<p>Ugh – that dreaded three letter word – “flu” – has hit our house. I’m so far the only one holding it off. My wife is down for the count. My daughter is not good but at all but it hasn’t reach the state yet where a burst of adrenaline can’t get her through a five minute audition but she still has tomorrow and Saturday to get through before her Sunday audition at CMU. Her next one (Purchase) is not until the following Friday so hopefully it will have passed by the end.</p>
<p>We all got flu shots but still got nailed. My son is downing Throat Coat like it is water (it is a tea that soothes the throat). Not nearly as bad as if we had not gotten the shots…</p>
<p>ActingDad–hope you avoid it and your daughter breaks legs!!!</p>
<p>Oh no, ActingDad! Sending you all lots of good wishes for speedy recoveries!</p>
<p>Will be thinking of you and your D this weekend–we had a similar situation in December, and it was scary! Lots of good flu-coping advice on this and the MT boards.</p>
<p>We all got flu shots as well. Have been for years. This year it does not seem to make any difference.</p>
<p>Ugadogg, Congratulations to your daughter, that is so awesome and best of luck with the scholarship!. </p>
<p>Actingdad, I am so sorry about the flu, you should hopefully be able to change her audition date, my friend was able to change one when her D had pneumonia. We are hedging our bets with the flu, we are all very sensitive to medications so we have avoided the flu shot but are chugging down Airborn and Zicam and drowning in water and Purel. My D’s auditions start next Friday at Purchase also so we hope we can (knock on wood) avoid this flu.</p>
<p>I’ve been hearing that this year’s flu shot is 62% effective. Those are pretty high odds of getting the flu despite having had a shot. 
In addition, many of the other viruses are reported to be much worse this year than in recent times. So, even if you don’t have the flu per se, you could be struck with an upper respiratory or other virus that will make auditioning difficult. And don’t forget, at the Unifieds and other auditions, your auditioner will be spending hours in close quarters with a lot of strangers from all over the country. Take care everyone! In addition to the suggestions below, I’d advise purchasing one of those inexpensive portable humidifiers that work with a water bottle for hotel rooms.</p>
<p>does anyone have the link to some post on here about how to handle auditioning sick? Are they really expected to audition even if they have the flu? Please tell me no! This just isn’t safe for anyone, the kids or the panel. I know there was a link somewhere but I can’t find it. anyone?</p>
<p>You can reschedule if sick. The problem is that rescheduling can be problematic based on other auditions and what the school has available for dates. </p>
<p>For my daughter to reschedule CMU, she’d have to do it to their last date in February which she would rather not do. So far she’s holding steady and we’re still planning on going. She was planning on doing the sleeping back weekend. That she won’t do as she won’t be up to it plus that would expose a lot of kids to her.</p>
<p>Sending your daughter tons and tons of pixie dust, ActingDad. Everyone knows how super impressed we were with CMU! Alas, it just wasn’t meant to be for us, but I wish everyone the very best when auditioning for them. They are mighty awesome, indeed!</p>
<p>ActingDad - I’m curious: is it bad to audition on the last date? I obviously have no choice, since I’m flying to the U.S. and auditioning for all the colleges in the same week, but one of my auditions is the last date.</p>
<p>MS – no one really knows if its bad to audition on the last day. There is some prevailing wisdom here that a college may have already filled its spots and that it is better to go earlier in the process. Since this is her top school and she spent 6 weeks there this summer, she does not want to chance it. On the other hand, one can make the case that last one is the best memory. I know when American Idol used to be a must watch in our house, there was always the view that the last one to go had an advantage. I wouldn’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Acting Dad, Hoping your D got to rest up and 24 hours makes a huge difference. Please keep us posted on how she is feeling and how she does. Break A leg ! for us… ist Airborne and lots of fluids.</p>
<p>Acting Dad, I hope she has a full and speedy recovery. Zinc is also helpful imo – you take it when you feel you’re just coming down with the virus. I’ve had the ‘real’ influenza once. It is a different beast from a regular bad virus. Of course this is up to you, but if she actually does get influenza (high fever for days, chills, unable to really get up from bed other than stagger), I would advise against her going, not only because her audition might be impacted but because she may well infect others— as Glassharmonica points out, you are in an enclosed room with others sometimes for several hours. I’m sure they would not appreciate that. Also, it is not a good idea for her immune system. If she does have the real flu, you can get her a Tamiflu shot within 24 hours–that really helps.</p>
<p>This may be moot as she might not have influenza, but ‘only’ a bad virus, but in case it isn’t, I thought I’d put all that out there. Even with a bad virus with fever, of course, you still have to consider infecting others.</p>
<p>I do believe that your chances are definitely lowered if you are at the end. I have heard far too many stories. HOWEVER, I do want to say that it is not impossible to get in if you audition at the end. My D auditioned at the end for one BFA program, and was accepted with a scholarship within something like three days. So it’s not hopeless in case you do have to end up rescheduling.</p>
<p>Let us know what happens.</p>
<p>I have often wondered the same. It was why it was so important to us that our son apply EA to a few schools. I also wonder if after they have chosen the EA kids, later is better? I wish I knew the secret formula, if it even exists!</p>
<p>Actingdad, hope your daughter is feeling much and has a wonderful audition experience.</p>
<p>Last year, my D auditioned for NYU in March - the last week of auditions. She was accepted. She also auditioned for Webster in mid Feb and was accepted. As long as the school is holding auditions your chances should be equal.</p>
<p>Yes, please try to think of this as so fraught with mystery that there are no rules. None of us know what is going on behind the scenes and in the auditor’s minds. Maybe they’re looking for that one more “type” to round out their class. Maybe they’ve just had 3 kids turn them down EA. Maybe your kid sparkles in just the right way to make them rearrange their list. You really never know. </p>
<p>As a small aside, D had a learning experience with her spring casting. For one play, the auditions were announced on short notice, and many students, including her, had schedule conflicts. The director reluctantly allowed video auditions. D worked very hard on hers, but she’s definitely not a pro at this, and figured it hurt her chances. Another audition where she did everything “normally” didn’t go so well - she said she never hit her stride. In the end, she was cast from the video. The director told her it was one of the best auditions he saw.</p>
<p>Do what works for you, at the time. Do your best, and let fate take its turn.</p>
<p>The really bad flu symptoms my wife and son have never sunk in to my daughter to the same extent so it looks like she is going to make it as she only has to get to about 1 PM today. She is on the Tamiflu though not clear we started soon enough. </p>
<p>She is very excited that her audition is in a studio where she rehearsed often at night when she went to CMU this summer and one of the pieces she worked on this summer she is doing today. So she thinks this is a good omen! Of course, she also thought getting an elevator floor that matched the day of her birthday was a good sign as well so I guess one searches for anything with a positive vibe!</p>
<p>Connections – on the issue of infecting others, I think we’re making a reasonable balancing of her interests versus others by going ahead with the audition but not doing any of the sleeping bag weekend activities. She doesn’t have the influenza symptoms you describe.</p>
<p>Thinking of you guys today, ActingDad! </p>
<p>My son had the flu going into his Otterbein audition; no fever on the day of, and the folks there assured us that they are extremely used to the situation as auditions are smack in the middle of flu season. No real handshakes ever! Hope things go well in accordance with all the omens. ;)</p>
<p>Break a leg to your D, Acting Dad! Let us know how it went.
Times3 is right–I bet they are indeed used to kids auditioning with all sorts of ailments as it’s high-stress in the height of flu season. As long as they’re not obviously hugely sick with fever, I’m sure it’ll be fine.</p>