually on their campus.
