Hello! As a future musical theatre major hopeful, I am constantly researching schools, the audition process and how to maximize ones chances of acceptance. Many of the people who do well seem study dance, acting & voice extensively (with highly qualified teachers), use college audition coaches, attend expensive summer intensives, and audition for 15 or more schools. While these are all very good ideas, the expenses can add up, and (based off of my rough calculations), can cost $5,000-$8,000. This is not at all in my families budget, and I was wondering how people managed to train/prepare and audition for a fairly large number of schools on a much smaller budget. Are certain things worth the extra money, and are there some things that are much “luxury” and not worth the cost? I am not amazingly talented, so I know that I would not be admitted based on raw talent. I am currently studying voice and taking ballet lessons, but I feel like this is not enough, especially considering acting is my weakest area (although the others are far from perfect). Would it be worth it to get a job to try and earn extra money? Or are there other ways to get some guidance on the process? Thanks 
We haven’t gone through the process yet, but remember the people who post here are only a small portion of people who apply to MT schools and get in. There are lots of stories of kids who found MT late Jr /Sr year of high school and who “got in”.
My advice based on reading a lot. Check out the coaches see if you can get a scholarship with one of them. If not don’t panic. you will be fine.
Being informed and educated going into the process will help the most.
My guess if I was in your situation, is I would try and find the money to hire a monologue coach, and take a theatre/drama class at school if possible. You don’t have to go with the big names… talk to people locally, you might even find someone who will mentor/coach you for a small fee.
I’m sure others will have some great ideas… but don’t let the lack of money to spend on preparing put you off. I’m sure you will find your place.
Mary Anna Dennard has a great book called “I Got In” that is about $20. It is a great place to get info on all things regarding college auditions - creating a list of schools, creating prescreen, resumes, selecting materials, what happens in the audition room etc… I highly recommend getting a copy. It is a great resource.
As far as material goes, if you work with local voice teachers or theatre directors ask for guidance on selecting and preparing monologues and songs. Watch past Young Arts winners and college showcases on YouTube for more ideas of material. Find people with a similar type to your own. Once you pick a piece, read the entire play it is from. Really study and understand your character. Video yourself and watch it back giving yourself honest assessments. There are also places online (star lighter is one) that will give you a free critique. Also checkout The Drama Bookshop website. They also have a monologue selector online or you can call and ask for their advice.
Consider going to Unifieds to cut down on cost of travel and to fit in as many auditions as possible
Pick out a reasonable list of schools. Don’t have all top tier programs on there. It should be a mix of reach schools, some you feel you fit their criteria but may or may not get in and at least one safety - someplace you know you will be accepted (a non-audition option)
See if schools will waive your application fees. Some will.
YouTube is also a great place to practice learning dance combinations and learning dance lingo. Learning to pick up dance steps quickly will help in dance calls
You do not have to spend lots of $ to be well prepared. You just have to put in the time and effort. Good luck! Sounds like with your willingness to work hard and your enthusiasm you will do just fine.
Terrific advice posted above. Stick with the ballet lessons.
Are there any ways to minimize the costs of auditions themselves? If one makes sure they audition for a range of schools, would ten be an okay number? And would it be more cost effective to fly to Chicago Unifieds vs driving to New York if that means I could audition for more schools? Thanks again
It depends. What part of the country do you live in? And what programs are you considering? Will all of your choices be attending Chicago unifieds? Or at NYC unifieds? Not all of your choices need to be audition schools. Ten schools is a fine number - if those are the ones you are interested in. My S applied to 8 schools and auditioned at 7. Others do fewer, many do more. All of S’s schools were within a day’s drive so no airfare was involved. An overnight hotel stay was part of each of the auditions - except for one that was in our hometown and one that was an hour away. Going to Chicago unifieds may have been cheaper, but only a few of S’s schools attended, so some campus visits would have been required regardless.
@MThopeful99 Lots of great advice! I think honing in on your list of schools is most important, and there is no substitute for carefully looking at their catalogue offerings, reading CC and other sources, and calling the school directly for followup on remaining questions …including, for example, whether the school is going to Unifieds (and which one(s)). Three of the schools my D applied to substantially changed their audition procedures from the previous year.
In retrospect, I most wish D had found her “safety” (the affordable nonaudition program she would have been happy to attend) earlier in the process …which would have meant probably dropping about 4 of the audition programs from her list and saving those fees and energy in the process.
D also saved some cash by diligently studying for the ACT on her own (no course fees, just the workbook) and she sent scores early, which resulted in offers of waived or reduced application fees from about 1/3 of the schools.
A few hours of monologue coaching are a good investment. You could see if any of your local theatre companies can recommend someone or work with one of the national companies. Length of monologue presentations (eg. 45 second version for one program, 90 section version for another) can be critical and a coach can help make these edits for timing. And of course, for any services you use, it’s wise to ask for a direct reference.
@SpchTchr57 , regarding what you wrote “A few hours of monologue coaching are a good investment. You could see if any of your local theatre companies can recommend someone or work with one of the national companies”
College Audition Coach is one of those national companies and they have just started offering an a la carte monologue service. (Used to be you had to buy the full suite of services to get monologues). Definitely a BIG cost saver