<p>First off: great group of kids. I love their optimism and young artistry and their willingness to put themselves out there to be judged at the age of 17 and 18. What a great life skill that is (something their peers won't learn until after graduation).</p>
<p>Second, lots of great voices.</p>
<p>On the down side, lots of kids singing louder than they have to, really, really pushing. </p>
<p>Thanks to the admissions people who greeted kids with a smile, and had a kind word to offer.</p>
<p>Anyone have a guess how many kids auditioned for undergrad MT through unifieds? My daughter calculated that the schools she auditioned for had a net 197 openings for girls for the entire year; certainly must be 1000+ who audition for those slots.</p>
<p>Best of luck to all. I'll post later with some advice for pure newcomers to unifieds (not for the coached kids).</p>
<p>We were at unifieds in NYC last weekend and had a great experience! My son did 3 auditions in one day and things could not have gone better for him. The timing between each audition allowed for a nice break to regroup/eat/rest, etc. Everyone was very kind and it was MUCH more relaxed and “doable” than we had thought it would be. We are so glad we took advantage of this opportunity. I would highly recommend unifieds!</p>
<p>Yes, we thought the Chicago Unifieds went great! We were also surpised at how not stressful it was! My d thought all the schools’ reps couldn’t have been nicer. In retrospect, we wish we had done more of her auditions at Unified rather than visiting the schools in person for auditions, as we live far away from those schools and it’s been expensive and time consuming to travel to them. Unifieds are the way to go…</p>
<p>Also, I’d highly recommend booking a room on the Executive Floor at the Palmer House Hilton, if that is still the host hotel next year, when making room reservations. Another parent on this forum recommended we do that and I’m so thankful for her advice. Unlimited beverages, snacks, breakfast, two computers with internet available for guests, etc., and lots of sitting/chatting areas. It’s a little pricier than a regular room, but well worth it in my opinion, since you’re spending so much time at the hotel and not much time between auditions. We also added a room upgrade for a nominal fee and got a huge suite with 2 bathrooms! It felt like a mini vacation for me, after the hectic past few months of this auditioning stuff. </p>
<p>Croner, that’s a good point about the kids singing louder than necessary, I noticed that too. I wish I had told my d to tone it down so she didn’t strain her voice, but she probably woudln’t have listened to me anyway…</p>
<p>Also, some of the schools were taking walk ins, which was also nice.</p>