just keep swimmin’ just keep swimmin’. It would be easier if the pool were vodka LOL.
Has anyone been able to schedule a U of Michigan acting audition? I am having trouble understanding the website - I feel like I am going in circles. All of her application material is in, I just can’t seem to figure out how to schedule an audition. I remember reading (while gathering copious amounts of information on too many schools) that one of the schools would view performing arts apps after 11/1. I have no idea if that was Michigan. And @artskids I like that idea! My giant jug of Tito’s has quickly emptied these past two months.
@ginaf1102 - D got an email today from UMich with her acting audition audition info. She did the school application and the artistic profile weeks ago and I’m not 100% sure her artistic rec has been sent for the artistic profile. She needs to do the audition during Chicago Unifieds and the email says to block out the entire day - 8am-5pm, but they will send a specific email about 10 days before the audition.
They want you to block out the entire day at Unifieds for a straight acting audition?!
Yes - all day! I just looked at flying to UMich instead - they highly encourage on-campus auditions, but getting there in January/February seems dicey. We always fly Southwest (points!) and would have to fly into Detroit. Also, the campus auditions are all on Fridays, not weekends, so more days missed from school. I’m really hoping there’s an info session, warm-up and then a specific audition time. But 10 days before is way too late to schedule other auditions the same day. Guess that will be her walk-ins day.
We haven’t heard from you in Michigan yet but we submitted a little later than you. Does that mean you were accepted academically if you were allowed to book an audition slot? I’m a little confused how that part works.
@FourStars My daughter auditioned MT for Michigan, but I’m sure it is the same for AT as well. They made it clear at the welcome session if you passed the prescreen that meant you had been cleared for academic admission as well. UMich is a school that will only see you for an audition if they know you meet academic acceptance. We waited a long time for her prescreen result from them and had almost given up only to find they were waiting on her transcripts and couldn’t pass her until they received them. We got them sent over ASAP and she had her email welcoming her for an audition within a couple of days after that.
As far as the audition day, we did it at the school. Fortunately we were able to work it into her Wright State audition weekend since that was on a Saturday so we just flew in to Detroit a day earlier for the Friday UMich audition and then drove to Dayton that night. If you are doing it at Unifieds the idea of using it for a walk-in day seems like a solid plan. She was also scheduled at the school for the whole day, but there was a lot of down time between the welcome session, her audition and her dance call. We actually had time to leave for lunch and even go back to the hotel to collect our bags and do some warm-ups.
Hi I’m curious what programs you found where you’re able to take acting dance and voice? 
@owensfolks I’m curious what programs you found where you’re able to take acting voice and dance?
How many audition based programs are reasonable to apply to? I need some “official” number ideas to give to my D’s college counselor who does not have experience in this application process. Any suggestion on how to best educate him? She is applying to Conservatories, BFA and BA (addition based) so everything is a reach. Right now she has a list of 15. Then she has a list of BA programs with good theater departments so this list has 8 schools (there are some reachers here too). I support her in wanting to sort this out and I understand that if you don’t understand this process it looks like insanity. Anyone else have push back from high school counselors? How many schools are on your list?
@123Mimi I had a similar postwhen we started this process in August/ Sept when we started submitting the applications! But our guidance counselor just hasn’t had a student pursue a BFA MT before and didn’t realize 15 schools isn’t so unusual with this major and the selectivity of these programs! Hang in there! At least in our situation our guidance and admin are on board- I just wrote a letter to request excused absenses for some out of state auditions and for Chicago Unifieds and the response back was so nice and the principal even said- so wonderful- how exciting for her! As far as # of schools though- I am a newbie- but from reading posts on here- DEFINITELY make sure you have a couple safeties / non audition programs etc. so that she has an option at least when the dust settles. We have balanced having big dreams, and realistic plans I think with our list. I am pretty sure for girls it seems like 12-18 schools is about the norm! Has she submitted academic apps yet?
@123Mimi I am totally new to this process - there are super rockstars on this thread that can really help with answering these types of questions. But, my D has just completed the application and prescreen process for 17 acting schools. 3 are BA programs. This seems pretty average (there are great threads from the class of 2021 showing the number of schools kids applied to). I think I understand this process and it still seems like insanity. We have been “coaching” my D counselors for the past two years to prep them for the insanity. I am happy to say they have been great. I would show them the schedule of auditions, the requirements and demands of your D (travel time, training, cost) and hope they understand. They should, think of all the concessions for sports kids. Thanks to this thread I also learned to ask that her missed days of school (because of auditions) count as “academic field trips” and not count against her attendance wise. Enjoy the ride!!
Hi. I agree with the posts that say 12-18 schools, and a few should be BAs. We do have 14 schools, and only a few BAs, but I think that is what she is going with. My D heard back she passed Ithaca and Syracuse today, so all pre-screen results are in and those appointments are booked. Our guidance department was not aware of the Acting/MT process and number of schools, but once we explained, the counselor has been terrific. She’s excited for her. I can’t complain. The turnaround for the FIRST transcript was long, but once it was in the system, nice and fast. Go be nice to guidance if they are not working with you.
@ginaf1102 Thank you! I definitely agree that UMich website sends you in circles. You really have to hunt to verify that the Artistic Profile for acting applicants doesn’t include some kind of video talent component.
ALSO…for the 2 supplemental essays UMich requires… anyone have any idea what length they want for the essays? I swear it shouldn’t be so hard to track down this basic information…you’d almost think the answer is “they don’t care, pick whatever length you want,” but you just KNOW there’s no way that’s true, LOL
12-18 is a really good guideline, as long as a couple of those are BAs or other safeties.
HS guidance counselors don’t always have access to the BFA program admit rates, just the University/School’s overall rates, which can be VERY different, so they don’t always have the full picture of what applicants are staring down. If you can present them with both admit rates for a given program, it can help them to understand.
There is no “right number” of schools. I know kids who have auditioned for 15+ and gotten zero, and a kid who only did 1 and got in (I really don’t recommend that btw). I do recommend making sure that you at really interested in all the schools… I have seen more than one kid get multiple acceptances - and then take a gap year b/c none of them were a school they “really” wanted. Spend time making sure you have true safeties - a school your kid would want to go to if auditions don’t work out.
But how do you know what those admit rates are? There is data everywhere on conventional admissions, but all this talk of reaches and safeties leaves me confused without this information. Is there a reliable source? I’m also confused about the references to BA’s as safeties, as many of these academic admits are highly competitive. My D is class of 2023 and we are just beginning to build a list (I’m reading these threads to educate myself about the process). This question of program competitiveness is the most perplexing. Thanks in advance for your guidance!
@MTmom2017 a word about weather in January and February. We drove to auditions because I wanted to be in control of our time. When we auditioned in Michigan it was a beautiful day, probably in the 60’s. By the time we drove to Cincinnati that night it started to snow. Long story short we were headed to NYC for unifieds and the Pennsylvania Turnpike was completely shut down because of a major snow storm. We never made it to NYC. Thankfully we only had one audition scheduled. There were many people at our Michigan audition who were stuck because of cancelled flights.
@yorkside - accurate info on BFA admit rates can be really hard to find. You can often find out the number of students a program takes (could be anywhere from less than 10 to Nearly 100. The tricky part can be finding out how many students are auditioning so you can get an estimate of acceptance % - b/c that info is not always available, and varies every year
@yorkside, I agree with you about safeties being tricky to pinpoint. There is no such thing as an auditioned safety program, and what constitutes a safety non-auditioned program will vary widely from one kid to another. I think the conventional wisdom would be to pick out a couple (at least one) where your child’s GPA/test scores make the program a solid safety school academically. Programs where all theatre majors start out in some type of general theatre studies and then declare an acting concentration sometime after the 1st, 2nd or 3rd semester.
Maybe others here can suggest similar programs, but one example that comes to mind (depending on your child’s #s) would be a place like University of NC at Greensboro–seems like a solid program where you don’t audition until after you’re already at the school.