College Audition Prep workshops

Is it a mistake to do these audition prep workshops as a sophomore if you are not fully ready if part of the workshop is a mock audition with actual program directors from schools you want to go to? My son is extremely memorable physically. They WILL remember him when he auditions for real. I was thinking that this might be the only year to do them virtually, so its an opportunity to do it without travel.

@Theaterforme - I would NOT get in front of them if you feel he is “not fully ready”. you know the old saying, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Also as a personal anecdote, my Daughter had a last minute chance to go to a master class with Mark Madama at Michigan in the fall of her junior year. her coaches encouraged her NOT to sing, to just go an observe. I thought that was bad advice. in hindsight they were right & I was wrong.

@NYYFanNowMTdad - why were they right?

@iowamtmom “keeping with the never you get another chance to make a first impression”. …she got sooooo much better from the fall of her junior year to the fall of her senior year ,when most of her coaching took place. She wasn’t at her best as a junior ( even though like most parents I thought she was already awesome) the competition is fierce many of these kids are highly trained vocally most are super talented, not sure she would have stood out in a positive way amongst all the HS seniors who were gearing up for their college auditions, I think she needed that extra year of prep time to show her true self, find the right pieces, connect with them, work on them, acting the song, etc etc . After all the prep work she did when it was time for her auditions she really did great in the room. in my final decision thread I reference a master class my D did w Vicky Bussert from Baldwin Wallace in the fall of her HS Sr. year that truly impacted her ultimate results( IMHO).

All that being said YMMV, this is all conjecture by me.

I will tell that one of my students last year was told (by the school he was accepted at and decided to attend), that one of the things they appreciated was seeing him 3-4 times over the year and watching his growth. The college directors first saw him at the College Mock Audition in August and gave some direct feedback and advice. The student implemented the advice at the first audition and the second and then he was called back and seen a fourth time. That “growth” was appreciated (as was the ability to take direction and incorporate feedback). I will say this student is also very physically memorable. He received offers from most of the schools that saw him at the mock audition when his material was not nearly ready (the only thing he kept from that was his monologue).

The female student also ended up at one of the original schools at the mock audition (after they saw her several more times with different material but incorporating feedback).

I think it also depends on the school as well. But for both of my kids last year, having the opportunity to be “seen” more than once and show they were capable of growth and taking direction was a win! Now, that being said, I can tell you I saw many auditioners at many places last year complaining about getting direction. A mock audition is a VERY good place to get used to this.

For one of my kid’s auditions last year, he was directed to do his very heartfelt monologue in an “angry” voice. Did not match the content or the character. But, because we had worked on this, he was ready to do it. But others, he said, were flustered by random direction. (It helps that he also had a lot of improv under his belt!)

We decided to pass for this year. He literally does not have a monologue he has even considered and acting is his weakest link. Thank you all though!