<p>I had mentioned this once before but also look at theartsedge for the complete audition package.</p>
<p>Rather than starting an entirely new thread I thought best to post my question here, as it was already partially addressed.
Now D is only a HS freshman, so that being said we have time to work out logistics. Our situation is this, one of my sons has a severe intellectual and medical disability. This is going to make it virtually impossible to travel to all the college visits and auditions once that time approaches. Although we could probably hire a nurse/caretaker to care for S for a few auditions or visits…you could see how this could become cost prohibitive in a hurry.
Are there some college audition coaches who could travel with daughter on some of these trips? Maybe they have a group of students they coordinate this kind of thing for. I know in this day and age of both parents working, this must come up from time to time. Of course although I would love to be with D every step of the way on this journey, she is more than aware of the family limitations, and does not mind knowing some of these trips may be without Mom (at least that is what she says now 
).
I started really thinking about this over the last few weeks as we are sending off our oldest to school in the fall. Just the logistics of planning his orientation this summer and his move into the dorm of a school only 3 hours away is proving challenging…and he is not a performing arts major. If there are specific coaches or groups that might do this kind of thing…feel free to post or PM!</p>
<p>frazzled: Our D’s school theatre director traveled with her to Unifieds and to our state Thespian auditions. This worked out well because she was able to consider it an “approved field trip” and received an excused absence for all of her audition days. Of course, this might not be possible at your school. I would also see if other kids from her school (or from your area) are going to Unifieds - they can travel together and split the cost of a hotel room. Plus, kids can always travel alone. IMO, if they are old enough to go to college, they should be able to travel to auditions on their own. Some universities will even arrange for you to stay on campus during auditions.</p>
<p>Frazzled, I know of kids who went to Unifieds and campus auditions on their own, without adult companions. I don’t know which city would be best for you but NYC Unifieds are very easy to manage…many hotels nearby…my D only needed me to carry her bags.</p>
<p>…or Chicago - almost all auditions were right at the Palmer House - and 3 days of auditions could allow for a lot of auditions to be done in a short period of time with only 1 trip.</p>
<p>My D’s audition season is now several years past. She did 6 on-campus auditions. For 2 of them, I was unable to go due to contractual obligations, and she went with one friend and his father to one, and a different friend and her mother to the other. If you know others doing the audition rounds, you may well find others willing to help out.</p>
<p>Thank you for those who responded to my question! I will relax a little knowing that not all kids have parents in tow at all times. It is still several years out, but this takes the pressure off both of us. There are just too many things to think about for the next few years to spend much time on this now. If we do end up bringing coaches on board, between that, and mom/dad…friends…I am sure she’ll do just fine!</p>
<p>OP: I didn’t read the posts but here’s my advice to your questions:</p>
<p>“are they helpful?”</p>
<p>yes, I’d argue coaching, or better stated mentoring, is everything to a young MT artist. Everything! </p>
<p>“are they affordable?”</p>
<p>No. a good coach/mentor will cost $40 to $125 an hour. However, the best coaches and mentors are often pros that if you’re fortunate you can work with and learn from, and that doesn’t cost anything.</p>
<p>If I were to do it all over again, although initially an investment, a coach who knew the inside scoop on colleges may have saved us some money and some time for choosing and attending auditions and again now in the decision making part of the process.</p>
<p>A good coach will know where you have a real chance of being accepted, saving needless audition money. They will know which school is huge on dance, likes particular types, or has a history of accepting your vocal ability. They have been around and seen it all. It’s worth every penny and you don’t need hours and hours of appointments. A good coach fine tunes what you do and points you in the right direction. if you need more than that, you need more training for these schools. Do that before you coach.</p>
<p>A good coach will also help steer your child in the right direction once offers are being considered. Which school is the best potential fit given your child’s interests, strengths and weaknesses. Any guidance in this area is important from the perspective of a person in the know - someone who has had students complete various programs and what experiences (good or bad) that their students have had.</p>
<p>OP: I re-read your post. let my qualify my above post. my daughter did not use a coach to get into a MT program/college. She used an athletic coach to get into college. She’s “walking on” to a couple performances at college but she spends most of her time competing in athletics these days. </p>
<p>Her MT “coach” mentor and director prior to college helped her become the person she is in ways that are hard to articulate, such as confidence, presence, voice, making sure the cheap seats can hear you, and most importantly helping her develop her talents to connect with the audience…I don’t know any other way to say it but some performers with the help of mentors, learn how to touch every person in the audience. That’s what I think a good coach can do with an emerging talent.</p>
<p>So, get a coach to help your child be an effective performer, then the college audition will go fine. And unlike some posts above, I believe every child has the ability to be a good performer and go to top programs or go pro, it’s as kids grow older that adults, peers, and social pressures start to dim their creative light. Most middle school kids dreams are discarded by their senior year, and that’s a shame.</p>
<p>I know my daughter would not have been a highly recruited athlete if she hadn’t had years of professional stage training and experience. And now when she competes athletically, she performs! The play just happens to be an athletic event:)</p>
<p>Also, one of the most important topics in MT and drama that is rarely discussed on these boards is the audience. Performing is all about your relationship with the audience. Help your kid learn how to connect with an audience, that’s everything!</p>
<p>I’ve been reading these posts about coaching and was struck by post 29 from purple9. Does anyone have information whether these kids that are coached are ending up with better results than those that are not coached? Like purple9 we could not afford to pay for expensive private coaching.</p>
<p>I think MT coaching, like SAT coaching, does pay off. And they cost about the same. You will probably spend $500- $1,000 for either type. An MT coach can save you from spending money auditioning where they know, from experience, that you cannot get in. And they have a good idea where you can get in. They can tell you about programs you never thought of that make sense for you. They are OBJECTIVE and help you make a realistic list. Helping you pick a monologue or song that is right for you is hard! They do that. A talented kid will do fine without coach. But it is nearly a full time job to figure it all out. It’s nice to have someone working for you. MT college is a HUGE investment. I want to invest wisely.</p>
<p>PS. Purple9 has a SON- boys are in demand. 25 girls for every boy auditioning</p>
<p>Coaching made the process much less stressful. Would definitely do it again and have recommended it to friends.</p>
<p>As for the girl boy ratio… more like 4 to 1. There is an interesting discussion in the theatre/drama forum about gender math.</p>
<p>Thanks lojosmom, I just read the thread. I have a boy and use a coach (for next year). It has helped me sort it all out and it’s nice to have someone keep it all in perspective. It has also helped us trim the list. I think we would have auditioned EVERYWHERE just to be SURE. Much less stressful. I hope your son is loving UMICH!</p>
<p>Have to second the idea that using a coach makes things so much less stressful! We knew what to expect at each school and we knew that the list we had built was appropriate to D’s particular mix of strengths. We also were able to tailor the repertoire to the sensibilities of each school, based on the recommendations of the coach. (i.e. some schools prefer a more pop sound, others more legit, etc.)</p>
<p>Plus we felt quite prepared for questions that might come up in the interviews. I was fascinated at Unifieds watching some families who were SO completely lost and who were trying to “coach” their own kids, making things much more stressful for both the parent and the kid. One poor mom was practically in tears when she heard her child had given a “wrong” answer (in Mom’s opinion) to an interview question.</p>
<p>Then there were the parents we met who were completely baffled by all that was going on. They had signed their kid up for ONE audition at that ONE school they had heard about, not really knowing that the “local” audition was actually at Unifieds (they didn’t even know Unifieds existed!). They were overwhelmed by all the activity, and I could read in their eyes the sense of panic as they looked around at all the talent represented and realized that they had probably made a horrible mistake by only choosing one school. We met several families like that, especially in L.A.</p>
<p>Now that wouldn’t be likely to happen a CC family because we have all done a ton more research than most of those parents but I remember thinking that I was so thankful that we had had a coach to help us KNOW that we had prepared as completely as we possibly could. </p>
<p>Was it necessary? Absolutely not. We have plenty of people in our lives we could have gone to for help in choosing and preparing songs and monologues. We might have ended up with an “overdone” song or two but I don’t believe that would have been the end of the world. But man, was it nice not to have that stress, especially when it came to Unifieds! And for me, I had the added benefit of listening to D “debrief” with the coach, telling her about her experiences in a way she wouldn’t ever have shared with me! I think it was worth it just for that!</p>
<p>I think the most important thing I have learned from the coach is that the colleges want to see YOU in the audition. They want to get to know who you are. I think I would have encouraged my son to pick songs and monologues that showed ACTING. I was looking for stuff with major drama and characterization. Now I know they don’t want that. Keep it simple. Be you. That is why the right monologue is so important.</p>
<p>All of my kids have training in classical music, so when my youngest convinced me that she was serious about studying acting in college and becoming a professional actor I had (what I thought was) a revolutionary idea, to find her an acting coach. Like a music teacher, only an actor. Little did I know that this is a common arrangement (we are not connected in the theater community, so I had no models to follow.) Through the recommendation of a mutual friend (who is also a post-er on CC, I found a seasoned coach who has shepherded many kids into acting and MT programs. Her help has been invaluable to my daughter on numerous levels, not the least of which is giving my daughter support from an interested grown-up who is not her mom. My daughter was able to go into her audition season in a calm state of mind, feeling that she was well-prepared.</p>