Class of 2020 (sharing, venting, etc)

Does anyone know anything about University of Central Florida? I like the program and its in an area with lots of connections which is great! But… The CC page for UCF is like ghost town this year or something:(

I know for songs that Sondheim is typically not a good idea to sing for multiple reasons but what about with monologues. There’s a couple monologues in Assassins a musical he wrote that I really like but I’m not sure if Sondheim is still a bad idea. Technically he only wrote the music and John Weidman wrote the book so the monologues would be his work.

@ParachuteBoy Some schools will specifically say, “No monologues from musicals,” and I think in general it is not recommended to do monologues from musicals. Doing monologues from plays shows that you are able to find material outside the domain of musical theatre.

Is anyone else auditioning at Viterbo on Dec. 5?

@Abbaroo98 I think I’ve heard that UCF is pretty hard to get into? I was going to apply there but decided not to because it would be more trouble than it’s worth for me, I think.

It’s 1:30am and I’m still awake (why, I have no idea) … but I found something that may be interesting to some of you.

I won’t post the link because I believe that is against TOS, but if you google “Dramatics magazine college theatre directory” you will find their search engine. It’s doesn’t list every school (not by a long shot) but it may turn up some alternative choices or safety schools. They list the acceptance rate as well - but not sure of how accurate that is and I have a feeling some of the #s may be VERY generous, but there was too much good info not to share.

If you can’t find it online send me a private message and I’d be happy to help.

@Abbaroo98, in my opinion, Viterbo and OCU are two of the best in the business, obviously OCU is more well known, but I can tell you that the training at Viterbo is top notch. You should definitely add it to your list and if you visit, you will fall in love. I will be happy to wax poetic about both of these places in a pm if you would like. Check out the final decision page from 2019 and you can read my post. I gave a lot of information about those two schools in particular.

Hi, does anyone know how long it takes OCU and UW-Steven’s Point to respond to/schedule audition requests? It’s been a few weeks since my daughter submitted all the applications/request forms and she’s already received her academic acceptance to UWSP. Trying not to be impatient but her audition calendar is starting to fill up. Wondering what an acceptable time to wait is before following up with the school?

@songgirlsmom, if y’all are auditioning at Viterbo on campus on Dec. 5, you will probably see my D working auditions. She is a freshman bfa mt major. We have become surrogate citizens of La Crosse, WI if y’all need advice about where to stay, where to eat, or what to do. Rotary Lights can’t be missed. More than 3,000,000 lights in different displays along the MS river in Riverside Park. Admission is canned food for the needy. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

@artsykidsmom, I would go ahead and follow up at OCU. OCU is pretty quick about everything. I can’t remember if a candidate has to just have an application on file at OCU in order to get an audition date or if the candidate has to be fully accepted. If it’s the latter, there may be a missing piece to the puzzle, i.e. ACT score, High School Transcript, etc. No knowledge to impart about UW-Steven’s Point.

@TNMTDAD , Thanks! OCU is showing all application materials received and under review. So we’ll just be a bit more patient and wait until we hear if she’s academically accepted before following up. I think I’ve been spoiled by several other schools getting back to us so quickly!

Has anyone submitted a prescreen to Syracuse? This is their first year, curious how long they take?

@mtmamma2020 My daughter submitted - back in early October - and it was very quick - about a week, maybe 10 days, via email.

We haven’t heard back either way from Michigan on the prescreen yet. I don’t know if that is good or bad. Do you have to be accepted to the college prior to them looking at the prescreen?

How are most of you handling private Letters of Recommendation? Her teacher evaluations are being sent thru the school’s naviance system, but her voice teacher and a director she has worked with have each written one as well and I’m not sure if I should give them the email address of each college admission office or give them stamp and addressed envelopes. TIA!

@mtmomma2020 I’m still waiting to hear from Syracuse- I sent it in at the end of October, so it might not be as fast for everyone just because it’s new this year.

My D submitted Syracuse on October 31 and received a yes last week on Wed or Thursday if that helps? Goodluck!!

@IJKmom We did the academic teachers through Naviance and a local dance teacher through the Common App supplements electronically where available. For two other references, which came from busy theater professionals, we wanted to make the process as easy for them as possible and not have them be pestered with constant email requests to upload. As they actually sent their letters to my daughter via email (without asking them to be kept confidential), we went to each college’s website, looking for their guidance on this and either emailed them or snail mailed them accordingly. If there was nothing on the site about it, we decided that snail mail had more likelihood of getting to her admissions file. If emailing, be sure to send the document in PDF format - one college (CMU) sent a reply email to our original Word formatted document giving this requirement; after that we have sent all as PDFs, which makes sense, as then they can’t be altered upon receipt. If your references do prefer confidentiality, I think giving them a set of pre-addressed and stamped envelopes to mail makes sense.

@rampions Thanks so much! Her voice teacher doesn’t mind the email requests, or mailing out letters but it’s the busy theater professional that I don’t want to bother. He emailed me us her recommendation, which I appreciate and I don’t want to burden him with mailing envelopes- since I think he feels he is done.

I feel the same way as you, IJK, about my reccomenders. They probably think they’re done and I don’t want to blast an email prompting a reccomendation from like 8 schools even if it does just come down to copy and paste.