All, let me add some thoughts about the college audition process, specifically in light of the news from last week.
In the spirit of full disclosure, my wife is a professional college admissions counselor who has helped hundreds of students with the process over the last 7 years. Her active roster of students includes a mix of MT and non-MT, and about half of her practice is pro bono. It’s very much a lifestyle and calling for her as opposed to a job. In addition, we used Mary Anna for our own son last year, and have assisted dozens of other MT students (who are not clients) with finding coaches, tutors, instructors, etc. This last year we volunteered at Moonifieds to help with the Juniors event, as it was a good opportunity to help a large number of students in one sitting.
That said, I can very confidently state that I have never even suspected a pay-to-play arrangement with MT admissions in these past years. Unlike the fraudulent activities in the news, MT students must ultimately stand on their talent and merits all alone in the audition room. Auditors and recruiters want the best talent that fits their needs, and must live with their class selections for four years. Every school representative I’ve met, without exception really, has been truly interested in the students, their craft, and the program.
There also has been some criticism here about private audition events. Moonifieds is the most discussed, but there are other growing events like the new one in Atlanta, and others. It’s true that these events are generally open only to students affiliated with the coach(es) producing the event. As a practical matter, it would be impossible to make them completely open - and we already have that, Unifieds. I am most familiar with College Audition Coach and CAP, and the step-in price for becoming part of their ‘team’ is $400-$600 for the online components. Certainly not free, but well worth the investment for the collected knowledge contained in those portals. Then, add in the cost of attending the event (which offsets the costs of bringing those schools to the location, etc.). For many, not affordable. For many others, a key part of their process.
For these private events, the value for us was completely worth it. Many of our son’s target schools were in attendance at Moonifieds, which led to a great deal of simplification when it came to on-campus and Unified attendance. We know of several students this year that did not attend Unifieds and only did on-campus visits to select their final choice, based on the coverage of schools at Moonifieds and/or CAP United. The travel costs saved by the ‘investment’ in the private event were real. It’s ultimately a family decision whether the VALUE offered by one of these coaches and their events is worth it. The schools have a limited time, budget, and energy to find the increasing number of students who want to attend an MT program. Unifieds is already frenetic, and the number of schools you can realistically see is quite low compared to the private events.
Do the coaches have connections with schools? Of course. You should view them in that way no different than a casting agent or manager. They bring attention to those students they know best - their clients - and provide additional context for the auditors and recruiters. But based on our personal experience, the talent of your student and the needs of the program win the day every time.
There are way more students interested in studying musical theatre than the system can accommodate. Many of them may have the dream and desire, but not the talent. Others may have the talent but not the resources. Like any system, it’s not perfect - but by and large the system has enough pathways to surface talent to the schools.
Prescreens - Free, and the feedback ‘saves’ you the cost of focusing on schools not interested.
Unifieds - Low cost per audition, but travel costs and limits on the number of auditions based on time
On-campus - Free, with travel costs if you’re not local
Private Events - Paid, but realistically a higher number of schools at which to audition, many of which consider the audition a final audition (so no on-campus travel needed)
Personally, I consider some expenses a baseline. If you’ve not read my thoughts on training, please see here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/2071562-training-shows-and-teachers.html
Other expenses are nearly mandatory. On campus auditions, Unifieds, they all require travel money. Once your student gets accepted to a program, there are expenses which are NOT covered in student loans or 529 plans… Supplies for acting class, instruments, shoes (oh the shoes), costume supplements, travel for summer auditions and work… This is NOT a low cost endeavor in the long run. Balancing the reality of those expenses with the dream of your student is hard work. I have seen families that spare NO expense (with over 30 colleges on their list). I also have seen families be successful while pinching every penny.
A bit of a rant, but I hope this reaches people who might be concerned about the process and specifically areas where there is more money flowing around the system.
PS - Every professional I know in this business - coaches, instructors, etc. have a scholarship program. All of them LOVE to take on highly talented students and be a small part of their career journey. More often than not, those professionals focus their scholarships on underrepresented students, for which there is an acute need in the MT college programs. If there is someone getting rich in this business, I haven’t met them yet. They are all too interested in the craft.
