<p>@pmcolorado, @sewingmom,@moregrayhair Hello! My D will be going through all of this next year. It appears that she has many of the same east coast schools on her list. May I ask how many schools your children applied to? Also did any of you observe classes at the time of your auditions? We will have to fly to most of the auditions so I was thinking that we would tour and observe all at the same time. Is that possible or unrealistic?
@sally305 maybe we should keep in touch for next year!</p>
<p>I agree @pmcolorado - it’s all so subjective. They could be one of the top 5 dancers in the room, but if that dancer doesn’t fill the “slot” available (like some colleges need tuba players some years), then they may be passed over. It can have nothing to do with that dancer, just reflects the need in the program at the time. </p>
<p>@diglass - I’d suggest really doing your homework now, research, research, research. It’s a very competitive world out there - be sure to initiate those “what else are you interested in” conversations. Indiana U lets you observe classes - other auditions were at satellite locations. Be sure to pay careful attention to those “net pay calculators” on the indiv websites. There is “sometimes” talent money, but that pool seemed very small this year - small at least compared to the cost of some of these programs. First thing you want to figure out: conservatory within a university? Or simply conservatory? It was a very interesting journey for us.</p>
<p>Looking forward to our package from Fordham/Ailey. 
Thinking lots of positive thoughts.</p>
<p>@moregrayhair Thank you for the info. I have been doing research all year. To be honest I am terrified for my D. We will be coming from a small city with very little guidance. l feel like I am having to figure all of this out myself. We are prepared for all live auditions and that we will have to travel A LOT! Just creating a list of schools and deciphering what level each school is has been overwhelming. So I have been using CC to help gather info. and narrow the list. Best wishes with the decision process.</p>
<p>@diglass make sure that you have a non audition safety or a few for options, I figured out this whole thing on my own and yes it’s very scary, but if you’re prepared for auditions most weekends from December-March and lots of traveling you’ll be okay! My other advice would be to apply early so, that you can pick the dates you want, be considered for scholarships early and to just get it all in and done. Keep track of all audition dates, and requirements because every school does things a little differently. Stay organized and good luck to you and D as you embark on this journey.
I had a great time at the Rutgers Mason Gross Open house over the weekend, a lot of great info. It seems like an amazing program to which I’ll be committing to! I havent clicked that button yet though. Crazy weekend for me as I had that during the day on Saturday and my last competition that night! It was bittersweet as one part of dance career ended and I saw the future for what the next part will be! I slept very well that night lol. Good luck to all of the other dancers in the decision process! Everyone seems to have wonderful choices to choose from.</p>
<p>@diglass, yes, let’s keep in touch!</p>
<p>We are mostly looking at schools in the midwest. My daughter has refined her interests somewhat and now wants D1 athletics and a dance program that allows her to double-major. She is also interested in collegiate dance teams, depending on the school.</p>
<p>JDancer is right–there is so much extra stress and travel on top of everything else. </p>
<p>Good luck to all the kids/parents going through it this year!</p>
<p>@diglass - yes LOTS of travel for us too as not many schools come to our area to audition. Our D applied to 9 schools and we made 7 trips as we were able to combine a couple of audition weekends. It was exhausting, time consuming, and very expensive. In September I literally kidnapped D for a weekend, we went out of town just the two of us, and sat down with no distractions and went through each prospective school - I think we started with a list of 20 or so possibly schools. We edited the list down to 9 schools, made a master calendar of all of the possible audition dates and then started to plan out trips. </p>
<p>We didn’t end up being offered many opportunities to observe classes unfortunately, and because our trips were usually a quick in-and-out for the audition and a quick campus tour/info session we didn’t have the luxury of time to stick around for much else. Regardless she felt like she got the information she needed to make an adequate assessment of each program. The one thing we did try to do was talk to as many current students as possible - at first it embarrassed my D when I would stop a student in a hallway and start peppering them with questions, but she quickly realized it was a great way to gather data!</p>
<p>Our D didn’t want to apply to any non-audition programs, but rather picked a couple of schools where, if she didn’t get accepted to the dance program, she would want to go anyway and study something else and possibly try out for the poms team or something. </p>
<p>Start early. Be flexible. Have some back up options. Realize that this is a VERY competitive process. But also ENJOY the time with your dancer. We had a blast traveling together. Good luck to you and your dancer!! </p>
@pmcolorado @moregrayhair Although we are still waiting for audition results…how are your dancers liking the programs they chose?
Any word on fall 2016 admissions from the Hartt school